National Republican., 1874-05-13
.ETIGIgGED

was In regard to the main sewerage. We mad
express authority for the building OF n ain sew
ers. The appropriations made BY the IeQtsia-
tive Assembly TO reimburse us for expepdL
tures made, with the other acts, carries the
authority to expena that money in the conf3n-
uance Of improvements, The APPROXIMATION of
81 go 900, and the appropriation of S9l3 600,
clearly recognize the carving out Of the i'm.
provement inaugurated by the board, and the
appropriation offs ,U0,UO0 to reimburse us on
account of expenditures made on the avenues,
is surely an apprpprtation for5c continuing the
improvements, as it makes the appropriation
available Immediately AFTER the passage Of the
act. -a
q Q. These, then, are all the reasons you de-
sire TO assign in justification of your departure
from the plan to the extent and IN the direc-
tion have iDdicatedl A. We do no. put Il on
the ground OF Justification. We put it ON this
ground, that the matter was left with US, as
executive officers, to carry out these dffferent
laws and appropriations as far as in our jud1-
ment was practicable and consistent with the
public interests; ard that we claim to have
done The fact that appropriations were being
made all the while that these improvements
were going on, and tie fact that the ascent
By Mr. Stanton. q. This particular natter
ris'made the sub;er. Of inquiry in the former
inyestigationl A. Yes, sir. .....s,-,
Q. And appropriations were made by Con-
gress afterward, they knowing the theory on
which the board had proceeded A. Yes, sir;
and by the Legislative Assembly. -5Il1s
By Mr.. Chifsty: Q. SIN that would involve
US in q sort of unsatisfactory pursuit. ] merely
want the witness to assign all the reasons,
whether IL be a justification or excuse. Alt
IS neither q Justification DOR excuse. We full
FLIED the duties imposed upon US with our
understanding OF the law, and It has never
been eontroyrrted by either Congress or by the
Legislative Assembly. 4.-. -
raQs Nov will ask If you don't feel that you
have SauthoTity 10 progress in this direction
without any regard to the expense; without
any Unit upon Your power by reasolof .ex-
peassa A. don't exactly get your meaning.
Q. What limit, DOW, is there on your discreZ
tionfn your. present view of the lawl L. The
limit Is tho, appropriation made. We contend
that all We have done has been n pursuance of
appropriations made by Congress and the
legislative Assembly. ,--.- -..-r.r.r.r
Q. Do You intend to continue to lay the con-
crete or wooden paVements as carriageways N
this cityf A. AS said before, that Is hardly
a proper question TO put. tFL7
Q. It is very important onea A. Itis Q
contingency which depends altogether upon
appropriations and the action OF Congress.
Q. In the event you receive the necessary
appropriation A. If we receive appropris-
tons from Congress, and authority from them
to continue in our work, we shall use our best
Judgment in continuing the improvements Of
the city. 4.r8l
Q. Bat there has been no determination on
your part to abandon the laying of wood and
concrete payemsntsl A. So far as the laying
of concrete pavement Is concerned, 1 would say
that my judgment is that the city should lay
them altogether In the future.
Q. Of course, then, that would result 10 the
han Of laxrf nfr A
Not entirely so. If people on the line Of i'm
provements prefer the wood pavement, think
their wishes should be considered. That has
been the case heretofore. 100
Q. Do you mean by the people majority or
alll A. / mean the general expression OF
opinion by the Inhabitants on any particular
street where the improvement is in progress.
Q. You have testified, on page 1907 of the
testimony of this investigation, that the con-
tracts that were awarded these parties were
given them on account of their standing,
business capacity-their ability to do the work
to do it well, and to the satisfaction of the
Board of Public Works. Now, in this descrp-
tlon Of persons do you embrace all that OBJ
tained these original contractsl A. include
all who have done their work properly and
well, to the. satisfaction of the board. There
have been some black sheep, as there is in
every flock. .r ..E sL-.- .E1-
Q. In view of the fact that when Hallett
Kilbourn wrote letter, with which we are all
familiar, stating that there was q combination
formed, ring, to secure contracts from the
Board OF Public Works, do you regard him and
his associates as suitable persons-would you
have let these contracts to them, If you had
been advised that such q combination existed2
A. No contract was ever let to HAllett XII
bourn that know of.
Q. That leads me to this: II you had known
that he was interested In those contracts would
you have awarded them7 A. / do not see WHY
should not have done so. He Is Irresponsible
man, and has a good reputation as q business
man. As letter writer do not think he is
very great success.
Q. We may deem him suceessl A. He,
may be.
Q. He assisted Us, but from your point Of
view ! will admit that he was not very great
success as a letter-writeri A. think that
men frequently, and probably both Of Us have
done the same thing, feeling little excited for
some reason, may say some things that in our
cooler moments We would not utter,
Q. Still, in this case, John o. Evans, who
certainly is very discreet person, fpdorses the
Of facts, criticising simply the form
IN which they are stated a. can say this
for Mr.. John o. Evans, that he Is one Of the
best business men ever knew, and as Q con-
tractor he is one of the squarest and most up
right men ever met with. The work done BY
him Is unsurpassed by that done BY any other
persons In this city. There has never been any
difficulty with him in getting him to make his
work right.
Q. Then, had you believed this statement
here-had you been Informed of II, 1.-THE Board
Of Public Works have advertised for proposals
for paving, to be opened next Friday, the 1st
instant. We propose to be prepared for them.
We had to make q small ring of about seven
persons in order to accomplish results. In this
,1l ~
yourself, Kelly, Kidwell and myself, comprise
six of the ring We shall put it 10 the best
shape possible. We shall try and control tho
entire lot of asphalt pavements." Would you
have abandoned the purpose Of awarding con-
trdcts to the lowest bidder and established your
scale of prices, enabling these parties TO aS
'omplish the result foreshadowed In this letter.
We never had any purpose Of awarding
contracts TO the lowest bidder. The idea Of
he board was to get such information as was
lttainable, and to use their best Judgment in
loing this work. As regards awarding work
o the lowest bidder, had we attem pted it IN
his city the streets would have been torn up,
md we would have beep In Q state Of chaos
md ruin to-day. The only way In which i'm
orovemen IS such as we have made here eopl
'e carried out was by giving the work TO rs
ponsible parties, and holding them to strict
Q. Do you not, in view of the testimony in
his case, think thst you would have escaped,
md the board would have escaped, from the
caused by the letting Of CON-
racts to De Golyer q Mcclellan, If contracts
lad been let to the lowest bidder after public
A. No, sir; do not think 90.
think we would have been at the mercy Of
ny combination that might have been formed.
Is it was, we retained control of the work.
While the De Golyer & Mcclellan matter Is
ne Of those things iacidens to any extensive
Improvement, think that they are the suffer-
RS by the transaction; not the District. The
liter was bit. -" ... .N-rN
Q. Do not you think that If they had bid
Tithout feeling themselves under the obliga-
on to make these arrangements which In
olved the expenditure Of surh large sums Of
honey that they could have bid at price less
be bonus they paidl A. hardly think they
Tould have to have done the work under the
estrictions established by the board and under
aken 70 kept IN repair Tor the time specified
! the contract. - 49,
Q. Do you think that the securities taken
Dr. o compliance with tho conditions Of their
ontract were sufficient, being chattsl mort
age merely; and the entire cost-the original
ost-of the property upon which the chattel
lortgage was given being only some SIS ,0oOf
/. think It is amply sufficient to keep their
Iork in order for the time specified; for three
cars. -s-- - f.-L go L'1 1-s.
o. In the manner in which they have in fact
lid ~ A. Yes, sir.
49, a. ~.kT m 80