National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-03
ISTRICT INVESTIGATION.

approved feDruary Il, ne enbeteQ
tracts with the proper officers Of said DI;triot,
created by said acts as agents Of the Onitoe
States, 70 execute certain extensive imPtSSSsSS-
performed in accordance with the plans and sPeot,
ncations Of the proper officers OF sail .s t ~
that said contracts provided for the ~ tSs
this work to be made in lawful money y tne
United States every four weeks as the Motk pro
crossed which provision the DlstIleS omSets =.
agents Of the United States slEnAli5 'Aiiso %
YSuT memorialIst further represents that he
performed his entire Eork ior sag Dlssss IN &c
ofthe beard Of Public Works, and in performing
Srbfrh Tour memoriahst has expended the sum o.
s55o 900 and in return has received for said work
Sotbing bat certificates Of indebtedness amount.
inc on Their face TO the sum OF S1ll o0o and which
your memGrialist received under protest; the
IS TO 40 cents on the dollar, thereby realizing, as
he has The PsagES sum q $500 The entire sum
Your msmOrislist, therefore, prays that the
matters and things pertaining to the WORK and
impSoyemsnS done ~ your nenoEiahs. ,gt t th
Board Of Public Works, be referred TO . commit:
tee for investigation, with power to send foI ana
examine the papers, contracts and other evidence
said COMMITTEES be authorized to report bill fer
theproPer relief Of your nem9Elalist; ana ne WI
ever prsy, &c, SAMUEL STAoAS'
LIndorsement.l
PoRrY-THIRD CONGRESS-, FIRST SESSION.
Petition Of Samuel Strong, praying the ap-
,,ointnsnt of a COMMITTEES 70 examine his claim
against the authorities ofthe District Of COlun-
bia, for certain work performed BY him, and TO
fSiI March "a referred to the Joint Select Com
mItes to inquire into the affairs Of tbs District oil
Columbia ......
The witness. That has not come up yet. !
am ready for that when it comes up. sup
pose the committee will notify me. w
Mr.. Wilson. It is now, Mr.. Strong, because
that has been referred to US. A. Then must
have my attorney here.
O. That has been referred to this committee
for its consideration. A. Then hope the COM
mittee will allow me the privilege Of having
nay attorney here.
Q. wish to ask you now who drew up this
paper for you'll A. That was drawn up by q
man by the name of Rhinehart.
O, How long agoi 4. 1t was drawn UPS
there no date TO it therel
MIR. Wilson. There does not seem to be.
The Witness. do not recollect; the files will
tell.
O. How long since you had this drawn upl
4. It may be two or three weeks. cannot tell
within a week.
o. On the back of it it seems to have been
referred to this committee on the sd day of
MarchI A. Yes, sir; it was handed IN, think,
on Monday. ~
Q. How lone asiG-t tnee- or four days. -.
Q. Were the statements in this memorial
true st the time it was prepared A. 1t was
got up very hastily. There are some altera-
tons to be made in that, but thought it would
come out when the examination took place.
@. Wherein is 1t untruel A. In regard to
the amount of the securities-the bonds-what
was put up. believe it amounts to more than
that.
O. How much more than this will 1t amount
TOT A. l am not prepared now TO tell. lwant
to be notified whenever that question comes
up, so that can be prepared myself to answer
your questions.
o. Then you sent in this memorial to Con-
gress stating these facts, over your own sigma
ture, without knowing them to be truel A. o,
no.
Q. Are they true, or not truei A. They are
true; that have a claim against the govern
ment.
Q. Is it true that you have claim to the ex-
tent you have set forth in this memorial A.
will show ell have.
Q. That is not my question. lwant to know
whether or not it is true that you have q claim
against the Board OF Public Works to the ex-
tent that YOU have set forth in this memorial
Witness. How much is the extent of it!
Mr.. Wilson. You say that you have paid out
$3.50, 900, and that you have received certif-
Gates amounting OF their face to Sill, 900. A.
/ will be prepared, if you will give me three or
four days, TO answer all these questions. / am
not now prepared. l have no attorney here. /
supposed this investigation
Q. Then you got up this memorial and sent
it to Congress, making these statements, with
out knowing the amount Of certificates that you
hadl A. Exactly so. / supposed that would
all be brought out on examination.
Q. How much is the amount stated here,
Sill 600, variant from the facts in the case!
A. l do not think 1t will vary much from that.
Q. This is just about rightl A. Ishould not
be surprised if it comes out pretty near right.
Q. How much do you think it would vary
from this! A. am not prepared to say.
Q. Have the Board of Public Works issued
to you no more certificates than to the amount
stated in that memorial? A. think it is likely
that is correct; that is as near as can get at 1t.
Q. Since you put this memorial before Con-
gress have you had any settlement with the
Board of Public Works. A. No, sir.
Q. Have you had any adjustment Of any
account whsteveri A. No, sir.
q. Have you had any negotiation with the
Board of Public Works since you have been
subpenaed as a witness in reference to this
mstteri A. No, sir.
Q. None whatever A. No, sir.
Q. Has there been any attempt A. Not on
anything that is in that memorial.
Q. Have you had any settlement of any ac-
count with the Board of Public Works since
you sent this memorial inl A. No, sir. think
he fssE q 4 he BRou nd HTS
all. What did you draw that in? A. In certii-
Gates.
Q. When did you get thatl A. In the neigh
borhood Of week ago.
Q. Since you were subpenaed7 A. No, sir
1T was before Twas subpenaed; am well aware
of that.
Q. Have you had any negotiations with the
Board of Public Works since you were sub
Penaed to appear before this committed A.
No, sir.
9. None whatever? A. No, sir.
Q: Have you had any meetings with themf
A. No, sir.
@. Have there been any writings drawn up |
with view of adjusting your matters with the |
Board Of Public WOrksl A. There might have |
been; have proposition to settle and leave |
1t to arbitration, but they have never done any
thing about it.
Q. When was that A. Twice. Ny lawyer |
wrote to them twice on that point.
Q. When did you make them that propose
toni A. He has kept a copy of the letters. |
can get them and bring them here.
Q. Is it within week! A. Not to my recol- !
lection.
Q. Have you had any negotiations within a
week with the Board Of Public Works? A. |
have signed no papers with them.
Q. Have you had negotiations within week |
with theml
The witness. What do you call ncgo.ia-
tons!
Mr. Wilson. settlement. A. No, sir.
Q. Have you had any interviews or CORE |
spondence of any kind with q view to a settle |
nentl A. No, sir; have hardly spoken to
them. / saw Mr.. Willard this morning and
spoke to him, and spoke 10 Mr.. Magruder.
That is about all spoke to.
Q. Nothing more than thatl A. No, sir.
By Mr.. Merrick: Q. What value do you state
the certificates at in that memorian A. / do
not know, sir.
By Mr.. Wilson: @. want to ask you one
other question. Was that the market value or
the real value of these certificates at the time
you filed that memoriau A. think that was
all they were fetching outside.
@. Was that what they were generally re-
garded as being worth A. Yes, sir.
.SA-. Merrick: Q. Did you not give VII
liam A. Cook q check that has not been pre-
sented at the bank? A. do net remember.
@. Did you not give William A. Cook q
check for his own benefit and that Of A. Z. |
Brownei A. cannot remember. |
Q. Would you remember It If you had done |
sol A. / cannot say. never knew that / had |
given Mr.. Shepherd check for the sum of five |
hundred dollars until looked over my books. |
Q. am not asking you about Mr.. Shepherd |
A. do not know.
Q. Did you not give Mr.. William A. Cook |
money for the purpose of having it paid to |
some other person; and If so, to whoml A.
do not remember.
n M Da-5