Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-06-01

OF y +44 ,iS.; IN 1872, 2sS5, with consideration
of SIC, COS ,l5o, and the recorded transfers for
1873, 3,&2s, with consider alton of si2 i95, 800,
from which II viii be observed that the money
invested in the purchase of real estate IN the
1 city OF w ashington IN 1873 II almost much As
was invested In both years $50 and ISL, and
| that the operations Of the year 1873, even with
the strinRency Of the money market in the
lumber Of transactions and smou nj OF consider
ions, by more than 70 per cent
| To appreciate these lsbors and results. one
must have seen and known the city OF Washing
on as IL was. This board has made the decrepit
areas OF a dead city 10 rise a thing OF
eauty. They have put into oper alton the plans
ana dreams OF Its founders. The people have
zen, the people have rejoiced, and you cannot
ven were you disposed, bisd the young siaHt
own 10 the habits and conditions OF the past
or the city has felt the impulses of life AMI
.dvsnce nt;you can no more reh affiliate IL in
he dust and mire, and prejudices Of the past
han you can clothe the lusty youth in the vigOr
& his manhood with the addling clothes of
his infant days. The great Richeiieu boasted
hat be had recrested France; this regime has
eyisified the capital of your country and
siven TO IL an impetus and power which will be
cit IN the generations 20 come.
submit that the answer 20 their case lies in
the results accomplished by the present govern
ment, and II Is not necessary tor practical men
% wade through Geo pages OF Irrelevant testi-
mony TO ascertain facts when they are patent
70 every eye and In view OF every observer
The board will accept its vindication or con
ZEN nauon through its work. This city is their
IL will not do, gentlemen of the committee, 90
ssll back upon mistakes and mad vertencies that
are necessarily incident TO the progress OF so
great a work as that which las been accom-
Plished within this city, and necessarily accom-
panylng the expenditure OF 80 large a sum OF
money. The Board OF Public Works does not
claim that the work has been done as well as IL
we're possible, or a. well a. they might do IL
now, In the light OF experience; but do claim
uTst, THAT the plan OF Improvements contem-
plated and executed was the best that could be
devised for the permanent Improvement OF the
city, and that the money received from the citi-
sens ana tne government has been fairly and
Il the committee please, was predicated upon
he fact that the people suspected that the
Board OF Public Works and the officers OF the
District government were guilty OF pecuation
and fraud. The newspapers had ruug the
changes upon il throughout the country The
memorialists had whispered il in the ears of
Congress. Ii was one OF those vague, impal-
pable rpmors, that 1oat ted through the air I'M
til Congress was asked to put in oper alton the
machinery that would reach out and gather
these neoulous assertions and condense them
| n possible, in the form OF an sscerta inmeut of
their truth or f4lsity. The very first charge
| made by the memOralists was one ASSERTING
nat the District government and the Board OF
Public Works, IN connection with eminent ciLi-
zeDs Of the District, were guilty of the grave
crime OF conspiracy. a conspiracy 10 defraud
ineir fellow citizens and the government of the
United States. This was a grave charge TO be
made, and one which ought 10 have been grave
y considered before il was submitted % this
committee and the country-the charge which,
rs SAID, involved the reputation of gentlemen
| who had hitherto passed in tins community as
blameless, honorable, and upright men.
They have charged IL directly; they
have charged il 10y inuendo. Through perie i
of three months this committee has been sit
| ting, reaching out its arms, Briareus-like 10
| gather in from the four quarters of the globe
those who would swear to all they knew, all
they heard, and all they ever dreamed Of in
order TO make good the accusations made
against the district government. And vet 1
submit TO you, as fair and candid men, runnin o
your finger over, page by page and line by line
these two thousand pages OF printed testlmony !.
whether you can point out one bit of evidence
hat proves criminslity on the part of any mem
these conspirstors? John .. Evans, Hallet
KilbourD, John l.. Kidwell, Moses Kelly
samuel i. Brown, Henry ID. Cooke Lewis
I Clephane and Lewis F. Filbert have heretofore
| passed in and out among their fellow-citizens
unsuspected of any such criminal practices
They are men who have lived in this conmu-
nity, established regulations for honor and ia
Jegrity, and submit ought not ID have been
lightly assailed, unless the counsel uppn the
other eide ere in possession of PROOFS tina would
tend 10 establish their charge.
submit To the com mittee that, in proof of
hat CHI rge, there has not been submitted one
| .ota o: evidence; but you are asked by counsel
10 go outside the proven facts; TO lend your
imagination to the assistance OF their weak
nesses; to imagine crimes where they are not
shown, and guilt where il is not evinced. in
woke for them the same protection that Won
AOuTetlNte hOulU namely, clear.
vigorous denunciation Of the charge made by
The memorialists
The refusal of Mr.. Kibourn TO answer GER
tain questions pTOpounded to him by the COM
mittee is construed as an acknowledgment OF
the guilt OF his cestai que trust So far as the
district government was concerned, we had not
he slightest objection to his responding to the
inquiry propOunded, because we knew that in
no event could il effect gs. Why this commit
tee did not compel him is not i'm nv prov
ince to know, but may fairly assume that you
lid not compel him 10 answer for two reasons:
First, that the committee itself believed il had
no right TO compel him 10 answer the question or
else that II WAS not q pertinent question touch
ing theissues before the committee. lift was not
proper question, then Mr.. Kilbourn was en-.
tirely justified in refusing to answer, and IL
the committee had no right to put the question,
ne was equally correct In refusing to answer. 1
do not understand why the witness did decline
20 answer, since / can see no reason why he
hould not disclose his oestxi que trust, but do
protest that when witness honestly believes
himself protected by the principles OF the law
that his refusal to answer the question shall
not be construed as evidence against a party
unnterested in that answer; nor am L pre-
Jared TO say that, placed in the same situation
as the witness, / Would disclose. Certainly /
should hesitate very much in developing. even
before an investigating committee, nv private
afairs, unless they could show connection
With the matters TO be investigated. MIR. Kill
1Ourn's business capacity and business standing
are too well known in this community TO need 4
indication from the unfair and unsRst insiuua-
tons Of counsel from the other side. MFR. Kill
UOurn never pretended TO forget; he simply de-
clined TO crafty the morbid propensityes of gen
rlemen to pry into the private affairs of others
There was another case Of refusal TO answer,
about which the learned counsel remained
strangely sIlent-that OF their friend and init
mate associate and confidential adviser, Glib
con, who was called, strange spectacle, 20 re-
tute the testimony of a gentleman. AMI while
here the question was put 10 him touching the
sources of information upon which he had based
charges involving the integrity of members of
Congress and the integrity of members of the
District government. Next 10 the pitiable
light of the former engineer of the board
Was the white faced, ashen hued counte.
nance of the professional libeler, caught in
he tolls and held up to the execration Of all
honorable men. Now, here was q case clearly
within the province of the committee, where q
man upon his own responsibility had charged
directly that one Of your honorable associates
in the House was interested In the contracts let
under the Board of Public Works, and was
thereby part of the conspiracy. The commit
zee did not press, counsel did not press him to
answer, for of course the committee knew, OF
course the community knew, Of course the wit
ness knew that when ne made the assertion be
asserted that which he knew to be false and for
the deliberate purpose OF injuring q fellow man
whom he did not even know. IL but demon
stl atee the condition Of people and the piti-
able depth to which man may descend. For
him and bis charges We entertain the profound
est contempt, and therefore did not seek TO have
ths committee dignity him BY further inquiry
He will pass down in this record, m ar ked by the