National Republican., 1874-05-13

ing s<,soo, and that the warrant, I infer, was
IdfAvl therefor. A. think that 10 20.
q. Was any such station-house erected A.
skiIr fbrce was not sufHeis1tto ksspft up.
o. Was any portion OF this money Used in
the purchase Of Q ste for the ststion-housei
A. fhinlr site was purchased.
g. Not sxhsustipg the appropviationi A:
No, sir; the approfr<atfon = not exhausted.
thi1k ste vss pdrchased, though l am not
3. Do YOU know now whst bscsr,s Of that; where
the exress Of this appropriation remainsf A.
In the treasury OF the board.
Q. Do you knox the eost Of the lott A. l
do not.
Q. Did the sinking fund commissioners hy-
pothecate sewer bonds in New York for the
purpose Of raising means 10 defrayth January
Interest," A. Not . dollar
Q. see your answer IN regard to that really
leaves II IN confusion in my mtnA A. fwonld
b very happy TO clear Il up, Colonel, IL there b
any confusion in your mind. at.' sa- =
fThe answer as previously given BY the wit
ness was hare read over to him. 4.aT
The Witness. Perhaps had better make
little explanation In regard to that 80 as 70 re-
move ali confusion in your mind. The reason
that the sinking-fund commission has been
short Is this. Last August, $3.50, 900 Of the old
corporation of Washington 7-S0 certificates,
which fell due under Mayor Emery, for debt
contracted under Mayor Bowen, uiatured.
They had 10 bs met, The sinking -nInd COM
mission had to make arrangements 10 meet
theR which they did BY paying out Of their
treasury, and by borrowing q sufficient sum 70
pay them. They were all paid, except, think,
some forty or ifty thousand dollars which was
held by private parties. The bonds. which
were authorized to be issued by the Legislative
Assembly, under the act Of June 20, 1871, had
not been sold, and have not yet bean sold.
The sinking fund commission has been carry
kkx thst debt, with its interest, from that time
10 the present; so that the case stands in this
way: Was the market In such condition
that the sinking fund bonds authorized to be
ssued, and which were issued, and which are
now held as collateral, and which are used as
eollateral by the sinking fund commissioner
twas the market In such Q condition that these
bonds could be sod at a fair rate, tho sinking
| fund would have in hand some S25o, 900, In
! stead Of being, as they are now, borrowers and
owing considerable debt. Do make myself
intelligislel ...- =
Mr.. Christy. think SO.
Q. Do you know of any preference given to
contractors, or those who have held by hypo-
theeation, or purchase, certificates In the pay
ment by the treasurer by the Board of Public
Worksf A. do not know of any. arsa1 O..
| Q. will pass from that subject for mo-
ment. Do you know a contractor by the name
of Laughlin, or LaHinl A. There are two con-
tractors of the board, one named Mclaughlin
! and the other Latin. --..-
@. Have you sold to either of those personsl
A. l have sold property to Latin.
Q. What did you receive7 A.. received
certificates of the Board of Public Works.
Q. When was thisi A. The record shows.
II was several months ago. The transaction
&Ona oh NJ
Q.What amount in certificates and what
amount in cash did you receivei A. l did not
receive q dollar In cash.
Q. Where was the property siIuatedl A. On
Seventeenth street, between K and L.
! Q, Have those certificates been since paidl
A. They have not. 1 got some sewer bonds for
some of them, which I sold at seyenty-one or
seventy-two cents on the dollar.
| Q. Was II part of the condition Of the pur-
chase by Mr.. Lsfinthat he should receive work
under the boardl A. No, sir he had all his
work long before he bought the property.
Q. Was the transaction conducted by your
self In personi A. No, sir; BY my agent. had
\ nothing to do with It In any shape or form.
did not know until the proposition was made to
me that they were negotiating about the house
at all. will state, In that connection, that the
proposition was made to me to take certif-
Gates. l did It as much from the fact that 1t
would not do for me 70 repudiste District Sc
curities as for any other reason. I made moth
ing by 1t.
q. And obtained no adyantagsi A. Not a
particle. I will state that all the contracts
that they had were long anterior TO the date of
this sale. 1t had no connection, in any shape
or form, with that ssle, and think It was a
disadvantageous thing to me.
| Q. Have you, or any other member of the
Board of Public Works, made any purchases
Of property in advance Of the public declars-
ton that Improvements were to be made, and
in contemplation of such improvements A.
No, sir; never in single instance.
Q. And In that you include, so far as you
know, every other member of the District gov
ernment and ofthe Board Of Public Worksl A.
think I may; am the only member of the
Board of Public Works who has operated In
nal estate; that have done ever since have
attained my majority, and hope to continue to
do so as long as live.
Q. You have purchased real estate largely
| A Yes, sir.
o. Do you say distinctly that you have done
so without reference to any contemplated i'm
provementsl A. Without reference to any con
templated Improvements. would say, fur
ther, that have sold, as appears from the tes-
dmony of Mr.. Kilbourn, some ground which
bought from Mr.. Merrick. 1 sold 1t for 81
cents, and 1t advanced within q year and o
half to 81. fl had any intention Of the kind
that you refer to, should certainly have held
ION to 1t.
Mr.. Merrick. You did not buy It from me.
/ sold it long since. You bought 1t from the
tpeople, who purchased it from me. / sold the
property in 1858. ...
The Witness. knew that you originally
owned it. We were speaking Of it the other
Eday.
D. Do you know of Mr.. Hodges having any
interest with Mr.. Kilbourn in any real estate
n 40 ~,.vkk os
all about that. / do not know that he owned
any. do not know anything about hr. Kill
bourn's real estate operations. l never had
but one real estate transaction with Mr.. Kill
bourn, that know Of, and that was some five
Tor six years ago.
Mr.. Merrick. see you give q comparative
statement of the debts under the two adminis.
trations of Bowen and Emery, at page 1854. 1
do not understand that exactly, because In the
last column here you give the total expendI-
| lures and liabilities incurred by assessments
and debts in Bowen's administration at q :
1000 900, and the total expenditures and lisbili.
ties incurred BY assessments ard debts in
1 Emery's administration at $4,000, 900, and 90
| on, making an aggregate OF 80 900 600. Now,
| was not the debt which was incurred In Bow.
ems administration carried as burden into
Emery's administration, so It is counted twice
| as against thati A. No, sir; l think not. Bowen
left q floating debt of over million, beside the
! tax-levies and other deductions, and beside the
special assessments made.
| @. There was general debt existing at the
end of the administration Of 81 ,slS, ,266.56l A.
Yes, sir. r,
Q. And then there was general debt at the
end Of Emery's administration of 50, ,l7o, ,00Oi
AYES, sir. ~.
/ o. Was not that general debt at
the end of Emery's administration
partly caused by the burden thrown upon It by
the antecedent administration, and Of neces-
sity so; and therefore 1t appears to be double
charge from the way in which this account Is
i statedi A. No, SIR; l think not. If you will
look at that. you will see that the general
taxes collected were so much; total general
expenditures, so much; special assessments on
account of Improvements, 90 much; general
debt existing at the end Of administration, SO
much; total expenditures and liabilities In
CURED by assessments, so much.
@. Yes, see it is put down that way; but II
looks to me as If the general debt Of the one
was carried into the general debt Of the other
A. think not. It II all made up by the comp
| trollcr.
Q. You say It is made up by the comptroller
Is not important, but thought would ask
you knew how 1t was.
The Witness. No, really do not know.
merely asked the comptroller to make up
statement Of the expenditures during tho three
previous administrations, and he presented me
with what you have read.
N.-N