New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-03-03
WASHINGTON.


AN INErFxCruAL ATTEMPT TO REMEDY AN ABUSE IN
THE SUPERVISING ARCHITECTS oFFICK-MR.
BRoMpERG DENoUNCEs THE REPORT OF THE
ALABAMA CoMMIrrEE-A VICTORY FOR THE
ENGRAVING BUREAU OF THE TREAsURf-GEN'
BUFFERS PET JOB DEFEATED.
lBY TELEGRAPH THE TRIBUEE.l
WASHINGTON, March 2.-The House passed the
Sundry Civil Appropriation bill at about o'clock
this morning. having acted upon some of the most
important paragraphs contained in it after mid
night, and when barely quorum of members were
present At about o'clock Mr.. Loughridge moved
an amendment providing for examination OF the
plans and specifications of all public buildings now
in course of construction for the purpose of ascer
tanning if the completion of any of them according
to those plans will involve the expenditure OF
larger sum of money than the limit of cost now fixed
by law. The amendment further provided for q
modification of plans of public buildings to bring
their cost within the legal limit or when this is i'm
possible. a suspension of work. One of the worst
abuses under the late administration of the office OF
the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Depart
ment grew out of an almost utter disregard for the
Limitations Congress put upon the cost of public
buildings. When Congress has appropriated money
for the purchase of site for new public building
and provided that the cost of the building shall not
exceed half million of dollars, it has been custom
airy for the Supervising Architect to prepare the
plan with very little regard for the limitation
The result has been that when the full
amount authorized by law has been expended,
the building has been only half or two-thirds COM
pleted. and Congress is either obliged to appro-
pirate money to finish the building, or leave it in
condition in which it is of use but rather a
source of expense to the Government MI
Loughridge's amendment proposed to put stop
to this abuse by taking immediate steps to
bring the cost of all of these public buildings with
in the legal limit of cost but the House was in no
mood for any such salutary measure as this and
would not entertain 1t for moment.
THE ALABAMA REPORT DENOUNCED.
When the paragraph appropnatlng money to de-
fray the expenses of the Executive Department was
reached Mr.. Bromberg moved pro forma, to strike
il out in order to say word in regard to the report
Of the majority of tho Alabama Committee. He
said that the report of that Committee represented
the people of his State as almost savages and he
doubted the good taste of celebrating the Centen-
NAL at all If the statements he had referred to were
true. But turning aside from that question, he
wished to remind the House that the bill now under
consideration contained appropriation for hos
pial ia the District of Columbia for colored people
Why he asked are not coored people admitted into
the hospitals where white patients are treatedf In
Mobile, he added eight years ago, at a time when
negro suffrage was as unpopular among the Repub-
hcans as among the Democrats appropriation
was made for a city hospital and for furnishing it,
and black patients had always been admitted to it,
placed in the same clean beds, and cared for by the
same kind sisters These people bad done
this wholly unconscious that they were doing any
thing be commended for, and yet this same people
were described by the majority of the Alabama
Committee as little better than savages. He closed
by denouDcing that report in the strongest terms.
Several years an act was passed forbdding
the exhibition in the Capitol of works OF art belong
ing to private individuals; but this law has every
year been persistently disregarded AT each session
of Congress artist who is under the patronage
of some influential representative brings picture
or a statue here and puts it in the rotunda OF IN
the old House of Representatives and begins to
lobby for its sale, generally with good success and
without much reference to the character of the
work. The JOINT Committee on the Library at
tempted to amcud the Sundry Civil bill by inserting
ON order for the architect of the capitol extension to
see that mis- law WIS carried out, but of course it
failed
TIE PRINTING OF NOTES AND BONDS.
One Of the most important sections of the Sundry
Civil Appropriation bill was that relating to the
printing Of United States notes and bonds A con-
tnual contest has been going on for years between
the bank-note engraving companies and the En-
craving and Printing Bureau of the Treasury De-
partment Early in Grants administration the
Joint Committee on Retrenchment made most
thorough Investigation of the whole subject OF
printing securities and recommended that at least
three impressions should be made on every note OF
bond two of which should be made outside of the
Department and by separate companies This was
done for several years but recently the Engraving
and Printing Bureau has been doing more and more
of the work IN the Department. To this the bank
note engraving companies object, and during the
present Winter a long investigation has been made
by the Committee on Banking and Currency, which
has resulted in two reports. The majority report
submitted by William Walter Phelps. ordered the
printing to be done as recommended by the JOINT
Committee on Retrenchment; that Is it required
two of the three impressions to be made outside OF
the Department. The minority report, represented
by Mr. Maynard required one of the three impress
sions to be done by private establishments The
arguments in favor of doing part of the work out
side of the Department are numerous, but the
strongest are that il is economical and safer
The Superintendent of the Printing and Engrav-
ing Bureau has admitted that the expense of doing
this work in the Department is about 80 per cent
greater than doing it by the bank note companies
but claims that this difference is made up by the
fact that the Department Bureau has rent and
other expenses TO pay, which the bank note COM
panies have to meet forgetting apparently that ehe
building occupied is a very expensive one, and that
the Government loses interest the capital invest
ed a larger sum than the rest would amount to- In
the matter Of security it is generally conceded that
there is much less danger of any unauthorized issue
of notes bonds where the plates and dies held
by three independent establishments than when
they are all in the custody of As there no
possibility of passing separate bill on this subject
so late in the session. it was decided to settle the
question by a section in the Sundry Civil Appro-
prlation bill. A majority of the Appropriations