Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-04-16
Commissioner Bryan Upon the Board
Of Public Works Again.
LETTER OF THE COMMISSIONER IN REPLY TO

missioner Bryan to the House District CON-
mittee, in answer to the recent letter of ex-
Governor Shepherd to that committee, pub
lished in yesterdays STAR:
Hon. A. S. Williams, Chairman OF House
Committee on the District OF Cblun.bia:-SIR:
My attention is called to letter addressed to
you by Ex-Governor Shepherd reviewing an
Official communication OF mine to the Senate
committee on the District of Columbia
Under our peculiar form of local govern
mert, and in the absence of any District rep
reSentative in COngreSs,it is the bOunden duty
OF the Commissioners, whilst standing sentl-
mel over the interests cOnfided to them, to
adopt the prOmpteSt and most effective method
of giving voice to the wants and grievances of
the people. But in the instance before us, the
Senate committee, in two letters expressly
called upon the Commissioners for their OpiO-
ion of a pending bill, and for ''such infOrna-
ton OF suggestions as may guide the commit
some diversity of views upon the subject
among the Commissioners, two answers were
written, one by my colleagues, and the other
by myself. The bill proposed to legalize what,
upon examination last year, / regarded and
then declared to be-, special assessments that
werespecial iniquities." Called upon for an
plain and unequivOcal terms. As directly per-
tinent to the inquiry, the assessments were
shown to be iniquitous, as is well known to
thousands of citizens, who have been, and still
to Us, and pleading to he spared such unwar-
ranted cOnfiscatiOn of their property. At this
very moment Oh my Willing, dn ana eSCl-
mable citizen reports to me, that new and
good cobble- stone carriageway, but then re-
Gently paid for, was changed to worthless
wooden pavement, and that if the entire cost
premises We're paid by him. it would large
ly exceed the assessed value of his
property The En- figures Of the cases
rect, and explanations are attempted of over
hundred thousand dollars of excessive
charges in single assessment. and of an al
Il q al a in,ns
the entire and excessive cost OF excavation for
the mere hauling away of the earth, thus
grading sl4.e5l, hauling si4,795 1t was an out
rage to impose that enormous charge upon
citizens, for hauling the the s earth away from
the browning of the iniquity was charging it
also TO the United States, as is shown by the
records. The same records show the exact
truth of every statement made by me in re-
gard to double payments to contractors,
false measurements, estimates and allow
ances, as well as egregiOus miScalculatiOns,"
and that millions of dollars were squandered
upon pavements OF pine and hemlOck and tar,
and upon other iladviSed work." 1t is EN-.
phatically denied by parties who ought to
know, that the wooden pavementS were Pc
tltiOned for except IN occasional instances,
and then it was not expected that wood
ported and used here, to soon prove as rotten
as were the methods reSOrted to for the pro-
curement OF the cOntracts-involving in one
case, as proven, an outlay of about ninety
thousand dollars Tor single contract. Surely
there was lamentable want of vigilance and
careful administration where such things
could be. OfpavementS laid under thirty-nine
contracts, twenty of which were given to one
company, all in two years, and costing mil
lions OF dollars, every single one was obliged
to be relald at enormous second cost. and
some OF these now need another relaying, to
say nothing of many others that remain as
relies of the kind of work then done. without
competition. Upon such work, besides the
heavy ordinary taxes, these special assess
ments were mainly based. Cognizaut of these
facts, with the records before me, it was not
possible for me to approve of the proposed
measure of Regulation, and am glad the bill
is to be Observation-Disclosures a revision. and
expressly reserylng to the citizen the right of
appeal to the courts. So much for the assess
ments, as viewed in the light of the records
and indiSputable facts.
But your Honorable Committee has called
upon us for information as to the rents We are
paying for District offices. Sc. One item in
our answer TO- that 9gpy is the sum of six
building now occupied by the Commissioners.
facts concerning that rent: In 1871 the Board
OF Public Works leased the building at $500 per
month (for three years L am told, no lease APP
pearing on recOrd.) Immediately repairs and
additions were ordered, and there was no
bargain made befOrehand.' The mechanics
were employed without any bidding or com
petition whatever, or even so much as an eSti-
mate from them. PeremptOry orders were
issued such as the following:
i" M III. II. SeGrte:-l want this man, VIM
the the Morrison ,, Building Please put him to
The result was that these favored con-
tractors, working without the slightest re
stricton as to cost, brought in enormous bills,
and although they were reduced in the aggre-
gate to $4,000, it is said that by subsc Juent
allowances OF the Board of Audit the amount
exceeded $4,000, including carpets, and office
furniture. But the fact remains that on a
short lease of an old building repairs and addi-
tons were made at cost of about double the
If hp tcp1f Thuz
the assessed value of the building for 1870 and
1871 was $4,000, and the repairs and additions
without furniture) cost, say Si80J0 Did ever
practical business man rent house for three
years for his own use, and then eXpend upon
it double its value? And in this case the owner
naturally increased his rent at the end of the
not only loses probably over $4,000, but has to
pay in largely increased rent for its own ex-
penditure. The records ESQ confidently re-
ferred toy disclose other facts connected with
this matter. One of the bills for the work in
that repair find was audited and paid TO A.
X. Shepherd q Bro, Sc, 754.l6. The assessed
years been $22,OO0-being s., 900 less than the
appraiSement before the extensive and ex-
penSlye improvements were made so the Dis
triet loses 81, again; These are the two matters
may be pardoned for replying to the strict
ures in the letter under review, upon the pro-
priety OF my mentioning such matters. That
a public officer, when called upon, (and espe-
claly here in the District, where this seems
the only direct method to answer questions
prOpounded by the governing power in Con-
gresS, must so shape his answers as to conceal
or eyade the facts, is as ineXplicable to my
perhaps untutOred mind as are the intrcacies
OF the accounts of the late cherished treasurer
OF the Board of Public Works, accounts invOlv-
ing many millions, and yet so wonderfully
Kept as TO battle experts, but doubtless quite
Ineligible to the treasurer, and to those init
mate with him in the transactions noted. 1t is
a breach of official propriety, it would seem, to
answer questions trufhfully in the direct dis
charge of duty, but not to bargain with ones
sell in office and to ayast extent in real estate
in and out OF office with successful contractors
and the Ike, to say nothing of minor matters,
which the records present to view. Shall not
officers, like honest men generally, call things
by their right names? 1t seems to me that
Congress wants, and ought to know. the truth
and when fully appraised of the deSpotic and
eXtravagant acts OF its own agents against the
repeated protests OF the people, it will deal
Justly and even literally with us in relieving
the District OF the intOlerable burden thus i'm
posed upon it.
have reason to know that such is the senti-
ment OF Congress, and to believe that it will
make liberal provision for the District, if fully
assured OF an honest and economical disburSe-
ment by our successors Of all appropriations.
Very respectfully,
THos b. BRYAN, Commissioner d. C.
WASHINGTON, April Is, 1875
BEAUTIFUL SPRING DRESS GOODS, part wool,
only l5c. one yard wide Pacific fine quality
cOlOred figured cambricS, l0c., worth PIE,