Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-07-14

carry on vast system of improvements.
When they got ready to execute their
plans, one of the questions that came be.
tore them was, what kind of pavement
shall be put in, and in what way shall we
60 about the business by letting our
pavement contract? in order to settle
that question they wrote to all the princi-
pal cities and found out all the methods
pursued by them, and finally appointed
four leading officers of the army: Gen.
Humphrey, Chief Engineer; Gen. Meigs,
Quartermaster General; the Surgeon.
General; and Gen. Babcock, of the En-
gineer Corps; and those few men sat as
an Advising Board, having no power bat
merely to advise. They took up all kinds
of pavement ever made. Specimens were
sent in. They looked over tbs whole, and
as result recommended this: :" We
recommend you, instead of letting this
work to be done by the lowest bidder
with all the scheming straw bids that
may come in, to fix tariff of prices
you will pay for different kinds of
pavements, and we recommend as fol-
lows: If you put dowo concrete pave
ment you had better say you will pay 80
much per square yard for putting it down.
We have looked the cities all over, and
find that 1t is the proper AMOUNT to pay /;
but for stone so much; for gravel so
much; tor asphaltum so much; and for
wood so much" Now. that Board of
Public Works adopted the plan and that
schedule of prices, and, having elected
that if they put those various kinds Of
psvements down, they would put them
down at that rate, they then said to all
rsr hi 40 IF
pavements and show us their merits, and
when we have examined them we will
act" Then the various paving com anies
and patentees all over the country who
had what they called good pavements
presented themselves; but in almost all
cases through their attorneys They sent
men there to represent the relative merits
of the pavements. A pavement company
in Chicago employed Mr.. Parsons, OF
Cleveland, as early as the month of April,
1879, to go before the Board of Public
Works and present the merits of their
pavement. Mr.. Parsons had nothing
whatever to do with the question OF
prices; they had already been settled in
advance by the Board. Mr.. Parsons was
Marshal of the Supreme Court at the
time, and was just about running for
Congress. He asked the Chief Justice oil
the United States whether there was any
Improperly in his taking that case up
aud arguing it merely because be was an
appOintee and under his direction, and
the Chief Justice responded there was
none in the world. He proceeded with
the case until the 9Th day
of June, when for the first time
heard anything about it. This was
two days before the adjournment oil
Congress On that day Mr.. Parsons came
to me and said he had an important case
he had worked good while on it, hut was
called away. He must leave. He did not
want to lose his fee in twas likely to
lose it unless the work was com pleted
He must go at any rate He asked me il
l would argue the Case for him; if
would examine into the merits of this
pavement and make statement OF 1t be-
fore the Board. | said: II will do it if
on examination, find the patent what il
purports to be-the best wood pavement
patent there is; but | can't do it until
after Congress adjourns." Congress adj
journed two days later.
The papers were sent to me Of patents
modelled specimens, and documents show
ing where the pavements had been used
The investigation of the patents and the
chemical analysis representing all the
elements OF the pavement was q laborious
task, and / worked at 1t as faithfully as
anything | ever worked at. | did it in
open daylight. | have never been able to
understand how anybody has seen any.
thing in that on which to base an attack
on me. say I am to day Intellectually
incapable of understanding the track of
mans mind who sees in this any ground
for attacking me. | made the argument
There were two patents concerned in that
pavement itself; there were some forty
different wood pavements propOsed and
to carefully and analytically examine all
the relative merits OF those was no small
work. Mr. Parsons was to get fee
provided he was successful, and not
any if he was not successful, and
hence the sum offered was large-s
contingent fee, as every lawyer knows.
Now, l understand that it is said by
some OF these gentlemen that that was in
some way or other connected with the
United States Treasury. How? Tina
pavement was to be paid for by the City
OF Washington; one-third of it assessed
directly on the property holders. and paid
just as you pay tor pavement here in
Warren; and the rest has to be paid by
tne Clty OF w asnlngtOn IN money tnat Is
borrowed, and for which the citizens are
ultimately to be taxed to pay. But was
Chairman of the Committee on Appro.
priations, you say, and the House of Rep
resentatives appropriated money for the
d strict of Columbia How? Whenever
pavement on any given street is laid In
front Of the United States Postoffice, OF
the Patent Office, or Treasury, the Gov
eminent of the United States, as mere
matter of decent justice, pays its proper
proportion in front of It's own buildings
as any other prop 4rty-holder would do
and that was all. Whatever was the legit
innate, proper share OF the United States
to pay it paid. Now, does anybody see
in what possible way that fact made it in
any way improper for me to practice my
profession in location where [ was not
needed in the public service? But some
one says, "The pavement was bad one
1t was swindle." Vino told you that
Why, man that went to Washington to
testify, and that had different pavement
CT his own, he was glad to say that the
De GOlVer pavement was q bad one