The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-07-09


country would have felt, and by having its bus
mess disturbed by Congress, and the uncertain
ties of the result you would have said: ''All
this has come about because we did not have
man at the head of the Committee on Appro-
priations with nerve enough and force enough
to carry his bill through by the end of the SEES
sion. The next time we have Congress we had
better see if we cannot get a man who will get
his bills through Suppose / had answered
There was that salary increase" ''Ihat won't
do. You had shown your hand on the salary
question you had protested against it, and you
had done your duty Then they would have
said there were six or seven sections i'll the bill
empowering the United States to bring the rail-
roads before the court and make them account
for their extravaganza. They would have said:
We have lost all that by the loss of this bill.
And would have been charged with acting in
the interest of railroad corporations, and fight
ing to kill the bill for that reason. But be
that as it may, felloW-citizens, considered
the two alternatives as well as [ could. l be-
Ieyed it would rouse a storm of Indignation
and ill-feeling throughout the country if that
increase of salary passed. | believed it would
result IN greater evils if the whole failed
and an extra session came on. For a lit
tie while I was tempted to do what would
rather be pleasing than what would be best in
the long run. believe that it required more
courage to vote as I voted than it would to have
voted the other way but resolved to do what
seemed to me right in the case. let the conse-
quences be what they would. / may have
made mistake in Judgment blame no one
for thinking so--but did what thought was
the least bad of two courses. My subsequent
conduct was consistent with my action on the
bill.
did not myself parade the fact, but more
than a year ago the New York World published
list stating in chronological order the Senators
and Representatives who covered their back
pay into the treasury. My name was first on
the list.
now pause to inquire if any gentleman in
the audience has any questions to ask touching
this salary, or anything concerning it. If they
have, shall be very glad to hear it. TThe
speaker here paused, but, no questions being
asked, he proceeded as follows !:
LII not, pass to the subject my friend over
yOnder has seemed so anxious [ should get to
before finished the last; and here I approach
question that in one sense is not question at
all, and in another sense it may be. I under
stand that several persons in the district are
saying that Mr.. Garfield has taken fee for a
so-called law opinion, but which, in fact. was
something which he ought not to have done.
which was in reality kind of fee for his official
influence as member of the Committee on
Appropriation or, to speak more plainly, that
| accepted pay for service as a kind of bride,
and that, too, in
THE SO-CALLED DE GOLFER PAVEMENT.
Now have tried TO state that in the broadest
way, with the broadcast point forward. I ask
the attention of this audience for few mo-
ments to the testimony. In the first place [
want the audience to understand that the city
of Washington is governed, SO far as it's own
improvements are concerned, by its own laws and
own its people, just as much as Warren has been
governed by It's own coporate laws and author
ity. | remember perfectly well what has been
paraded in the papers so much of late, that
Congress has full power to legislate over the
District of Columbia. Well, Congress has full
jurisdiction over the ten miles square of what
is now called the District of Columbia and
Congress could, / suppose, make all the police
regulations for the city of Washington :;
but Congress always allowed the city of Washing
ton to have its City Council or a Legisla-
tllre until the present time. We have
abolished it, because we had a cum
brous machine. In the year 1871 law was
passed by Congress creating the Board of Pub
lie Works, appointing Governor, and creating
Legislature for the District of Columbia. That
act stated what the Board of Public Works
could and what the other branches of the Dis
trict Government could do, and, among other
things, it empowered the Legislature to levy
taxes to make improvements on the streets.
Works, laid upon them an elaborate plan for
improving the streets of Washington, a plan
amounting to $6,000 900 i'll the first place, and
the Legislature accepted the plan and provided
that the third of the entire cost OF carving out
that plan should be by assessing the foot front
on the property holders, and the other two
thirds should be paid by money to be borrowed
by the City Government in other words, by the
issuing of those bonds The City Gov
eminent of Washington borrowed money and
raised by special taxation enough to
carry on o vast system of improvements When
they got ready to execute their plans one of the
questions that came before them was What kind
of pavement shall be put in, and in what way
shall we go about the business by letting our
pavement contract? In order to settle that
question they wrote to all the principal 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 GEN
eral; the Surgeon General and Gen Babcock,
OF the Engineer Corps; and those few men
sat as an Advising Board, having no power but
merely to advise. They took up all kinds of
pavement ever made. Specimens were sent in.
They looked over the WHOLE and, as result,
recommended this g We recommend YOU. in
stead of letting this work to be done by the low
est bidder, with all the scheming straw bids ,
that may come in, to fix a tariff of prices you
will pay for different kinds of pavements, and
we recommend as follows: If you put down
concrete pavement, you had better say you will
pay so much per square yard for putting it
down. We have looked the cities all over, and
find that it is the proper amount to pay but for
stone, SO much for gravel SO much for
asphaltunl, so much and for wood, so much
Now, that Board of Public Works adopted the
plan and chat schedule Of prices, and, hay
ing elected that, if they put these various
kinds of payements down, they would put
them down at that rate, they then said to
all corners, "Bring in your various kinds
of pavements and show us their merits, and
when we have examined them we will act"
Then the various paving companies and pat
entees 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 COM
pany in Chicago employed Mr.. Parsons, of
Cleveland, as early as the month of April, 1872,
to go before the Board of Public Works and
present the merits of their pavements Mr..
Parsons had nothing whatever to do with the
question of prices they had already been set
tied in advance by the board Mr.. Parsons
was Marshal of the Supreme Court at that time,
and was just about running for Congress He
asked the Chief Justice of the United States
whether there was anv innDr0nriaty in hia TAKING