National Republican., 1883-11-09
Made Handsomely Large Under Our Present
Form Of District Government
Which Has Given the Business Over to a
Monopoly
The Lowest Bidders Frequently the Only Bidders,
and They Reap a Harvest Of $4,000 a Year
suggestions as TO How the Monopoly May
be Broken Up.

assistant to the engineer commissioner of the
District of Columbia, North America Lieut..
+. V. Greene corps of &c, said, when asked
about certain very interesting features Of the
subject, that he didn't know; about other in
teresting things he said he wouldn't talk Z,
about other interesting things ho
made reference to his published
reports; none having been published
however, for tho work of the last seventeen
months; and about the whole matter of street
paving Lieut.. Il. V. Greene, corps of, &c,
conveyed the impression TO the inquirer that
he didn't care to givo information to the pub
lie. He did, however, perhaps inadvertently,
disclose that A. l.. Barber and ii. IL. Gram
ford had secured all or nearly all of the con-
tracts for building and repairing concrete
pavements recently, and that they were fro-
quently the only bidders.
A subsequent effort to obtain information
from other sources than Lieut.. +. V. Greene,
CORDS of, &c., was more successful. Much of
the information was historical and familiar
1t was learned that A. L. Barber u Co. have
q monopoly of the street paving for the dis
trict. They are able to retain this monopoly
from the fact that they own control all tho
asphalt in the island Of Trinidad, which is
the only available source Of supply. Tho
asphalt of Franco has been found to be
too slippery for use and too expensive
10 bring here. There are said to DO immense
lakes of asphalt in the mountains of Colorado
but SO remote from railways that il cannot be
used. The commissioners let contracts for
asphalt pavement only, with the exception Of
some small quantity of stone pavement and
the result is the monopoly. Barber g. Co.
have corner" on asphalt, and will not be
very generally condemned for using it to their
own advantage, since nine-tenths of the
business men of the country would work
the same corner" and take tho same ad-
vantage if they had tho opportunity, and
consider Themselves perfectly honorable.
Whether the commissioners are to be held
blameless in the matter depends entirely
upon their power to break up the monopoly.
Business mon perfectly familiar with the de-
tails of tho work insist that the commission
ers have that power if they choose to exercise
it.
From $4,000 to 100000 year upon an
average is lost to the district on account of
tho monopoly. Asphalt cost delivered here,
as accurately as it can BIO reckoned without
access to Barber u Co.'s books, $15 per ton.
Barber g. Co. receive from the district 1926 a
yard for paving. competent contractor
offers to do all tho paving in the city
for five years at $l.S5 yard, and
pay S25 ton for asphalt. He would make n
fair profit at these figures. He makes no
bids for street paving, because he cannot buy
the asphalt. simple computation, based ON
the amount of asphalt pavement laid each
year, will show what the profits of the
monopolists must bc. A comparison of the
average cost of asphalt pavement for the past
five years will be useful for tho same
purpose. The table is furnished in the last
report of Lieut.. +. V. Greene, corps of, &c.
1t shows that the average cost per square yard
ofasphalt pavement for the years 1973J79 was
$l.S0; for lS79-S0, S1.47; for 1880 0-'s1, 81 SO;
for 1SS1-'S2, 500; for 1SS2'S3 $2.26 These
figures are suggestive, when it is remembered
that all competition has ceased, and the
monopoly has been undisturbed since 1881
Since competition was killed the price has ad =
vanced Al cents yard.
1t is worth to the district in round num-
bers, $4,000 year to defeat the monopoly,
and the important question is how can it be
done? Ono effective method would be to
adopt some other material for concrete pave
ments. That material is coal tar the supply
ofwhich no individual firm, nor ring controls
1t will probably be objected that it does not
make so good q pavement as the asphalt,
but the objection is not good. Coal tar
pavements were laid on largo number of
streets in 1915 and they are still in
good condition, and have required
less repairing than any asphalt pavement
which has been laid for the same longth of
time. section of coal tar pavement laid in
1873 is in as good condition as any asphalt
pavement which has been lad the same length
of time. There has been no coal tar pave
ment laid for some years, and a comparison
of that laid years ago with asphalt put down
recently is unfair. All of the recent in
ventons and improved methods have been
applied to the asphalt alone Moreover
the asphalt was always subjected to moro
rigorous inspection and laid under more
binding conditions than the coal tar The
coal tar used was never inspected; the asphalt
was, and is always examined by q chemist
employed by the government. Any sort of
sand was used in the coal tar pavements, and
the contractor used his own discretion as to
tho proportions of the ingredients which
no put into his concrete The sand
put into tho asphalt pavements always
was and is inspected by a government officer
and must be OF a certain fixed quality; and
the proportions OF sand and asphalt are fixed
just as experience has shown that the best
results will be produced. Put down with tho
same care, and with tho advantage of recent
improvements and experience of late years.
the coal tar pavement would be as good
or better than tho asphalt pavement
1t would have two points, at least,
of superiority 1t would furnish better
footing for horses, and would break tho
bright sunlight, instead of rejecting it in
binding glare into the eyes of mon and
animals It's expense is about the same as
that of asphalt, whom the latter is not "coV-
ered,' and, II adopted by tho commissioners,
the grip OF the monopolists would bo shaken
of, and the $4,000 year bonus which is
now paid to them, would be saved to the dis
trict.
Another method Of defeating tho monopoly
is for the district to buy Its own crude
asphalt refine it, and sell tho refined article
to contractors at a uniform price, Tho plant
for refining would cost not moro than $4,000,
aud would be paid for in tho saving on the
first contract let The inspectors aud
chemists necessary are already employed by
the government TO examine the asphalt of
Barber IL Co., and could as readily and
cheaply examine tho asphalt Of the govern
mont. If Barber 4 Co. own all tho crude
asphalt, which Is doubted, and refuse TO sell
il to the district the only recourse would be
TO some other kind Of pavemont but tho mo-
nopoly would be eaectually broken.
Another opportunity, which does not now
exist, was offered two years ago to defeat the
monopoly. At that time there was competi-
tion, and contracts had beon awarded to lower
bidders than Barber q Co. When these par
ties, however, bought their asphalt in Trni-
dad, they were restrained by an injunction,
procured by tho monopolists, from running
their asphalt from the land. The processes
Of colonial courts are slow, and to give them
time to got tho ipjunctions dissolved the
contractors asked for an extension of the time
specified in their contracts for the completion
OF the work. Tho commissioners refused tho
extension, and by so doing directly "plnyod
into the hands" OF the monopoists, Tho
other contractors were compelled TO forfeit
their contract, Tho monopolists were en-
hblcd To oOmulete their ARRANGEMENTS for tho