Sharp County record., 1885-02-12
CONTRACTORS.
Growth of Their Operations and nature
of Their Work.

Growth of Their Operations and Nature
of Their Work.
To many people the word contractor
presents the idea of a person combining
the salient characteristics OF a political
'boss" and the custodian of a trust
fund.- a man whose pockets are lined
with money gotten by ways that are
dark and tricks that are by no means
vain as far as accomplishing the gath
ering in of shekels is concerned. But
so far from beng a social outcast and a
moral excreScence on the community,
the contractor is an extremely active
and important factor in modern civili-
cation, for he has a hand in nearly
every work of public or private i'm
portance that is undertaken. He is es-
sentially modern institution. Among
the ancients he appears in but one re-
stricted sphere. Those interesting old
despots, whose sole end and aim in life
was to squeeze the last penny out OF
their sub ects, used to farm out the rev.
enues, delegating the squeezing process
to that one of their beloved and trusted
subjects who would pay the most for
the contract Further than this, how
ever, the system does not seem to have
been applied. There is no record of the
letting of contracts for brick-work on
the Tower of Babel Noah did not ad-
vertise for proposals to build the Ark.
And we have every reason for believing
that the stone which went into the
Great Pyramid was bought in open
market" for, if furnished by contract,
it would have been bigger job than
the Philadelphia city buildings.
Dating from the first building OF rail
roads in England, when the elder
Brassey and his compeers on the CONT
nent laid the foundations of their cOloS-
sal fortunes, the modern contract sys-
tenn has developed until now everything.
from putting up country schoO-houso
or furnishing the inmates Of the city's
charitable institutions with Thanksgiy-
ing dinners, up to building a twenty
mill;on-dolar State House which threat
ems to slide down hill into the river, is
done by contract Some well equipped
| Journals devote their columns entirely
to the discussing and advertising Of
contracts, and every daily has its cor
ner reserved for the latter In this
country contracting received great
stimulus during the civil war, when the
major portion of three billions of dol
| lars went out of the Government Treas
ury into the pockets of a host Of army
contractors.
There are three great classes of
| American contractorS-those engaged
upon internal improvements, those do
inc railroad and municipal work, and
| Ind an contractors. The first class in
| cludes a number of firms throughout
the country who are eng gGd in i'm
proving the National waterways. Their
prosperity fuctuates with the varying
proportions of the River and Harbor
bill.
To the second class our railroads and
city improvements owe their existence.
The typical contractor is the jolly, large
limbed Irishman who has himself swung
the pick and handled the shovel. In
the city he is something of a politician
and has a "cousin'' or two in or near
the City Hall, who gives him pointers
on coming jobs, and lets him into the
ring. On railroad work he must make
himself "solid' with the engineer in
charge, for his fate is entirely in the
lattcr's hands. BY means of his est-
mates of work upon which all bids are
based, it is in the power of the engineer
to make or break the contractor A
liberal estimate makes glad the heart
and fat the pocket-book of the contract
or, while with a close or scant estimate
the completion of the contract leaves
him on the ragged edge of bankruptcy
The labor employed varies in nation
atty. Up to 1870 Ireland furnished
nearly all of it. Since then Italians and
Hungarians in the East Swedes in the
West and Chinese upon the Pacific coast
have largely supplanted Patrick, N T.
! Tribune.
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