Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-05

Among the bills reported from committees
and placed on the calendar were the following:
Increasing the salary of the supervising sur
geon general Of the marine hospital service to
that OF surgeon general of the army.
To regulate commerce carried on by tele-
graph.
ROOMS FOR SENATE COMMITTEES NEEDED.
MIR. Moody offered a resolution directing the
sergeant-at-arms to procure, for the use of the
committee on Indian Gepredations, some suita-
bic room or rooms in the vicinity of the Capitol,
at rent not exceeding 800 per month, the
lease to terminate with the prezent session.
Mr.. Butler desired to Offer an amendment so
as to make the resolution apply generally to
committees that hEro no room in the Capitol.
He suggested that there was a suitable build
ing near the Capitol (meaning the Hotel
Maltby) that could be procured, and he under
stood that the committee on rules had been
considering the proprlety of renting it.
~. AA-ich chairman of the committee on
ruies) said that that committee had only control
OF the space within the north wing of the Capt.
tOl. Recently a resolution had been offered by
the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Butler)
authorizing that committee to hire the Maltby
House. The committee had considered that
question, but he could safely say that its men,
bers we're averse to recommending the hiring
Of that building. There was not. he said, q
single room in the Senate wing of the Capitol
that could be assigned to a committee. There
were now thirteen committees waiting rooms.
Mr.. Cockrell inquired as to the rooms in the
Capitol terrace.
Mr.. Aldrch said that there were ten or
twelve OF these terrace rooms which might at
some time be suitable and available for COM
mittee rooms, but they would not be available
at the present session.
RENT OF THE MALTBY HOUSE.
Mr.. Stewart inquired at what rent the Maltby
house could be secured.
Mr.. Aldrich said that it could be rented for
5000 Cor perhaps less) from now till the LIST
of October. 1t contained eighty odd rooms
twenty suites with four or five rooms each.
Mr.. Dawes said that all the inconvenience
experienced arose from the fact that an archi-
tect (referrlng to MIR. Olmstead) had said that
it would not be according to true taste to put
outside windows in the terrace rooms. The
question had been fought out before the Sem
ate two or three times, but the argument had
proved unanswerable that
EVERYTHING HAD TO BE sUBoRDINATED TO TASTE,
and now twenty or thirty rooms were shut up.
like SO many dungeons, because according to
some peoples taste) the terrace should be made
to look like an underpinning to the Capitol.
And this, he said, was all because
this architect had seen. in England,
Just such terrace to a building. He (Mr.
Dawes) did not take any interest in the dis
cussion. He had done what he could to have
utility rule. There was no such magnificent
structure in the world as the Capitol, and vet
all of it had to be sacrificed to false taste. And
SO it would be until there should be revolu-
ton.
Mr.. Vest said that he had been under the i'm
preston that the profession of architecture
was a proper one-one that required edu-
cation, experience and knowledge. II
the Senate was not to be governed by
the opinion of architects the services of
experts might we'll be dispensed with and
the whole question of public buildings referred
to Senators and Representatives in Con-
gress. There had been burst of
eloquence of this. subject worthy of
worlds fair. He (Mr. Vestl took his full share
of the responsibility of opposing the placing of
windows in the terrace. The idea OF the Senator
from Massachusetts, (Mr. Dawes) seemed to be
to turn the Capitol into a Dutch barn
simply because there were certain committee
rooms to be provided.
TERRACE DOMINATION.
Mr.. Hale spoke OF the domination which
landscape architect (Mr. OlmsteaD had
exercised over the Senate in the matter
OF the terrace wall. 1t was, he
tect, he said, gave no reason for what he did.
He had roomy mind with deep
recesses, in which he evolved all sorts
OF magnificent plans at the expense
of mankind generally and (in this case) at the
expense of the United States Senate and the
general government He had decided that
there must be a great vast broad, shining
underpinnnig for the whole building because its
landscape features would look better. There
was a ruthlessness about this whole pro-
s1eSins ssah d.ssrr... .nd this terrace
the subject These rooms he declared, could
not be used, not only for committee rooms but
even for the storage OF papers.
Mr.. Blair-How old is this architect?
Mr.. Hale-He is
OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER.
Mr.. Hale went on to say that if this landscape
architect were to decide that the Capitol dome
should be reversed and should appear
like a great uplifted saucer it would
be done and the committee on public
buildings would sustain him, and
Senator's would be told that they knew nothing
about it. He related the experience of friend
who had undertaken to build house in WASH
ington, but had had control of the
matter taken out of his hands by his
architect, who had followed his own
ideas and put up structure costing twice as
much as had been originally estimated. And
he quoted this friend as declaring that ''some-
body has got to kill an architect" Laughter
The discussion was continued by Senators
Vest, Dawes, Paddock, Platt, Chandler, Haw-
ley, Morrill, and Moody, and finally the resolu-
ton was referred to the committee on rules.
Mr.. BLAIR HAS THE FLOOR.
At 2 o'clock the bill to aid in the establish
ment and temporary support of common
schools was taken up as the unfinished business
and Mr.. Blair proceeded to address the Senate
in advocacy of it.
THE HOUSE.
There being a tacit understanding between