Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-13


tunnel bad been constructed, how the District
had been forced to pay one-haf Of %. 900 900
for this work and how finally an additional cost
on the current expenses Of the District had
been imposed by the appropriation Of s575, 900
for the laying OF pipes to make up for the loss
Of the tunnel
Mr. aoRMAx SEVERE ON rHH TUNNEL.
Mr.. German was severe In his remarks on the
tunnel. He said:
This tunnel was begun under the act Of Con-
gress and abandoned. Ithas been of no earthly
use to the District up to this time. 1t was
abandoned under the operation Of act Of
Congress year or two ago. should like to
ask the Senator from Kansas II il is o fair ad-
justment for Congress to make having ordered
the construction of the tunnel under the off,
GERS OF the army, who were not skilled in that
class OF work and who made great blunder, to
go on with it until you expended g. 000. 900.
and then by an act Of Congress, without con-
sulting the people of the District, Of course, in
any way, abandon the whole enterprise, and
yet make these people pay one-haf the cost?
Now that seems to me- il the Senator will per-
init me moment, very great hardship on
these people when You have because of that
been compelled, 1 understand in this bill, to
stop all improvements on the streets and the
properly owned by citizens Of the District Of
Columbia. / should like to have the Senator
make statement in regard to it and whether
he thinks we are dealing with these people
justly in that matter.
AN UNFORTUNATE TRANSACTION.
Mr.. Edmunds said: Going into the tunnel
business was a very unfortunate transaction
undoubtedly, but if the constitution of the gov
eminent of the District Of Columbia is right at
all then Congress was the governing power
and exercising that Legislative governing power
according to the best lights it had, just as the
legislature of a state or the common council Of
city or the supervisors Of county would do,
1t turned out that public enterprise, which it
was hoped and expected would be Of advantage
to the public, and which. as it went on. Of
course necessarily cost money, and which was
failure. Now. then, the failure is chsrgeable
to the same fund naturally and ordinarily, the
loss that was contributed to do it, and il the
fault was that the people of the District did
not have a representation in Congress or in the
District government or in the army Of the
United States, then it WIS not the fault of the
failure Of the procedure which entities them to
consideration or redress, but it is the fault of
the fundamental organization of the govern
ment of this District
Mr.. Edmunds then gave history Of the va
rious forms Of government tried in the Dis
trict.
AS TO MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
Mr.. Plumb thought the tunnel payment was
all right. He said:
Now. one other thing, as long as this subject
is up about that tunnel. OF course if the gov
ernment of the United States is to guarantee
that it will run this District more economically
than any other municipality in the country is
run, and that it will stand bondsman for the in
tegrity and for the judgment of all men who
are employed in the District in and about its
affairs, We have got what might be called an
army contract: but will venture to say, if
may do so without any egotism. that during the
period of time in which have known anything
about the transaction of the purely municipal
affairs of the District of Columbia they have
been carried on with greater economy and in
tegrity than is usually experienced in munich
palities otherwise governed.
Yet have often felt, and I do feel now as
though we ought to furnish at the capital of
the country an experiment Of municipal gov
eminent based upon universal suffrage
which would be, if we can make it SO. the best
possible example of what the suffrage will do.
SO am perfectly willing to let the government
OF the District be run in that way and have at
times contemplated the introduction of a bill
for that purpose in order that we may get back
to the republican idea of government in this
District for the purpose OF seeing what would
result, and for the purpose of furnishing pos
sibly, as said, the best example of what free
suffrage would bring.
should now be willing for one to vote. if the
people will tax. this government off our hands
and run it, to credit them with the entire
amount of that tunnel l will venture to saw
that if they undertook it, by the time they run
the government three or four years they would
be willing to take us back, tunnel and ALL l do
not see any reason why, the Senator from
Vermont has well sal 1, and has better said than
could say, the government Of the District BIZ
Congress should be expected to be exempt from
all the human frailties and infirmities which
attach to government elsewhere.
UNJUST FOR THE DISTRICT TO PAY.
Mr. Harris, IN giving an account Of the tun-
mel affair, said the District authorities had
nothing whatever to do with the so-cailed i'm
provement. Continuing. he said: '.The army
engineer. Lieut.. Hoxie. whose plan to a consd-
cradle extent it WAS, was in charge of it up to
given time q do not remember the date), and
up to the time when he was removed BY the
act OF the government from the charge of that
work and sent elsewhere and another engineer
officer OF the army put in charge of it, there
has been no complaint that have ever heard
l do not think any will be made--tha the work
was not perfect success; but after Hoxis was
removed and another army engineer was put
in charge of the work, l have been informed,
and think the report of the committee shows
the fact, that the work was very defectively and
improperly done. 1t was declared a failure
and then abandoned. 1t was the act of
Congress that required the work to be done.
it was the Officer of the government Of the
United States who supervised and controlled it.
and something less than $4,000. 600 were ex-
pended upon it, and then it was the act of the
government that abandoned it and adopted a
ne" systtn inNOlVlnS cost OF about S600 OOO
l do not see the justice in the act of the gov
eminent now demanding that the taxpayers of
the District Of Columbia shall pay their one
half of the loss sustained by reason of these va
rious acts OF the government itself, in respect
to which the taxpayers of the District had no
voice, no control, no power to direct or to stop
the work. 1t is unjust, in my opinion, and /
shall favor no such policy"
MIR. Plumb said the people of the District
had as much control over army officers de-
tailed here as they did over the Commissioners
He then suggested that perhaps the tunnel
would not turn out to be an entire loss, but
could be utilized in some way. Mr.. German
thought great injustice was being done the
District in the tuunel business The finances
OF the District at present were in such q con-
dition that the street schedule of only last year
could be completed when this bill was passed.
Mr.. German then offered an amendment re-
funding to the District the 300 600 paid from
her revenues for the original purchase Of the
Geological Park.
The amendment however, was rejected The
bill was then passed.
A BOLD HIGHWAYMAN,
Judge Miller Waa Sorry EXa Noupa No.