Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-15
SHOULD 0WNSlT ALL
Emphatic Views Of ez-RseTesenta-
tive Coombs on a Vital Subject.
HIS VALUABLE EXPERIENCE
Government Should Put Its Public
Buildings South of the Avenue.
P r ES ENT CONDITIONS

The United States should own c,.,r,,
foot Of land south of the avenue and nnrih
Of the NAH. and make of il a park. IN Uhi.l,
the public buildings OF the futur. should b,
erected"
such was the emphatic expression This
morning of ex-Representative William J.
| Coomhs. who served in the Firty-second
| ana Firty-third Congresses. and has I,een
IN Washington several days Mr.. Conr,,hs
| Is probably as well versed upon the subiact
of the necessities of the government re-
| gardtng its great workshops at the national
seat Of government as any man living H..
was member of the appropriation com
| mittee in the Fifty-third Congress and
| chairman Of its subcommittee which iny,s-
tigated the rental of private buildings in
Washington for the use Of the government.
| Speaking of this notable inquiry. Mr..
| Coombs said:
Startling Discoveries.
| 1T was my duty TO ascertain whether ,-
not such buildings were adapted Ia The nur-
poses for which they were used. as well as
| the percentage upon cost or yalue nj an,
| rent being paid for them. An engineer of-
| flcer of the army was detailed to assist mo
| and the investigation was thorough We
| FOUND touching the item of economy that
the government was paying from 6 To II
| per cent in rentals on the value OF the
property, and that in nearly every cas- The
| bmidlngs were poorly adapted to the p,lr-
pose for which they were used
| The report created a change I'm tina
| minds and attitude of many of the old :
members of the House who I'D to that
, time had been opposed to the erection OF
new buildings for government use. Never
| theless, since then only moderate progress
has been made in remedying the evil IL
was found that the work of many Of the
departments was scattered in different
| buildings at a distance from one another
as to seriously interfere with efficiency and
| very largely increase the cost of admins
| tration.
IF the scope Of the committee had IN
cluded the examination of buildings owned
by the government the revelations would
have been much more startling
scandalous State of Affairs
Particularly would it have been the case
in the matter of the patent Office" contin-
Ted Mr.. Coombs. II have had occasion
during my present visit to Washington to
go through that office. and 1 found the
conditions under which that important de- ;
partment of the service is being carried on
to be simply scandalous.
Valuable records involving titles to bill
lions of dollars worth of property are
crowded into insufficient space on tenn
porary shelves, between which narrow
passages difficult of access, and rendering
proper classification impossible.
Il found rooms with ceilings not over
nine to ten feet high crowded by employees
These rooms were in some cases heated by !
stoves. with pipes for carrying of the
smoke extending along the ceiling and
among the shelves, upon which important
documents were stored. No thought has
been expended upon the facility for trans
acting the business or the health of the en-
ployes. Any private corporation guilty OF
the same negligence would be indicted by
the grand jury.
when we consider that It is generally
conceded that one of the principal causes
of the prosperity of the manufacturing IN
duStrieS of the country is the incentive
given to invention by the protection given
to inventors under our patent laws. said
Mr.. Coombs, lit must be admitted that any
failure to provide proper facilities for the
transaction of the business is shortsighted
and ineXcusable. Complaints are constant
that patents are frequently granted which
cannot be sustained on account of conflict
with existing patents. Doubtless millions
of dollars have been expended in litigation
WHICH might have been saved If different
conditions had prevailed. If the records
had been kept in condition for easy refer
ence and, instead of trusting to the mem
DRY or experience of the employees. access
could have been provided to previous :
claims and patents thousands of patents
which have entailed litigation and loss
would have been refused.
Only Case in Point.
point continued Mr.. Cocmbs. Nearly al
the other public departments are crowded
beyond all reason with records of value
that are constantly needed in the trans
action Of business. Instead of appropria'-
ing money for public buildings in places
about as needful of them Kamschatka.
Congress should take liberal steps to re-
lieve the disgraceful state IN which The
business establishments of the government
itself are kept.
Il one of the original advocates Of
the idea to secure ali the property south IF
Pennsylvania avenue between the Capitol,
and the treasury, and north of the mall,
and extend the park up to the avenue and
erect therein the public buildings, not up TO
the building line, but set back in the
grounds where their architectural beauti's
would not be obscured, but set off effect
ively-''
Mr. Coombs then used the words with
which this recital opens.
Mr.. COOmbs' Public Service.
1t is interesting to note in this connection
that Mr.. Coombs enjoys the distinction of
bringing about the settlement of the debts
owing to the United States by the Union
Pacific, the Kansas Pacific and the Central
Pacific railroads. He was chosen by Pres
ident Cleveland to take charge of the set
Element of this formidable question, and
was continued in the position. 1t will be
remembered that Congress was consider
Ing the advisability of settling with the
roads for the sum of S35 $4,000 while the
latter were negotiating to pay s2seoo0oo.
Mr. Cleveland sent for Mr.. Combs, and. after
talking over the subject, commissioned Mr..
Coombs to make thorough investigation.
He did so, and vent over every inch of the
roads and their branches, and satisfied
himself that there had never been any rea-
son why the corporations could not have
paid interest on the bonds guaranteed by
Congress and dividends as well. Meantime
the old owners of the road, under the form
of a reorganization committee, secured -
per cent of the bonds, and had begun fore
closure proceedings. after setting aside Ss5,-
100000 to settle the claims of the govern
ment "and for other purposes"
Valuable Discovery.
Mr.. Coombs. who is a laymsn and not
a lawyer, discovered that the reorganiza-
ton committee had left out its calculations
the fact that in the act of 1864, under au-
thcrity of which the bonds were issued, the
government had never waived its sover-
eign right not to be sued. The result of
this was that II the roads had been sold
they Vould still remain subject IN he