Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-29
For Wings of New Agricul-
tural Building
ARE MAKING TROUBLE
ARCHITECTS WANT THEM MOVED
FIFTY FEET WEST.
Parking Commission Plans Have NO
Official Status and Were Not APP
proved by Congress.

On each side of the Agricultural Depart
nent building is very big hole in the
ground. They were excavated for the base
ments of the two wings of the building
They are very large, very deep. ana they
were secured after the expenditure o! sew
eral thousand dollars of money and much
labor. The question of the removal oi
these holes 20 another location that will
be in strict accordance with the plans Oh
the park commission is now under coasid-
Grafton The park comm ssion sight is
about fifty feet to the west of the excava-
tons.
The deem excavations are making a lot of
trouble They were excavated in order that
the new department building when COM
pleted might have its north and south axis
exactly on a line which would run up the
middle of 18th street. According to that
plan the view from the main doorway of
the building. when 1t is completed, would
be up thirteenth street between beautiful
row of trees to the northern limit of the
mall. and beyond that through the street
as far the eye could reach.
"a The Plan of Construction.
The plan for the construction of this
building has been to let the old building
stand until the wings are completed and
when that has been done and the depart
ment has moved into them the work OF
build ng is to be commenced Carrying out
that plan, the excavations for the wings
were begun. 1t was not quite complete
when 1t stopped. The stoppaSe of the
work was the result of new ideas brought
into the consideration of the question by
the five members of the commission ap-
pointed by the President for the location
of public buildings in the District of CO.
lumba.
1t is understood that the members of the
old park commission discovered that this
building had been located so that it would
center the central line of 18th street,
and then they became active because such
a location was not strictly in accordance
with the plan for the Improvement of the
mall that they had submitted to Congress.
The result was that after short time the
President appointed the commission of five
members to locate public buildings. and
they proceeded to tell the Secretary of Agri-
culture that he had made a mistake in the
location of the new department building,
and that il should be moved to the west
about fifty feet and, more than that. that
1t had been located on too high level and
should be placed lower in the ground.
The Secretary Demurred.
The Secretary demurred. He had his
mind fixed upon having the new building
look directly up 18th street. and he didn't
like shifting 1t to the west so that the
view from the main door would be off the
line of the street. He also wanted 10 keep
the building on the same high level 1t now
occupies. But the commission insisted that
when the plan for the Improvement of the
mall is carried out such high level would
be out of harmony with the balance of the
mall improvements.
But as soon as the President appointed
this commission, to serve without com
pensation, attention was called to the fact
that an act of Congress approved Marco 3
of this year forbade such appointments
Then the President gave the commission
ers salaries. and that was also criticised
by the people in Congress as being an I'M
warranted extension of the Presidents
powers. and the mG tier was referred to the
Attorney General for his opinion. Today
the Attorney Generals views were made
public. They are to the effect that the
o. President could not appoint such officers
with compensation, and while he could not
appoint them as a commission to render
voluntary service. there was no reason why
! he should not accept the advice of anybody,
whether II should be an individual or
group of individuals.
Not Commission.
So today the commission is not a COM
mission. 1t is merely a group of five gen.
tlemen who give their advice to the Pres
ident as to the location of public build
ings. They could not do it as a commits
sion without pay without violating the law
and they could not be given pay with
specific legislation by Congress But they
can in their individual capacities meet to-
wise the President without violation of law
That is substantially the view taken by the
Attorney General, and that will be the
course to be taken by the President.
In view of these facts tits expected that
p the President will see that the location of
the new building for the Department of
Agriculture will be located strictly in ac-
cordance with the plans of the park COM
mission. This means that the hole in the
ground on each side of the present depart
ment building will probably be moved
s. No Official Sanction.
An interest feature of this project for
carrying out the plans of. the park COM
mission is the fact that these plans have
no official sanction. Congress never ap-
proved them. The commission adopted the
plans and sent them to Congress, and that
Is the end of the matter so far any con-
gressional action is concerned.
The wording of the bill authorizing the
location and construction of the building
for the Department of Agriculture is that
that building shall be located lin the i'm
mediate vicinity of the present depart
ment building. 1t is stated that members
of the committee on appropriations. who
meant that the center of the new building
when completed would center on the old
building.
But II is generally supposed that the To-
cation advised by the five gentlemen who
advise the President on the location of pub
lie buildings will be interpreted as being
in the immediate vicinity of the old build
ing. as that expression allows some lee
way of Interpretation.
The names of the gentlemen who advise
as TO the location of public buildings are
Mr.. Bernard r. Green, Messrs Burnham
b Mckee and Olmstead, formerly constituting
the park commission, and Mr. Julian St
Gaudens, the famous sculptor,