The Washington herald., 1913-01-25
CLOVER REPLIES TO REPRESENTATIVE SIMS

of this in this very statement about tn,
| alleged conversation u. 15T. Congress
sional Record when he says:
II said to him, I will be glad, Mr.
Glover, to correct anything In the Rec.
ord that may have been said to put
you in a false light and anything thai
you will send me 1 will be glad to put
| in the Record"
Would Have Accepted Oner.
II must be plain to every one that 4
i had then known of the attack and Il
Mr.. Sims had made me such an Offer
that l would have availed myself of Il
| at the time.
That is the way that any man IN my
situation would have acted. Even Mr.
Sims does not claim that I made any
response to this alleged offer to set me
right In the Congressional Record.
BY another characteristic inaccuracy
Mr. Sims attributes to me statement
| that was really made by Mr.. George in
| the hearing before this committee when
l made my former statement.
Mr. George made the assertion that
the price paid for the land In Rock
Creek Park was eight times the assess
ment. / did not know whether that was
the fact or not. and, therefore, I did
not say Wnttner was lne ldCl OT nut
When Mr.. George first made the state
ment. l answered as in a question with
the word. yes" and should have been
so reported He repeated the statement
Cpage 4Sl of the record OF the hearing
before this committee) as follows:
"Mr. George-And the sum paid was
81, ,l25. rs and the assessment was for slS3,
334: so that the government paid soe
| times the assessed value of the prop
erty''
All / said was:
Mr. Glover-Property was not looked
upon as very valuable oVt in that sec
ton"
Contain. Extraordinary Statements
And on page 4as Of the hearing. when
YOU, Mr. Chairman Johnson, asked me
a direct question as to the assessment
of the land taken for Rock Creek ParK'
l said:
Mr. Clover, do not know what the
a. assessed value of the property was. but
I know II was taken at vastly more than
its real value"
So put no value upon II oefore tnis
committee or elsewhere.
The latter portion OF Mr.. Sims extra
ordinary speech OF January Is, 1913, on
mage 1879 Of the Congressional Record
contains some OF his most extraordinary
statements He says that he is. and has
been. opposed to taking advantage of
options on land secured for the benefit
of the government. and prefers that the
land should be acquired by the power OF
condemnation, and that the owners
should get the full value for 1t. Speak
ing OF this particular case he says:
Il do not think IL reflects any credit
upon a banker Of large means to have
acquired an option on land at not much
more than one-third of its value from
private owners and then sell il 10 the
government even without profit. which is
abundantly able TO pay all that 1t is
worth.
Interesting "Back Home"
In that last sentence he stuck in the
phrase event without profit in further
ance OF the insinuation upon which l
have already commented. But leaving
that out, he says that he would rather
pay three times the value OF land ac-
quired by the government than take 1t
under an option secured to save the
government IwO-thirds of its value. This
will be interesting reading to his con-
stituents. and to all who talk about
economy in government expenditures and
to all who desire to get things cheaply
for the government
He says in the next sentence:
Another thing: l do not approve OF
the members OF the District government
going around and getting options on land
in this District and then lobbying in
either House to have US purchase IL"
This is his ungrateful allusion to the
methods by which the District Commits
sioners have gotten better bargains for
the District government in purchasing
lands for public uses. by securing suit
able options. than could possibly have
been obtained under condemnation pro-
ceedings. as the record OF condemnation
proceedings here and elsewhere abun-
dainty proves.
Finally, MIR. Sims. after once more
claiming credit for saving TO the govern
ment $4,000 for the raYine now dedicated
for park purposes by the owners of the
tract-s70, 900 II II had been obtained under
tie option, and, as he says. "in round
numbers 10000 II the property had been
acquired by condemnation" he winds up
by saying that the owners OF the prop
crty ought to be thankful for the defeat
Of the bill, since their land is now worth
to them two to four millions Of dollars"
Misuse of Privilege.
OF course, II Mr.. Sims had not defeated
the bill the government would now have
had that land. according to his state
nent, worth from two to four millions
now have lo0-acre addition to the Rock
Creek Park, preserving all the remark
able natural beauties in the vicinity Of
the Connecticut Avenue bridge and the
Massachusetts Avenue Causeway (Which
together cost the District Of Columbia a
million and a quarter of dollars; and
also the beginning OF the park connection
that must be made, and that wilL., be
made, but at far greater cost, with the
Potomac Park on the south. It Is hard
to see how even Mr.. Sims. as a men,
ber of Congress, a representative of the
people of this great country, who desire
their National Capital to be the most
government to acquire land on the most
reasonable terms, can say ITO the extent
that had any part in defeating that bill
l am proud of it"
Still less is it possible to understand
Representatives could take pride in SO
misusing his privileged position as to
malign a private citizen for his years OF
effort to serve the. National Capital.
The very last words of Mr.. Sims speech
o. January Is, 1913. are these:
Now. l have not said any unkind
Mr. Glover but will leave the question to
you as to whether Mr.. Andrus or myself
ought to be expelled"
No Further Comment.
/ am perfectly willing, Mr.. Chairman,
TO leave the matter just where Mr.. Sims
left il, without further comment.
Articles of agreement, made and con-
cluded this 18th day of January in the