Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-17
CONTRACT AWARD
TOPIC AT HEARING
Use of Colorado Marble in Con-
struction of Lincoln Me-
. mortal Discussed.
APPROVAL OF ACTION
BY THE COMMISSION
Matter Likely to Be Referred to
Fine Arts Experts for S.
Decision

|
mission decide the question in the affirma-
tive he indicated that he will approve the
Recommendation Of the memorial commits
sion that the bid for the superstructure
be awarded to the George A. Fuller Com
pany, but that il the question is decided
in the negative he will solicit new bids
The Secretary of War indicated his in
| tentions on the question during the
course of public hearing at the War
Department today at which the course Of
! the Lincoln memorial commission. in
awarding bids for the structure. were re-
| viewed. The hearing was attended by
| Representatives Of the memorial commits
| sion and of construction companies inter-
| ested in the award.
the making of the contract. The Lincoln
memorial commission had recommended
I that contracts be made with firms
whose bids called for a cost of 81. 100000
| the foundation. Protests against this
| ruling had been made by the Georgia
delegation in Congress and others on
the ground that bids based on the use
of other marble were lower than those
based on the use of dorado marble.
Statement by the Secretary.
After reading the law creating the Lin
coin memorial commission and reciting
decision from Attorney General Mickey
nolds to the effect that the final awarding
power lies with the Secretary of War.
| Mr.. Garrison said he had decided that
| he could not ow the recommendations
| of the commission without learning
whether its conclusions were correct.
| Secretary Garrison said that if it can
be established that for the purposes of
| the Lincoln memorial Colorado yule mar
BILE is the most suitable material. he viii
| take the stand that the Fuller company
should get the contract. since its bid was
| the lowest for that marble He init
| mated, however, that if there are other
| marbles equally as fitting. new bids
should be received.
He said he took this stand because
he felt that the Fuller company had
been allowed to modify its bid in order
| to bring it within the appropriation.
while its competitors had not been all
lowed the same privilege. He added
that he realized the memorial commits
sion had sought honestly to be fair
and get the best building possible for
the money appropriated.
| The hearing was held primarily for
| the purpose OF discovering the views
Of the supporters Of Colorado yule
marble and of the Fuller company's bid.
Protests from other bidders against the
award have been filed in writing with
the Secretary. and he announced that
| he did not csre to hear further evil
| dence from their side.
| He declared that he has already SUBJ
nnitted the question of the relative merits
\ OF the different marbles. as far as dura-
| bility and strength are concerned, to the
\ bureau of standards, but that he wants
to get an expert and unbiased opinion OF,
the esthetic side Of the question.
Willing for Congress to Decide.
| The Secretary also declared that since
the question over the awarding Of the
contract has been raised he has ex-
pressed the willingness to defer a de-
cision until Congress shall have had an
| opportunity to make clear whether the
| final decision should rest with the me-
mortal commission or with himself He
said he Is still, willing to take this atti-
| tude He made this statement in an
swer to assertions that Senator Root o.
New York. author Of the bill creating
the commission. intended that the COM
mission should finally select the plans
| and award the contracts
| Senator Shafroth of Colorado, the
first speaker at the hearing, argued in
favor of the acceptance of the decision
Of the commission He declared that
available for the Lincoln memorial 1t
Is pure and white. he said. which be-
| memorial will commemorate.
| James Baird, vice president of the
Fuller company. explained how the
| bids for the memorial were received,
and said the bids of his company were
lower than those Of other firms. He
| said he felt that the government Is un-
der an obligation to sign a contract
| with his company.
Secretary Garrison also raised the ques-
! ton Of. whether it was proper for the
after they had been approved by Con-
gress. The plans laid before Congress
were supposed to have been accepted
with the provision that only minor
| changes might be made later, he said
| adding that later retaining wall was
| abolished and other alterations made
Variance of Views.
| Henry Bacon, the architect whose
plans were accepted, said that in his
| opinion the changes were only minor
ones within the meaning OF the law.
One contractor said they were important
changes and had direct bearing on the
| bids.
Senator Thomas Of Colorado asked
Secretary Garrison to approve the recon-
mendations of the memorial commission,
and offered to allow the question of
which Is the most hitting marble to be
tested by any impartial body.
Secretary Garrison then asked
whether the fine arts commission had
passed on whether the Colorado marble
is the most fitting material. He was
told by MT. Bacon ana senator Inonids
that the fine arts commission had ap-
proved the action of the Lincoln me-
mortal commission, but had not en-
tered into the question of the relative
merits of the different marbles. The
Secretary then indicated that he
thought the fine arts commission would
be a good body to pass on the question
he wanted settled.
Secretary Garrison mentioned the fact
that former President Taft chairman of
the Lincoln memorial commission, has
written to him saying that he thought
the Colorado marble the only kind suit
able for the structure.
0ry,osition RI Award