Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-09

opposed it. The last named moved to
lay the bill on the table, which motion
bill lies on the table accordingly"
The bill was passed by the House
April 10. 1915, and seems to have met
with no opposition in the Senate. and with
20, 1916. 1t was entitled IAN act making
an appropriation for enclosing and i'm
proving the public square near the Capt.
toll. and to Abolish the office of commits
sioners of the public buildings and of
superintendent, and for the appointment
of one commissioner of the public build
ings." 1t carried an appropriation of
$4,000
and Samuel Lane. who had been appoint
ed commissioner of public buildings, under
date OF January 2s. 1917. addressed a
letter to the Speaker of the House of Rep
resentatives of which the following Is an
extract:
In order to carry into effect the act Of Con-
gress entitled An act making appropriation
Tor enclosing and improving the public square
near the Capitol. the FIRST considerat ton which
presented itself to digest a plan combining.
tha hs 5s1rH wbss Of utility and taste
be principally consulted in public works Of this
description. After determining the plan the
the sc Sf was t & to the provision Of
lie. and contract entered into with one Of our
enterprising citizens. under which a great part
Of the work has been executed. 1t was however
soon ascertained that the sum appropriated by
the act above mentioned would fall considerably
short of accomplishing the object contempla ted
and this appears to have been occasioned in part
by the original estimate not having been made
to embrace the entire square.
The work of improving the grounds must
nave proceeded slowly. because in 1926
the then commissioner of public buildings,
Joseph Elgar, in letter to Stephen Van
Rensselaer,. chairman of the committee on
public buildings, complained that 1.-The
ground around the Capitol has been so
encountered with shops and materials as
to prevent any systematic attempt to
regulate it. and until a design for the i'm
provement of the ground, gateways, etc,
shall have been adopted it is not practical
ole to estimate the ultimate expense. ~
to conf1ne our operations for the present
season to finishing the footway on the
outside of the wall and progressing with
regulating and planting the ground as cir
cumstances may admit and in the mean
Tune to have a plan and estimates pre-
pared for future consideration"
The inference is that under the first
appropriation. that of 1916, the Capitol
grounds were inclosed with brick
wall surmounted by an iron picket
fence. Elgar, in 1926. refers to the
wall, and Charles Bullhnch, architect
OF the Capitol. in a report in Deem
Der, 1927. says: Broad pavements of
stone flags are laid on the east front
and on the north and south ends of
the building, and brick pavement of
the same width continued to the north
and south entrances, over the circular
terrace and along the line of the west
side of the square. A rich cast-iron
railing borders the terrace round the
building and the grounds to the west
The garden grounds to the east are
inelosed by a wrought iron railing.
comfortable to that which surrounds
the square. Stone piers to the north
and south entrances and to the square
have been raised to the height to re-