The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-09-20

the Governments paying machir
s The committee believes that this W
wise provision, for there il one co
o tractor who has 81 900, 900 Of his ov
+ money locked up in the cantonment
Il has been building, and there are Sc
/. eral contractors who have over $500
i 600 tied up in the work they are d
ing. The committee believes ii d
right in recommending low fringe ,
n profit; 1t has developed the ovcrhea
s average was 3ia per cent.
Line Up 1000 Concerns in Ten Days
y The committee found when it bega
TO look around to see what the Go,
ernment had in the way Of q registe
, of contractors that the only thin
| was an industrial survey. The com
mittee said it was valueless, that
register of contractors is good toda,
and no good tomorrow. Consequent.
memorandum was addressed to tn,
Munitions Board, tothe effect that |
list Of contractors, based on statet
qualifications, was wanted. The plar
was approved by the Munitions Boarc
and to that end questionable was
sent to the American Institute of Ar.
chitects, to the chief engineer Of every
railroad in the country and to many
chief engineers Of big industrial in
stitutions. Eighteen hundred replies,
representing one thousand contracting
concerns, were received in about ten
days. Mr.. McGibbon Of the Chicago
Fidelity and Guaranty Company was
put in charge of the list. He separ-
ated the people and found out who the
big contractors throughout the coun-
try were-contractors who do a $5,-
100000 year business.
Secretary Baker Issues Wise Order
There were about one hundred Of
these concerns. The big builders we're
cross-referenced geographically. There
were about sixty or seventy concerns
well located in the sixteen military
divisions of the country. Twenty
five big concerns were in New York
City, only three or four in Des Moines
and in some places in the Southwest
there were none at all. Conferences
were held on the desirability Of the
contractors. Their statements were
considered, what they had to say was
given attention and statements by dis
interested architects and engineers
were heard. While the committee was
picking out what it considered the
best concerns, letter was received
from Secretary Baker, saying that if
all things were equal to pick the con-
tractor from the locality in which the
camp was to be situated. The COM
mittee considered this common sense,
that it would be unwise to put a
Texas plant in Boston, or take Bos-
ton plant and put it in California.
So with the cross-references prepared,
the committee went about picking the
'lf you go over list of
our selections you will see that we
we're at least able to be systematic"
says Major w. A. Starrett, chairman
If the committee.
Contractors Withdraw from Meetings
Major Starrett believes everything
possible was done to safe
yuard the interest both of the Gov
,rnment and the public in the selec-
ion of the contractors. On the com
nittee with the major were c. w.
4undof Of Cleveland, M. c. Tuttle of
he Alberthaw Construction Company [
# Boston, and Frederick Law Ohm |
tead. Two were architects, two were {
while Major Kelley, who was {
With the board, is an Army engineer. s
When the deliberations began Messrs. ,
.undoff and Tuttle withdrew because :
hey were contractors. Mr.. Tuttle I
ater withdrew his concern from com '
etition, saying he would not touch a
government contract because he was
n the committee. Mr.. Lundof alb @
ented himself, but was notified by the Y
lunitions board that his concern a
hould not be withdrawn. "That left a
My Olmstead and me, because Kelley 1
as so busy he could not attend" says Ii
ne major $50 we called in to adj /
ise US Leonard Metcalf Of Boston and +
gorge w. Fuller Of New York. Full a
r is en- expert on sewage disposal. v
Iyself, Gibbons, Metcalf and Fuller I,
ere the committee that made these n
scisions and sat and decided these D
lings and reviewed this list" [;
Selections Made Themselves d
To use the majors words, "there is V
very positive probability" that a,
ouble has been experienced in APP c;
,inting contractors. Frequently the b.
ntracts lay between two or three Of
ncerns, but, the official announce II
ent may say, "by careful study the II