Evening star., 1918-02-19

! war emergency office buildings for the
War and Navy departments which had
been stricken from the urgent defici-
ency bill by point of order last Sat
urady was restored yesterday when
Representative Frank Clark of Flori-
da, chairman of the committee on
public buildings and grounds, with
drew his objection.
The urgent deficiency bill carrying
! s1,107, 100000. passed the House with
out record vote and went to the
Senate today. where it will receive
early consideration.
During the discussion on the item of
sS.152, 500 for temporary office build
ings in Washington Representative
Swagar Sherley. chairman of the appro-
priations committee, who had charge
of the urgent deficiency bill, pointed
a great building revival in the capital.
with steady expansion of the city and
the up-rearing of many government
buildings to meet departmental needs.
Chairman Sherley said, in part:
when this war is over you are not
going to see Washington the city we
knew prior to the war. 1t is never go
ing to contract back into anything like
for many years afterward the need
of great deal of office space, and for
all time there is going to be the need
of. great deal more Office space than
in the old days prior to the war.
Argues Against Frame Buildings.
Now, what will happen? If you
have only frame buildings, immediate
ly there will come great pressure to have
them torn down right away in order
that none of the 3.S00.000 square feet
space that we are renting at extrava-
CANT figures shall be vacated. Every
financial influence and every bit Of
greed that exists in the District of
Columbia will be put with all its weight
| under one excuse or another, to force
the government to tear down the frame
buildings. because they will say, These
things are terrible fire hazards and
risks and while the government is
\ building the monumental buildings
that are permanently to house the de-
partments the rentals will continue to
run.
Now. it seemed the part of wisdom
for Congress to build buildings of suf-
| hcient stability of character and per-
manency not to be there always. but
I TO be there for a sufficient length of
time to enable US to adjust ourselves
| to the situation that will arise after
! the war is over. and not put US at the
mercy of these private owners Of prop
| erty. A use of these buildings for six
OF eight years. or even a less period,
| will justify in the saving in rentals the
1 entire expenditure"
| Representative Cooper of Wisconsin
| inquired as to the reliability of the
| report that the government is going
\ to take over the new Washington Ho-
! tel. which is going up on 18th street
| between Pennsylvania avenue and F
\ street, opposite the Treasury. Chair
| man Sherley replied that he had not
been advised of the government plans.
| Representative Cooper called attention
1 to the fact that the government had
| been remiss in not buying up sites
| for government buildings a few years
\ ago when they could have been had
| for a comparatively small expenditure.
| He pointed out that the Senate had
| actually passed a bill for $4,000. 900 to
| buy all the stretch from the Botanic
| Garden to the Treasury, but that this
| effort had been thwarted in the House.
Type Of Buildings Described.
Just what type Of buildings it is pro-
posed to construct-concrete. freproof
and the location were described as
| follows in a statement by Chairman
Sherley:
IF we could build for SO of concrete
l-testimony had developed afterward
that if the ground was not ideal the
price would range from $3.50, which
was put as the minimum, to $3.0S,
/ which was the extreme outside limit
| if we could build for SO as against $225
\ for frame, that we were hardly justi-
\ fed in risking either the safety of the
| people who would work in such build
\ ings or the papers and property which
would be housed there, and that 1t was
desirable where we could to build of
\ concrete, If we were not SO hurried for
/ time as to make it necessary to build
wooden buildings. The committee then
Undertook to determine where we could
best build the amount of space that
ought to be built.
TT was then found we could put at
18th and streets, on the ground that
| is Immediately south of the Pan-Amer-
lean building and running to the west,
| two concrete buildings three stories
high that would give a floor space of
| 100000 square feet in one building and
S35, 900 square feet in the other; that
we could put in Seaton Park. which is
temporary buildings which were au-
thorized last year have been construct
ed two buildings-one of 100000 square
feet and one Of 100000 square feet.
Then. we could put Just west of the
present buildings another building that
would contain 900 square feet.
I'VE concluded that II We made one
of those buildings of concrete it in
time would give to the ordnance peo-
Il pie, who are now occupying two-thfrds
of the Henry Park buildings, enough
freproof space to take care of their
most important papers and probably
take care of their entire need In that
regard, and by building the other two
buildings OF wood we could get. with
the remaining one-third Of the Henry
IPark buildings. which the Navy was