Evening star., 1922-02-20
ONGREss is preparing to
erect a new building, ad-
jacent to the Capitol. for it's

erect new building, ad-
jacent to the Capitol. for it's
new agency under the fed
eral budget system, the general ac-
counting Office OF, the government
There is bill pending, fathered by
Representative William e. Andrews
or Nebraska. which proposes to Ak q
definite site and to create a commis-
sion to review the needs for such a
building, to consider plans and specifi.
cations and to recommend a limit of
cost. This commission would consist
of one member of the Senate commit
tee on public buildings and grounds,
one member of the House committee
on. public buildings and grounds, the
controller general, the architect of
the Capitol and the supervising archi-
poses authorization of $4,000 to be
appropriated and expended for pre-
liminary plans and other incidental
expenses by the Secretary of the
Treasury. This commission would re-
port back to Congress, and the House
grounds would then prepare legisla-
tion based on the report OF the COM
mission. fixing a limit OF cost for the
new building.
x* i
The site proposed Is the entire
square Just west Of the Senate. Office
building. on Delaware avenue be-
tween B and c streets. Considerable
opposition to the use Of this site has
been encountered. because. as Elliott
Woods, architect Of the Capitol. ex-
plains. it has always been the in
tention of Congress to develop the
plaza between the Union station and
the Capitol as a park. so that there
would be no obstruction by buildings
Of the sight of the Capitol when visi-
tors come out of the Union station.
favor the use Of the next square west,
starting with the Maltby building and
running down to the Driscoll Hotel
all of which is government-owned. he
pointed out, with the exception Of the
Driscoll Hotel corner.
This focuses attention on the rea-
sons for wanting to take that par
ticular square. designated in the An
drews bill. which is exactly north Of
the Capitol for the proposed new
building. Probably the controlling
reason is that the general accounting
office and the Office of the controller
general constitute an agency directly
serving Congress. which Congress
will have more occasion to consult
than any and all executive offices.
The nine or ten committees on expen-
ditures in the various government
departments when they are function
ing need the files of that accounting
office to review the expenditures. This
general accounting office should be
near the Capitol because its duty is
to tell Congress what has been done
with the money appropriated. 1t
emancipates members of Congress
seeking any information regarding
warrants and expenditures from the
necessity. often unpleasant and fire.
quently denied. of getting permission
from an executive officer to get the
information.
There is another and important rea-
son for desiring to get that particular
site at the very crest Of Capitol Hill.
This service has the custody Of vast
documents dating back to the earliest
days OF the government. which must
be stored where they will be easy of
access. because practically any paper
in that entire lot is likely to be re-
quired for use any day. 1t is planned
to have a basement and one or two
subbasements, with excavation all
around the building, which would af-
ford light and air. 1t is necessary to
protect the valuable papers that are
10 De stored from 6XOeSSlV0 moisture
and it IL for that reason that this
particular site il proposed in the An.
drews bill.
\ X
So much for the reasons prompting
the effort to secure the site due north
of the Capitol and west Of the Sem
ate Office building. A subcommittee Of
the House committee on public build
ings and grounds, OF which Repre-
sentative Andrews is chai rman. has
been investigating this site and the
various buildings where these papers
Of the general auditing Office are now
stored and the general conditions
Mr.. Andrews hopes to report within q
week to the committee, and his