Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-21
REVENUE BUILDING
CORNER STONE LAID
Ceremonies Held in Rain.
Mellon and Blair Make
Addresses.

angie.
Secretary of the Treasury Mellon and
David H. Blair. commissioner Of inter-
nal revenue, delivered addresses and Of
ficiated at the laying OF the stone. 1t
was a Treasury day" as the building
not only is to house one OF the most
important units of that department,
but the structure was designed and ITS
progress is being carried out by the
office OF the supervising architect OF
the same department.
Secretary's Address.
The United States Marine Band and
a detachment from the United States
Coast Guard, also a Treasury unit. gave
music and color to the occasion. Flags
we're in profuSion and the official stand
near the stone was covered with a
canopy to protect the ofhclal party
from the heavy rain.
Secretary of the Treasury Mellon de-
clared the occasion TO be significant, as
lit means that this bureau, with its
varied activities and responsibilities Tor
collecting the vast revenues OF the
Government will no longer be scat
tered in buildings throughout the CITY,
but will be housed in a building ade-
Quate for its needs. 1t also means, ne
said, that the plans which have Deen
made for the orderly development OF
washington, particularly as regards the
so-called triangle area, are at last under
way.
1.-THE present building is the first to
be commenced in that great group OF
Government buildings to be erected
along Pennsylvania avenue and the
Mall" the Secretary said. 1T will con-
stitute an integral part Of that group;
and it has been designed in such a way
that it will contribute to the beauty and
dignity of the city and the convenience
of all who must transact business with
the Government.
Planned in Treasury.
at is a matter of special pride to us
that the plans for this building have
been made entirely within the Treasury
itself These plans have been drawn In
the Office of the supervising architect,
which has been intrusted with such
large responsibilities in working out the
plans for the public building program
in Washington"
Expressing regret" that Commits
sioner Blair has resigned from the post
which he had held for more than eight
years, Secretary Mellon declared Mr..
Blair had carried on this difficult and re-
sponsible work under the greatest
handicaps, such as inadequate housing
of the various units of his organization
and also constant changes in per-
sonnet"
Commissioner Blair stressed the sig
nificance of the building to the Nation
and declared that the average daily
collections during the past year will
more than pay for this building"
Cost Reviewed.
when we speak of the cost of this
building as $4,000 ,000," he said. "the
-f hn wi
STE, 900, 900, and the cost of carrying out
the program which is now under way
as $200,O00,000, the figures seem large.
but the cost is small compared with the
benefits. One-twenty-fifth of l per
cent of the amount collected by the Blu
reau of Internal Revenue since 1921
will cover the cost of the building and
the ground on which it stands. One
third of l per cent of the amount COL
lected during Mr.. Melons term of office
will pay for the whole of the Triangle
development complete, including build
ings. grounds and parks, and less than
l per cent will pay for the entire pro-
posed development of the new Wash
ington.
Our average daily collections now
are one and one-half million dollars
more than the total collections for the
first 10 years of it's activities. 1t is be-
lieved that this building will be ade-
quate for the purpose for which it is
constructed. If not for all time, at least
for generations to come"
In paying tribute to the founders of
WaShington's architecture, Commits
Sioner Blair declared:
The Nation owes a great debt of
gratitude to Washington and L'Enfant.
1t will owe as much to Hoover and
Mellon. It owes much to Senator Reed
Smoot. chairman of the Public Build
ings Commission; to the late Senator
Fernald, who was chairman of the pub
lie buildings and grounds committee
OF the Senate; to Senator KeyeS, his
successor. and to Representative Richard
N. Elliott, chairman of the public
buildings and grounds committee of
the House. who have given unsparingly
of their time and have given their
best thought and energy in bringing
about the proper legislation which has
made possible the birth of new Ma
t1onal Capital, or rather the rebirth
OF the vision of L'Enfant and George
Washington.
Rents Justify Expense.
"In justification of the building pro-
gram, which is now under way, much
has been said about the saving to the
Government in the way of rents which
are now paid out for housing the diff
ferent departments of the Government
This is a considerable item, and in my
opinion it, in itself, justifies the cost of
carrying out the program. The Blu
reau of Internal Revenue has been
housed during the last eight years in
an average of 10 different buildings
scattered pretty well over the city of
Washington. Units whose functions
are closely related have been separated
and the work carried on in buildings
that are a mile or more apart, and
many of them totally unSuited TO the
purpose. No private business could
have survived such handicap
In this new building. ideally and
scientifically planned and constructed,
the cost of administering the affairs of
this bureau will be reduced TO a mini
num-"
Tools Historic.
The trowel and gavel used by Secre-
tary Mellon and Commissioner Blair
were historic, in the custody of Fred
erick D. Owen, engineer, retired, of the
Office of Public Buildings and Public
Parks, who co-operated in plans for
arranging the ceremonial facilities. The
trowel and gavel were presented to
Secretary Mellon by James A. Wetmore,
acting supervising architect, who de-
! clared the trowel. used by four PreSi-
dents on similar occasions, to be sym
bolic OF unity Of the States and Terri
tories and possessions which constitute
our country"
The invocation was by DR.. Jason
| Noble Pierce, and the benediction by
the Right Rev. c. F.. Thomas.
A leading part in arranging the cere-
monies was taken by Neal A. Melick
! construction engineer for the Treasury
supervising the Internal Revenue Build
ing
Inside the large copper box which
I was sealed in the corner stone were plac-
ed the following articles: Bible, Declare