Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-02
Investigate These Charges!

The Commissioners will surely move
swiftly to grant the public hearings of
investigation of the collapse Of steel
work on the Roosevelt High School job
demanded In the astonishing letter
from one Of the subcontractors. The
letter has a steely ring to it. 1t is brim-
ful Of charges and specifications that
can be answered only by the testimony
Of witnesses before q board of experts
The Commissioners should be able to
o6tain the services of these experts, and
the hearing should begin at once.
The charges are serious. They do not
lie merely in the allegations Of faulty
and unlawful design, but in the state
msnts, repeated several times, that the
esubcontractor brought to the attention
CT the contractor and the District au-
thorities the alleged faults and errors
and that they went uncorrected. Even
the proof Of these charges would not
entirely absolve the subcontractor from
the responsibility that seems to rest
upon him because Of the collapse OF the
steelwork. The subcontractor could
have gained his point, and at less ex-
pense, If he had publicly and strenu-
ously opposed doing his part Of the job
while in the possession Of knowledge
that other work, upon which its ex-
cellence depended, was faulty. In
choosing not to do this he naturally
accepted responsibility for which ne
now has been held accountable. But
. II his charges are true, general house
cleaning above and beyond the sub
contractors ONCE Is In order.
The investigation can develop the
truth of the charges. But the charges
have already developed, and most elo-
uuently, the divided responsibility in
construction work that lies between the
various contractors and subcontractors'
Who is doing the job on the Roosevelt
High school? The District let the
contract TO the National Construction
Co. The National Construction Go. let
a steelwork contract to the Lehigh Con-
struction Co. Of Allentown, Pa. The
Lehigh Construction Co. let a contract
for a part Of the steelwork to the
Heron TODD Construction Co. Of Wash
fagton, which now becomes the defend
ant In the case Of the collapse OF
mart of the building. and the plaintiff
In the case Of the responsibility for
that collapse. In each Of these various
contracts q profit Is exacted, and each
profit Is taken from the cost OF the
building paid for. by the taxpayers.
There may be nothing extraordinary in
these various and complicated sublet-
ting Jobs. But the procedure naturally
places an extraordinary responsibility
upon the Districts inspecting agents.
They cannot spend all their time watch
: ing the work of the contractor. or in
holding him responsible. They nat
urally must exercise even greater pre-
caution in inspecting the work Of the
subcontrsctors.
The crash Of the steel framework Is
evidence enough that this major re-
sponsibility was not fulfilled. The COM
plants Of the subcontractor alege, in
effect, that it was deliberately evaded.
Gentlemen" said Assistant Engineer
Commissioner Robb to the various con-
tractors assembled in his Office on the
day following the collapse Of the steel
work. this is a hell of a mess" And it
4, still remains within that succinct clas-
: Etacation of messes.