Evening star., 1945-05-15
Last OF a Series. J
By FRANCIS P. DOUGLAS.

Efforts to eliminate from District
appropriation bills the legislative
rider which has kept the District
Highway Departments testing lab
oratory closed for more than II
years have been made on occasions
since the rider was first tackled on
the bill in the spring of 1888. All
have been unsuccessful.
One apparently concerted effort
was made by District citizens in ad-
vance of the appropriation for the
1912 fiscal year and attention was
called to the extra costs for high
way department testing that the
District was forced to meet.
At the end of the l941 fiscal year
the District had paid out $236, ,510
for tests at the Bureau of Stand
ards. Capt. H. C. Whitehurst, di-
rector of highways, testified at a
hearing his department would have
performed the tests at the Districts S
own laboratory at Second and
Bryant streets NV. for Sl20,00
Renting Out Machinery.
The current status of the labora-
tory was gone into at a hearing of
the House Appropriations Commit
tees District Subcommittee a year
ago when Representative Stefan,
Republican, of Nebraska brought out
that while the District is having its
paving materials tests done at the
Bureau of Standards, it is renting
part of its own testing laboratory to
the bureau. He also developed that
in a period when there is a shortage
of machinery the valuable machin-
cry at the District laboratory is
standing idle.
AS has been told in The Star, the
transfer of the highway-testing
work from the District laboratory
to the Bureau of Standards-orig-
inally for the purpose of saving
money-has cost the District an
extra S148,631 for the tests.
Capt. Whitehurst, testifying be-
fore the District subcommittee of
the Senate Appropriations Commit
tee in April. 1910, said the Senate
had taken the rider off of appropri-
alton bills on two occasions.
Raises Question.
That raised the question why the
rider had not stayed off the bill, and
Senator Overton, Democrat, of
Louisiana, said: We did not agree
with the conferees. I suppose we
could not get an agreement"
Senator Chaves, Democrat, of
New Mexico remarked: 1T seems so
elementary. Here you have a plant
owned by the District and instead
of paying the Bureau of Standards
for doing some testing, they can do
it from funds they have now"
Agitation for the reopening of the
Districts laboratory was started in
the fall of 1910. The District of Co.
lumbia Motor Club issued a state
ment saying the rider which pro-
hibits the use of appropriated funds
for the Districts testing laboratory
should be repealed, and that a saw
ing estimated at $4,000 a year
would be effected.
The repeal, said the Motor Club,
would enable the Highway De-
partment to make immediate tests
instead of being delayed by the
routine of the Bureau of Standards.
and it would put back into opera
ton plant which cost District tax
payers 100000"
Reopening Urged.
In October, 1910, the Associat ton
of Oldest Inhabitants asked for the
reopening of the laboratory, and the
Federation of Citizens Associations
also asked for the end of the con-
gressional ban.
The next February, Chairman
Jennings Randolph of the House
District Committee wrote to Chair
man Mahon of the District Ap-
preparations Subcommittee about
the laboratory. Mr.. Mahon, as
chairman of that subcommittee, had
followed Representative Cannon
Democrat, of Missouri, who had be-
come chairman of the House Ap-
preparations Committee.
Mr.. Randolph urged the reopen
ing of the laboratory. He made it
clear there was no criticism of the
testing work done by the Bureau
of Standards or of the prices
charged. He went on to say:
ut does seem, however, that the
work could be done more reason
ably at the District laboratory be-
cause. in the first place, the Bureau
OF Standards employs scientists and
higher salaried personnel than is
required for the routine testing
work carried on by the District test
ing laboratory. Also, there are a
number of permanent employees in
the District Highway Department
whose duties are in the field, but
who are also available to work in the