2d Session. COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS. LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, IN RELATION TO The report of the Commissioners appointed in March last to inquire into the condition of the public buildings, &c. APRIL 20, 1842. Referred to the Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings. OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, To the Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives : SIR: I have examined with some attention the report of the commissioners, appointed in March last "to inquire into the condition of the public buildings, &c., in the city of Washington, (transmitted in a message from the President of the United States to the Senate, in compliance with a resolution of that honorable body,) which report is now adopted by the Committee on Expenditures as a part of their report on the superintendent and architect of the public buildings, and have cause to complain that injustice has been done me in that report. The commissioners have, by their erroneous statements, cast a censure upon my conduct as a public officer, which I feel bound to notice; and it is for the purpose of pointing out to you and the honorable body over which you preside some of the errors in that report, that I now have the honor most respectfully to address you. It is not necessary to notice all the errors in the report of the commissioners. I shall therefore point out those only which I consider the most prominent. The commissioners state, in their report, that " the reports of the Commissioner heretofore made, showing the amounts of appropriations and expenditures, were unsatisfactory." Taking his own reports, they say "he shows himself every year a defaulter; but, upon inquiry at the Treasury Department, we found it was not so." "The difference arose from the Commissioner's regurlarly omitting the sums paid between the dates of his reports, which was usually early in December, and the end of the month, beginning his annual report with the first of January following. This error is now corrected, and his annual report of expenditures must correspond, and be a transcript of his account in the Treasury." several respects, as I shall proceed to show. This statement is incorrect in By the act of 3d of March, 1829, the Commissioner was required to make an annual report to Congress, "at the commencement of the session, of the manner of expending appropriations for the public buildings and grounds." In making his report "at the commencement of the session," (which is known to be early in December,) of the manner of expending the appropriations for the public buildings and grounds to that date, he could not of course include the moneys to be expended in the mouth of December. The public gardener, and many other persons employed by the Commissioner, are paid by the year, and the appropriation on their account is not exhausted until the end of the year. The Commissioner, therefore, could not close his accounts until the 31st of December in each year. These accounts were laid before the committee appointed by Congress to examine the accounts of the expenditures on the public buildings and grounds; and they, and not the Commissioner of Public Buildings, as stated in the report, made the reports to Congress at the commencement of the year. The Commissioner never made his annual report on the first of January, until required to do so by the act of March, 1840. By an act of Congress passed 21st March, 1840, the Commissioner is now required to make his annual report at the commencement of the year; and not at the commencement of the session, as heretofore. Thus it will be seen that the act of March, 1829, which required the Commissioner to make his annual report "at the commencement of the session,” is so far repealed, by the act of March, 1840, as to direct him to make his annual report "at the commencement of the year." It will be seen, by referring to the 4th page of the report, that the commissioners misquote the act of March, 1829, by leaving out the words, "at the commencement of the session ;" and, by thus misquoting the act, they undertake to declare the reports of the Commissioner of Public Buildings to be "unsatisfactory," though made in conformity with law. TREASURY AND PATENT OFFICE BUILDINGS. In relation to these buildings, it will be seen that the President of the United States caused them to be erected under the authority of Congress, and that it was known to "the commissioners of examination and inquiry: that the Commissioner of Public Buildings had nothing to do with the site, the plan, or the materials of the buildings; that they were all fixed by the President of the United States, who appointed the disbursing agent, the architect, and all the superintendents. It was also known to them that the Commissioner had been appointed by the President his disbursing agent, to form all the contracts, to disburse all the moneys, and to exercise a general superintendence of the buildings; that, for the faithful discharge of his duties as disbursing agent, he had to give additional security to a considerable amount. It was known to them, also, that proposals were invited, by public advertisement, for furnishing materials for the buildings, and that the contracts were awarded to the lowest bidders. Now, if these buildings have been constructed according to the plans of the architect, with the approval of the President, and the materials have been furnished on the lowest and most advantageous terms; if the super intendents have performed their several duties with skill and fidelity, as has been admitted by the report; and if the sums expended have been faithfully accounted for by the Commissioner, as has been acknowledged, what blame, I would respectfully ask, can attach to the agents and superintendents? Certainly none. The report is incorrect in stating that, in the erection of the public buildings, "there was a great want of system, and that they were carried on amongst scenes of confusion and disorder, arising from private bickerings, mutual resentments, and personal quarrels, amongst the superintendents and workmen." From all that I have been able to learn, from the most authentic sources, there never have been public buildings of the same magnitude erected in this city with so much system and order, and with less confusion; and the superintendents, who are men of unimpeachable characters, all declare that there has been scarcely an instance of angry strife or personal quarrel amongst them and the workmen. They also declare that, during the execution of such extensive works, they never have witnessed so much harmony and good feeling. That there were a few complaints made to the President and board of commissioners is true, and might have been expected, where there were so many men employed, and of different nations; but these complaints were of so trivial a nature as scarcely to be noticed. They certainly were never of such importance as to interrupt, for a moment, the progress of the works. The nature of the testimony upon which the report is grounded may be readily imagined, when it is known to be a fact that both the complainants and their witnesses expected to be, as they were, liberally compensated for their attendance before the commissioners. Some of them, indeed, were induced to believe, as I have been informed, that they were to receive not less than four dollars per day during the whole of their attendance; and hence there might be seen, for days and weeks, hovering about the "commission" room, loafers, spies, and secret informers, anxious to testify against any person connected with the public buildings to' who.n they or their friends owed a private grudge. NEW COURT-HOUSE IN ALEXANDRIA. In extending their inquiries to the new court-house in Alexandria, the commissioners certainly exceeded their authority. Their commission confined them expressly to the city of Washington. If they could inquire into the state and condition of the court house in Alexandria, they could, with the same authority, have examined into the state and condition of all the public buildings belonging to the Government. As they have, however, undertaken to enlarge their powers, and to reflect on the character of the contractor, and the official conduct of the Commissioner, justice requires that some of their errors should be exposed. The Congress authorized the Commissioner of Public Buildings to cause a court-house to be erected in the town of Alexandria, on a plan to be approved by the President of the United States, and for a sum not to exceed $15,000. It appeared, in evidence before the commissioners, that three plans were submitted to the President of the United States for his consideration, and that he approved of the one prepared by Mr. Mills, the archiIt appeared, also, that the site approved by the President was the |