necessary appropriations therefor: Provided, That at that time it is deemed for the interest of the United States to employ them. In witness whereof the said James Guthrie, Secretary of the Treasury, as aforesaid, for and in behalf of the United States, hath hereunto subscribed his name and caused the seal of the [L. S.] Treasury Department to be hereunto affixed, and the said Horace Beal and Courtland P. Dixon have also hereunto subscribed their names and affixed their seals this tenth day of October, A. D. 1855. In presence of A. H. BOWMAN, JAMES GUTHRIE. Engineer in charge of Treasury Department. R. C. MORGAN. EXECUTIVE DOCUMENT NO. 41, SECOND SESSION THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. REFERRED TO IN MR. CLARK'S TESTIMONY. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 26, 1859. SIR: In reply to Senate resolution, passed February 18, 1859, directing you to inform the Senate the amount already paid for granite for the construction of the south wing of the Treasury Department, together with an estimate of the amount that will be necessary to complete the said wing of the Treasury Building," I have the honor to report: That the total amount paid for granite for the superstructure of the south wing of the Treasury extension, up to this date, is four hundred and forty-nine thousand seven hundred and fourteen dollars, ($449,714.) The estimated amount for granite required to complete the south wing, is thirty-nine thousand eight hundred and sixty-four dollars, ($39,864.) The details of some portion of the work are not yet definitely determined, and when decided may alter the aggregate of this estimate for completion. In compliance with your instructions to report in detail upon the causes why the total amount paid so far exceeds the estimated amount placed against the names of the successful bidders in the printed report, transmitted to the Senate, as a reply to the resolution of December 29, 1858, upon the same subject, I have the honor to submit the following detailed reports, showing the causes of, and reasons for, this excess. But before enumerating these details it is proper for me to say that the printed report alluded to was prepared under the direction of your predecessor, in answer to a call of the House of Representatives for information of the facts and reasons why the contract was awarded to Beals & Dixon, and for all the papers connected therewith, and showing the amount of each bid for the work, &c., &c. The point involved in the inquiry was the simple one of comparative amounts of bids, and was totally irrespective of ultimate cost. The information furnished. in reply was solely for the purpose of elucidating that point. Assumed quantities were therefore (and necessarily) used, as well as assumed styles of finish, on which to compute an aggregate from the detail of each bid. The same assumed quantities were used in com. puting all the bids; and thus that answer to the inquiry of the House of Representatives covered the point of its inquiry. In drafting the letter to accompany that report for the Secretary to sign, the clerk then in my office, who was not familiar with its details, erroneously called the sums in the tabular bids "the gross amount for all the granite required in the superstructure." This error escaped the notice of both the late Secretary and myself at the time the documents were transmitted. It was not the gross amount, nor even intended as an approximate estimate to it. The reasons why actual quantities were not used are that they were then unknown. and it was impossible to accurately ascertain them from any data then in the department's possession. This was three years ago, and actual quantities and styles are not even now determined upon for every portion of the work. All the drawings the department ther had for its guidance were contained upon two sheets, prepared by the present architect of the Capitol extension, and approved by Congress, being a general plan of the entrance story and three front elevations, totally devoid of details, with but few measurements, and the different elevations disagreeing with each other. And when it is known that competent draughtsmen have been steadily employed since that period, under the architect of the Treasury Department. in preparing and elaborating details and measurements, and that the whole is not yet completed, it will be manifest that the meagre and chaotic datum then before the department placed it wholly out of its power to make an accurate estimate of details. Assumed quantities were therefore necessarily used, pro forma, to ascertain the relative (not the absolute) amounts of bids and their comparative cheapness. The bid and contract determined prices only; quantities and style are not determined by either the bids or the contract—only the rates at which quantities and styles should be paid for. The attention of Congress was called (Secretary's Report on the Finances, 1855-'56, p. 570) to the meagreness of detail the department had for its guidance, and Congress notified that the department was using its discretion in deviating from the original papers, and asked to designate how far the superintendent could deviate from the drawings to harmonize their various details. The silence of Congress on the subject was construed into an approval of the department's exercise of its discretion, and the work has been so conducted. The printed report above alluded to was transmitted in reply to Senate resolution of December 29, 1858, because its details covered all the points involved in that resolution, and its transmission would avoid the delay consequent in making manuscript copies of the vo luminous documents. The delay of the sixteen days in answering your present inquiry has been unavoidable; my assistant, with three experts, has been constantly and laboriously employed, day and night, in comparing and computing the annexed details. The correctness of the method of computing by assumed quantities and styles to determine the relative amount of bids, and for the purpose covered in the original resolution from the House of Representatives, is established by these details now finished, which prove that in computing all the bids by actual quantities and styles, as paid for, the bid of Beals & Dixon is still the lowest. The following details are now respectfully submitted in compliance with your instructions. The total amount paid for granite and other stone for south wing of Treasury extension, say, for cellar, area walls, piers, &c., purchased in open market, and not included in schedule and synopsis of 1855— To Beals & Dixon D. O. Neil.... $9,062 68 12,628 22 3,867 22 373 38 25,871 50 The total amount paid for granite on the superstructure of the south wing, under the contract of Beals & Dixon, is.... The estimated amount of granite required to complete the south wing under Beals & Dixon's contract, (which may be varied by changing the plan on which the estimate is made,) less 10 per cent. retained.... Amount which will be due Beals & Dixon on the completion of their contract, and now retained for its faithful performance Total amount of Beals & Dixon's contract for south wing. Amount appearing on the canvass of bids for granite for south wing against the names of Beals and Dixon in the printed report transmitted to the Senate..... Excess over printed report..... The excess is accounted for in gross as follows : Amount from increase of quantities...... $93,962 00 Amount from change of plan and style of $449,714 00 35,878 00 53.954 00 539,546 00 243,556 00 295,990 00 work... 202,028 00 $295,990 00 In detail, this excess is accounted for in the following table: H. Rep. Com. 137--8 |