Evening Star Newspaper, March 17, 1930, Page 7

T STAR, WASHINGTON | D. C. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION CRI' CHIILARCATECT SIMMONS SAYS <DOO-DADS” SH] [EFAL OAND GROLP CLAGH ™At NEEDED. KOOT SLoRED FORWASTE B i |Architect Is Accused of Failing to Long-Standing Dispute Over Keep Faith With House Completing Buildings Is | Subcommittee Renewed. R AT Y HE EVENING | | House Committee Hearings3 Show Simmons Bitterly Critical. | Sharp criticism of the public school said: “In this bill the Budget Bureau | administration for what was character- | Went beyond the school authorities in | i ¢ have m hopin 1zed 85 ‘squandering” funds on archi- | WNat they have put in. and [ am FORDE we can go beyond the Budget Bureau, tectural embellishment in the newer but every dollar that is squandered on school buildings and for not transferring |a building is taken away from another the system's business management to Dullding. ) the new first assistant superintendent, Star's Survey Cited. |w salary was cstablished by the At this point Mr. Ballou declared subcommittee last year, marked the there is no reason why any child should hearings on the schools’ share of the be scated at an inadequate or unsuit- District's 1931 budget before the sub- | able desk, and “if that is the case it is committee of the House committee on |because somebody in the field has failed | appropriations, which were made pub- | to do his duty Here Mr. Simmons lic_today. cited The Sta cent survey of the | So incensed was the committee at the elementary schools. X school administration’s failure to im-| _ “You have scen the stories in The | prove conditions in the business depart- Star in_reference to the investigations ment of the system that it inserted in of a Star reporter of Washington | the bill which it presents to the House schools. in one of which at least he today & limitation to the effect that no |found children using old card tables, money be appropriated for the purchase |and in which he found children using of school furniture and equipment unless | chairs that had been made in the the school board's requisitions are ap- manual training department. in which | proved by the Commissioners. he found children using chairs that The hearings disclosed also that there | their parents had sent to the schools, in is general dissatisfaction with the two which he found a child in the tubercu- chools for crippled children because |lar hospital using a crib which had been of the apparent need for hospitaliza- brought in because the school did not tion for the majority of these pupils.|furnish beds,” he declared. | Indications in the testimony are that To this Dr. Ballou repeated his as- |these schools eventually may be housed sertion that these things were because in separate one-room structures to be somebody in the field failed in his duty. erected on the grounds of some already ~ Representative Simmons' criticism of established _ hospital, where ~adequat? | District school authoritics reached an- | treatment would be available. other height when he denounced_the Simmons Leads Attack. superintendent and the Board of Edu- : g cation for permitting Maj. R. O. o Representative Robert, @ Sl o oy | marth to retain the business manage- |tee, led an attack upon the local school | ment of the school system. Maj. Wil- | authorities and their methods, which |mMarth himselt was condemned b | was lightened for them only ' by s | Nebraskan as being “incompetent™ | avowed determination to provide Capital handle the business affairs, and was | hildren with adequate tchool accom- | turn defended by Dr. Ballou. | modations at savings of taxpa Y Discuss Business Manager. | money and by his flat assertion that: | pe pysiness manager question w | “We are taking money from €VEIV|p.ought into -the hearings when Dr. o Smon R 00 0. e stuahy |ciner acivlty and putting it into'achooR | maligy defended an item for a clerk for o . 3 s year.” started the work on the school house | "N St mons condemned chiefly the the Property accounting division in the before he started moving the bullding. | new E. A. Paul Junior High School, at | Jice Of the assistant supertroncert it | Mr. Harris—I grant you that, but the | Biol /" t-eet and Concord avenue, and | SHArge of business afairs, who is Maj. contract included considerable’ grading |the new John Quincy Adams School, WAMALEH e subcomm chair- | vhi n man asked if last year his committee | DMk con: RISPCPEVIRLIEE oulc e o streets,| had not provided for a “business man- | committee has revicwed and questioned | both |ager” Dr. Ballou said it had, and|only 100 different items of materia e et Y id Sou tell the |sive “doo-dads” at sacrifice of needed | went on to explain that Jere J. Crane | ¥hich involves the expenditure of $1 Mr Harris—T told them exactly the | SIS Tooms. e Toundy 0o enitect, | Was employed and made first assistant 886.83. If the awards had been recom. truth. |Albert L. Harrls, D e sup. | Superintendent in charge of “buildings, | mended to the lowest bidders on all item: Mr. Simmons—Then they did not |fOf “Bot keeping faith with the sub’|grounds and equipment, to whom Mal: | procured under special bids without re eorrectly quote you here? | committee.” because Mr. Harris did Mot | wilmarth is & subordinate officer. The | gard to specification requirements, th Mr. Harris—From my build the Paul School according to the| superintendent explained also that Mr. | aggregate cost of these items would have ves. sir exact plans of the Macfarland Junior | Grane has general supervision of all the | been $14.38034, and there would have ¥Mr, Simmons—They did not correctly | High School as, he contended, the aP-| pusiness affairs in the system, and that | been a possible saving of $3.506.54. This quote vou here. | propriation legislation required. ihe is an “outside” or “contact man” in | saving could have been secured only by Mr. Harris—Yes, sir; I said the Build- | Scores Paul School “Doo-dads. the schools' relations with the District | Procuring inferior, undesirable or un- ing was delayed to let Dr. Peabody xu\-“ The Paul and the Macfarland build- Building offices. safe equipment, including 14 machines in" the house until the latter part of |ings, which, he said, under the law| At this point in the testimony Mr.| that could have been procured at a sav. the Summer. were to have been virtual duplicates, do Simmons stated bluntly that he and the | ing of $815.39 had the public school Mr. Simmons—In order to accommo- |not even compare. Citing the differ- | subcommittee had lost confidence in | officals bem willing to accept machin- date one man, you discommoded A |ence between them when he was ad- Ma‘. Wilmarth ;"y' Ilgat v«du not properly guardec whole community a school vear? | dressing Dr. Frank W. Ballou, super- ou knew, Dr. Ballou, and the school | against accidents to pupi ‘Mr. Harris—You can censure me for | intendent, the chairman said: | ,” Simmons said, “that the thing| Mr. Simmons was particularly vitriolic that. but it is the truth. “You have big stone pillars with a | this commitiee wanted done—and we with regard to the pianos, and, refer- | | colonial front on the E. A. Paul Junior | might as well talk frankly about it— | ing to The Star's survey of public The long-standing dispute between the municipal architect’s office and the House appropriations subcommittec over the tardiness of completing school buildings raged afresh in the recent hearings, it was disclosed when the hearings before the committee were published today. g This year there was an exceptionally bitter tone to the exchanges, Repre- sentative Simmons violently attacking one of the statements of Municipal Architect Albert L. Harris' statements to a reporter on The Evening Star, and Mr. Harris stubbornly insisting on the truth of the statement, although ad- mitting that it might have been based on bad judgment. Powell School Involved. This particular clash came over the Powell School, at Fourteenth and Up- shur streets. Mr. Harris was quoted in The St as saying that work on this school “was delayed a few months because a residence had to be trans ferred from the school site to a new tion.” fou know that is not true” said Mr. Simmons. devends entirely on what you say about it.” was the reply. Mr. Simmons—The _residence could have been left there, Mr. Harris, until it disintegrated by natural rot, and the schocl house could have been built, | Mr. Harris—1 grant you that, but I have a lump-sum appropriation. and a close one at that. and I wanted fo know whether the cost of the moving of the house and the building of the school would be done within the appropria- tion. T did not consider that it was wise not to insure all of the work being done within the appropriation. Mr. Simmons—You let the contract Denunciation of Washington's pub- lic school authorities reached its bit- | terest heights of the recent 1931 ap- | propriation hearings when Representa- | | tive Robert G. Simmons of Nebraska, chairman of the subcommittee of the | House committee on _appropriations, took them to task for what he charac- | terized as_extravagant purchases of needlessly fine equipment and supplies. Scoring the officials for not buying | cquipment on the lowest submitted | bids, Mr. Simmons cited as specific | examples’ of the “extravagance” the purchese of a “gold-lined” silver serv- | ice set, real linemnapkins and table cloths and an electric_refrigerator “big | encugh to run a hotel” for use in the new McKinley High School model housekeeping class and the purchase of four pianos of an expensive make for the same school. Dr. Ballon Makes Reply. The answer of the, school adminis- tration to Mr. Simmons’ vitriolic charg was contained in a statement sul mitted at the close of the hearings by Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superintendent. The answer is embraced in the fol- ng: During the 18-month period covered by the purchases reviewed by the com- mittee, the public school officials have ubmiited requisitions covering 35025 different items of materials, 24,884 o which were procured through the gen- eral supply committee and 10,141 through bids solicited by the purchasing officer of the District of Columbia Under these bids, awards were recom mended by the public school officials to the lowest bidders on all except 284 | items, and the recommendations for award on these items to other than the lower bidders were based withovt exception on the failure of the lovest bidders to comply with the requirements | of the specifications. | “The procurement of the 35,025 items | of materials referred to above involves the expenditure of $1,544,108.24. From among this large number of items the standpoint, “Could Have Been Built.” schoolbuildings, he declares Mr. Simmons—The schoolhouse could have been built. You had the money | to build it. You had the office force | to build it. dence was there should not have | stooned that building at all. | What makes it exceedingly difficult | for those of us who have to deal with District people is the fact that you are willing to put out to the public state- ments that on the face of them may be actually true, but the conclusions to be drawn from them are nbmlutely’ misleading. Mr. Harris—Was not that a true| statement? | Mr. Simmons—That you had to move | that building before you could start on | the school house? ~Absolutely not. | Mr. Harris—But I considered it a part of the contract, the moving of that house. I considered it essential to do the work in that way. Mr. Simmons—THat is a different proposition. The dispute began almost as soon as Mr. Harris appeared. Mr. Harris asked for the enactment of legislation which would allow him to allot for archi- tectural expenses 3 per cent of the en- tire cost of projected buildings as soon as the first section of the authorization is made. Difficulty in Drawing Plans. ‘Where the bill carries only a portion of the cost of construction of a large | building, he explained, there was diffi- culty in drawing up the plans on 3| per cent of the expenditure authorized | for that portion. which would not be | met if 3 per cent of the cost of the | entire project could be allocated for | architectural services at once. He ex- | plained that the lack of this legislation | had had the effect of delaying a start on plans ‘for the new Roosevelt High! Sehool. | ‘This led right into a discussion of | delavs in construction of school houses. | “There is not any delay in my office,” | Mr. Harris said. Mr. Simmons—Let me ask you the question this way. When you get your appropriations for schools, you ecould build up your force and start right in | on plans and specifications and get out | these contracts much earlier, could you not? Mr; Harris—No., sir. Mr. S&immons—Why not? Mr; “Harris—For two reasons. In the first place, you can not pick up a drafts- man every day in the week. The sec- ond reason is that in the organization of the office it is not wise to handie | the work in this manner. Even if I could get draftsmen right off the street and t‘o‘ right ahead with it, it would hasten.'the work—that is true—but T ‘would not be able to hold the force if theyrikhew that I was going to take théem on for a few months and let them go. I would never get my office forre fiv any kind of shape. that kind at the Junior High School. “In_ the Macfarland Macfarland Junior High brick. You have marble. or what ap- pears to be marble, in the entrance ways to the Paul Junjor High School, and you have the corridors all tiled for 4 or 5 feet, as against the glazed brick in the Macfarland School. You have all kinds of fancy doo-dads in the audi- torium of the Paul Junior High School, and the Macfarland auditorium is_just a plain, sensible auditorium. You have bronze grillwork covering the radiators stuff.” Harris Defends Plans. Mr. Simmons cited the four room: | which the school authorities discovered | were “missing” when the building wa: | completed, and despite Mr. Harris’ ex- planation that even minus those rooms | the Paul contained two more class rooms than the committee thought it was appropriating for, the chairman retorted “Here you are confronted with the| proposition of putting four school | rooms in & building and cutting out a | bunch of frills and expensive : , and you cut out these school room- r.ad put | in bronze grills and marble corridors | and stone columns at the front of the building, and you put in a tiled toilet | for the principal of the school better | than the one we put into the White | House offices for the use of the Presi- | dent. Why did it not occur to you to| cut out some of that stuff and give| some class rooms?” i Mr. Harris replied, “I | thought we ought to build buildings that probably will last 75 or 80 years. | They are going to be here that long, so why not put good material in them? | It is not an ultimate saving when you put in a cheap school and you have to rebulid it in a few years. I claim I am saving money ultimately to the City of Washington by doing that.” Cites Cheaper Installation. In response to Mr. Simmons’ queries, Mr. Harris explained that the corridor tiling in both the Paul and the Adams | schools, to which Mr. Simmons ob- | jected, actually was cheaper than the glazed brick by virtue of the difference in installation labor costs. He explained | further that the Macfarland School, | with class rooms only and an audito- | rium that was added after the build-| ing's _completion, cost $400,000, while the Paul, providing two more class rooms, a cafeteria with complete | kitchen equipment, terrazo instead of |asphalt floors, a boys' dressing room |and shower, a girls' dressing room and | shower, as well as the modern finish details, cost $500,000. Stephen E. Kramer, first assistant superintendent of schools, entered the discussion when he contended that the Macfarland School was the most “crit- | Mr Simmons—Do you ever get it done at the time you tell them you will? Mr. Harris—Yes, 90 per cent of the time, Record Is Produced. Then Mr. Harris produced a record of completion of school buildings dur- ing -30, showing an average of 88.8 f the bujldings completed substantially < promised Mr. Simmons looked it over and said: ‘My guess is that about 90 per cent of he fime you do not.” ‘Then followed a long bickering as to the "dates of completion of & list of schools. The debate got back to the Roosevelt High'School and raged around an arti- cle’i The Star in which Mr. Harris wag’ quoted as saying that he was un- able’ to complete” work on the school lans because under the 3 per cent aw onily $9,000 was available. ‘The result was that the change in the law sought by Mr. Harris was turned down by the committee. GERMAN FINANCE UPHELD. | Reichsrat Approves Minister's Pro- gram for Taxes. BERLIN, March 17 (#).—The Reichs- rat at a full session Saturday approved Finance Minister Moldenhauer's finan- cial - program, including benzine and benzol taxes as well as the sugar tax and mineral water tax. ‘The Reichsrat also approved & modi- fled increase in the beer tax despite an pbjecting vote from Bavaria. Passage of the measure by the Reichs- , however, is in nowise assured. as e taxation proposals are liable to be phanged in committee. |icized” school building in Washington, | | because of its “extreme plainness,” and | | added: |, “The Government is spending mil-| lions of dollars on the Avenue on these | |new Government buildings, and it seems | to me we ought to consider the problem of having our school buildings cred- | itable to our city.” | Wants Maximum Buildings. ‘When Mr. Simmons admitted “every- body enjoys seeing something beauti- ful,” Mr, Kramer asked if beauty is not a factor in education. and the Nebras- kan replied: i “If you have not any consideration | |for the taxpayer—and I have given up hope of that—you should at least have | some consideration for the children {who need these class rooms and need | | more school* buildings, and instead of | squandering a lot of money in this ikmd‘ of thing in these other bulldings, let us at least endeavor to find out how much money you can put into a build- ing that can be economically built and find out how many buildings you can get that can be economically and sen- sibly built for the money we have.” Later Mr, Kramer asked Mr. Simmons if because there is a shortage in cer- tain places in the school system the District should proceed with the con- struction of “inadequate” buildings which “must stay for a_generation or two generations.” The Nebraskan de- clared it is not a question of adequacy, and he cited again the “bronze grills all over the auditorium” and the “fancy dood-dads all over the auditorium, on the ceiling, inside and every place.’ “You do not object to that, do you?” Mr. Kramer wanted to know. “I do object to them if tiflre a children who cannot have class rooms. Mr. Simmons replied. Continuing, he High School and there is nothing of | | out the reorganization plan advocated was to have Mr. Wilmarth released, be | cause we did not feel he was competent | {to do the work and we wanted to get | | somebody who was competent to do that | The fact that the resi- |School the corridor is lined with glazed work.” | The reading of lengthy excerpts from | the 1930 hearings were placed in the | | record by Mr. Simmons in an attempt | to show that the committee had made | its views concerning Wilmarth plain, | and Dr. Charles F. Carusi, school board president, undertook to explain that | | since Maj. Wilmarth is subordinate to| | Mr. Crane, he cannot exercise any | | jurisdiction: over the business office. Dr.| | Ballou addec that the discussion wa! ccnieicd on the titles of the two | in the Paul School, and all that sort of | largely | officers. | To this Mr Simmons replied: | | _“I do not care what the titles are. S | Before the hearings are over it is going o be disclosed, Dr. Ballou, that you | have just had a wild expenditure of | public funds in the school system; that | | the expenditures have gone through | with Mr. Wilmarth’s approval, and not | | Mr. Crane's, so far as any record I have | been able te find, and it is known to everybody. I regret the necessity of | putting inte the record this statement about Maj. Wilmarth. We kept it out for two years, but it was known by| everybody that the committee wanted | somebody in charge of decisions, respon- | sible for the expenditure of public funds | and handling business affairs that was competent and had courage, and| whether we are right in judging him cr | not, it was our opinion he is not.” | ‘When discussion of the schools’ busi- | ness affairs was continued the second | day Mr. Crane himself was questioned | about his responsibility for the pur-| chases of supplies and equipment, and | he declared that his had been *“just general supervision.” Undecided on Cripples. | The crippled children’s schools were | brought into the hearing during a dis- cussion of bus_ transportation costs for | these pupils. Mr. Simmons asked if it | would not “be cheaper and better to| build a two-room schoolhouse at the hospital, on the hospital grounds. and take the children down there and put | them in school in the daytime and let | he hospital take care of them and give | hem institutional treatment.” Dr. Bal- | ou explained that that had been the| attitude of the school officials since the | care of ‘the cripples was becoming in- | |creasingly a hospitalization problem. | question of whether - schools be_built on hospital grounds or whether 24-hour hospitals should be | established for the crippled children | was held in abeyance until the Com- missioners could secure competent ad- vice and counsel. Mr. Simmons ex- pressed deep concern over the welfare | of the crippled children, and declared | that cost should be considered secondary to the nceds of these children. SIX EMPLOYES ADDED | TO UTILITY COMMISSION| Three Engineers, Two Auditors and | Accountant Are Provided for in Bill. The District appropriation bill for the | 1931 fiscal year, reported to the House today, provides six new employes for the | Public Utilities Commission to carry several months ago by Maj. Gen. Ma- son M. Patrick, chairman of the com- mission, The new employes include three en- gineers, two auditors and an account- ant. The House subcommittee on ap- propriations said it approved these ad- ditional employes, in view of the in- crease in the importance and the amount of work now coming before the commission. During the hearings on the appropri- ation bill Gen. Patrick revealed that one of the two engineers would head the entire engineering organization and would -have supervision over the work of valuation and all the inspection branches. The second engineer would be a so-called cost engineer, whose duties would be to undertake that work. The third engineer would be assigned to assist the inspector in the gas depart- ment, which keeps a constant check on the quality of gas. The additional accountant and audi- tors, Gen. Patrick revealed, will make it possible for the commission to adopt a uniform system of accounting and ’unslkm in answer to Mr. | to put in one of those new high schools, | $300 or 30 cents. | for the stage, one for the orchestra and { two for the music rooms—the best for | “On the purchase of pianos, here is The Washington Star carrying stories of children going to school and using cecond-hand card tables for desks, us- ing chairs made in the manual train- ing rooms and all of the other abuse which has been heaped, ostensibly upon Congre but which I think ought to cause the school officials to hang their | heads in shame a little bit—going out | and claiming you have not the money to buy equipment for the schools and yet you go out and pay $5418 for four pianos, two of which are used merely for the teaching of music. Dr. Charles F. Carusi, president of the school board, and Stephen E. Kramer, first assistant superintendent, defended the purchase of these in- | truments on the ground that it was economy to buy the best instrument in ! order to get the longest service out of t, and because two of the pianos are used in music rooms for the teaching of music the best instrument was the soundest from the pedagogic standpoint. Conditions “Very Uneven.” Expressing himself on the planos | Simmons’ charges that these expensive instru-! ments were bought while some children | were going without adequaite school- room accommodations, Dr. Carusi de- | clared: “It is perfectly obvious that conle tions are very uneven. We have a | wretched little school building, wretch- | edly equipped, in one part of the city and in another part of the city we will | have a very magnificent, recently-built | high school. I am very glad that we have the high school. It might have been a question at one time, at a time before I was on the board, whether it would not have been well to have adopted & different method and start in to get rid of all the poorest schools first and equip the elementary schools first, and then go on and leave the high schools and some of those finer buildings until afterward. But this is not the situation that confronted us, for instance, when the purchase of these planos came up. “Here, out of the funds of the Dis- trict, had been built up a splendid high school, equipped, as has_just been said, with a $13,500 organ. Now the school was put into operation and was to function, and, to function as a high school, so we bought the things re- quired. One of the things required was a plano. Now we are confronted with a concrete proposition not whether we shall take the money that we used for that piano and go down and buy furni- ture for some badly equipped school in the Northeast or Southeast, but whether, if we are going to put a plano in there at all, what kind of & piano are we going to put in. I am perfectly willing to accept the responsibility for saying, if I am going to buy a piano that we should buy a piano that is con- sidered proper for the purpose. If we do not have money enough to do withoutsacrificing some more impor- tant thing, then I admit it should not be done and we should let the school go without any piano, whether it cost Considerea Best Piano. Dr. Carusi added that Le considered the pianos which were purchased—one any purpose. Simmons disagreed, say- ing the $300 pianos used in elementary | schools for marching and general ac- companiment are ample, and declaring that if he were president of the school board, which had a choice of desks for children or expensive pianos, he would choose the desks. The silver service of plated which Simmons cited as another “ex- travagance,” was brought into the hearings when the subcommittee chair- man read f. ;m a long list of requisitions he had had the Bureau of Efficiency obtain for him, et,” he said, are, “Here is a tes ing of a coffee pot, sugar bowl, a cream pitcher and a waste bowl and a 22-inch waiter, for $22.50; here is an item of $9.50 for a gold-lined sugar bowl and cream pitcher; $11 for two sugar and cream trays; $9 for four candle sticks; $17 for two sets of salt and pepper shakers, and so on, the record goes.” Other items which Mr. Simmons ob- jected to as extravagant included Singer sewing machines at $127.50, while there was a bid on snother. make at $70. When Maj. Wilmarth suggest that there were reasons why the choice was made of one machine over anothel “In these particular cases the tea audit the books of the utility corpora- | tions, which the commission never has done in its 16 years of existence, 5 ers wanicd Singers, angd the dear littie things have to have dehetly whai tacy ‘want,” Simmons retorted. L {rate for metered service will | it was estimated, would return about D. C., MONDAY, “DOO-DAD MARCH 17, 1930. > AND “COMMON SENSE” IN D. C. SCHOOLS : The Macfarland Junior High School, built in 1922 and the cheapest junior high school building erected here PROPOSES 40 PCT. WATER RATE RASE Fund Bill Increases Levy to Meet $2,000,000 Annual Extension Plan. An increase of approximately 40 per cent in water rates, coupled with an in- crease from $2 to $3 a linear foot in the assessment on water mains, is pro- vided in a legislative provision written! into the District’s 1931 appropriation bill reported today to the House. The higher rates would become effective July 1, at the beginning of the new fiscal year. | The new schedule will raise water ates on the metered service from $6.36 to $8.75 a year for 7,500 cubic feet of ter and the unmetered flat rate service from $7.03 to $9.85. For busi- ness places not required to install | meters under existing regulations a flat 40 per cent increase in present rates is directed. | ‘The higher rates, as well as the in-| creased assessment on mains, were recommended by the Commlssloners} during the executive hearings on the appropriation bill before the House sub- | committee on appropriations, to raise revenue to finance the proposed five- year water improvement program. A board of engineers from the United States engineer’s office for the District, which has supervision over Washing: ton's water supply system, and officials | of the water department worked out the program. which contemplates the | expenditure of $2,000,000 a year for ex- tensions and improvements. 70,000 to Be Affected. The increase of $2.39 in the domestic affect 70,000 consumers. Only 14,000 will be affected by the $2.82 increase in the flat rate unmetered service. Estimates prepared by the water engineers show that the new rates will yield the Dis-| trict an increase of $353.400 in revenue, | while the $3 linear foot assessment on mains will produce $96,000 in added revenue. In support of the increased rate the Commissioners submitted to the | committee a report showing that the existing water charge in Washington is 67 per cent less than the average of 27 cities with populations ranging from 5,000,000 to 100,000 having municipal water systems. With the 40 per cent| increase, according to this report, the District rates would then be 24 per cent less than the average of these 27 cities. The Commissioners also submitted a report showing that existing water main assessment of $2 front foot has re- turned in the last five years only 55.5 per cent of the amount expected for service extensions. The $3 assessment, 90 per cent of the cost of the mains. Three Plans Considered. Engineer Commissioner William ~ B. Ladue explained to the committee that three plans for financing the improve- ments in the water system were con- sidered before it was finally decided to recommend an increase in rates. In addition to higher rates, the two others were a bond issue and drawing on the general revenues of the District, which would have placed the burden on the taxpayers. Both of these were dis- carded, Col. Ladue said—the bond issue , because it is not in accordance with the plan under which the District is financed. “After weighing these two alternatives from various points of view,” said Col. Ladue, “we decided in favor of raising the money out of water revenues. There are several reasons for that. In the first place, it is the basic rule here in Washington, based on legislation that goes back to the 60's some time, that the water revenues shall take care of the cost of maintenance and extension of the distribution system. «“That rule has, however, been vio- lated. In some cases the Federal Government has put up a large part ‘of the cost of the extension, and, in still other cases the water revenues, ‘And I do not know that there has been |any rule about it: at least I have not |feen able to determine any rule, be coue thrre seemed to be an incon- sistency.” the librarian follows: | | in recent years, which the Nebraska Representative believes is sensible, adequate and entirely satisfactory for Washing- ton, the city the Federal Government is making the most beautiful capital in the world, —Star Sl‘lfl Photos. Watson Saw Capitol Fire Hazard 10 Years Ago, Urging Remedy Fire Chief George S. Watson accurately foresaw the poesil of fire in the and suggested measures against one, before it happened, according to testimony before the House ng' propriations committee on the District bill. Some of his recom- mendations were adopted, but ap- parently no attention was paid to the balance. ‘Watson read to the committee a letter he had dispatched to David Lynn, architect of the Capitol, on July 1, 1920, pointing out the fire hazard in the Capitol and suggesting various remedial actions. CENSORSHIP HELD NOT LIBRARY DUTY Bowerman Tells House Body Readers Must Do Own Thinking. The Public Library does not undertake to censor books, nor does it take judicial notice of the length of women's skirts, it developed at the hearings on the Dis- | trict appropriation bill for 1931, made public today. Representative Ross Col- lins of Mississippi k care to straighten these matters out. His ex- amination of Dr. George F. Bowerman, Mr. Collins—Your library does not undertake to straightjacket a reader s0 as to make him read simply ortho- dox literature, does it? There is not any censorship in your library? Dr. Bowerman—The censorship that is exercised is chiefly that of trying to buy better books rather than poorer books. It is not a censorship of ideas. Mr. Thatcher—You have trfed to keep out the salacious and poisonous literature? Dr. Bowerman—Yes. We have very little censorship of books; we are not atraid of ideas Mr. Collins—We had an example re- cently, for ‘instance, ere “‘Candide” was kept out of this country. Have you got “Candide” in your library? Dr. Bowerman-—We absolutely have. Mr. Collins—In the field of political economy you do not undertake to do that? Dr. Bowerman—No. We believe in being liberal—that is, to represent all sides of every question, so that all the people can make up their own minds. We do not want to make up the peo- ple’s minds for them. We want them to make up their own minds with all the evidence in hand. That is the pur- pose of the Public Library. On the matter of salacious books, there are that are salacious. Standards of taste and standards of decorum change. Take the matter of the length of skirts, for instance. Mr. Simmons—That is not taken Jjudicial notice of by the library, is it? Dr. Bowerman—No; but I was men- tioning that as one of the tendencies. But there are some that are too strong for the library. Mr. Thatcher—1 think they ought to be kept out, those indecent books. Mr. Simmons—How about books such as the one on morals written by Ber- trand Russell? That is quite strong. Dr. Bowerman—Absolutely. Mr, Simmons—If that is under the hn'e. I do not know what you would cut out. Dr. Bowerman—I believe peopls should read and then make up their own minds An appropriation of $150,000 for pur- cl of a site for a branch library in the northeast section and an increase of $16,000 in the fund for new ks were the features of the recommendations in the report of the committee. Th committee recommended an ap- rrWfll'.km of $276,040 for salaries, an increase of $10,400 over 1930, and $258,300 for miscellaneous expenses, an increasc of $133,850. i e During the Mk‘cn on one of India’s ‘argest railways ently 6,000 men were out at one time, HITZ SAYS COURTS 0F D. . SOLETE Judge Declares Entire Sys- tem Here Should Be Overhauled. (Continued From First Page) | that somebody did what I did. They | said they were greatly worried at the delays and the congestion on the courts | and the short days that they were work- | ing. Litigants have told me the same izhxng. Therefore I have no apology to | offer for what happened. |~ “Now, among some of the things they | told me dissat:sfied them was that you |have a working day down there that |never exceeds four hours, and this |schedule we had showed that it aver- aged less than three hours a day per judge, and it was the complaint that a | lawyer can hardly get started on a case | before the court adjourns for the day. |1t is just impossible to get nearer to & minimum than the report indicates you operating on down there now. { “I am frank to say that we have no authority to compel you to work any harder, but it does seem to me that }thek)udges would be expediting their work.” Justice Hitz Responds. Justice Hitz responded that he did not agree “that the hours and minutes that the court sits convey any conclu- sive indication as to the amount of work it accomplishes.” Earlier in the hearing, with Justices Stafford and Siddons in the room, Chairman S'mmons said: “It is probable you men have seen this report of the Bureau of Efficiency on your court for a week, because I have transmitted it down to the execu- tive department. Here, in Justice Gor- don’s report, in the week of January 6, on Monday he held court for 35 minutes, on Tuesday he held court for 2 hours and 53 minutes, on Wednesday for 3 hours and 50 minutes, on Thurs- day for 4 hours, on Friday for 1 hour and 45 minutes and nothing on Satur- day. He had a total time of 13 hours and 3 minutes for the week.” Judge Stafford—I heard Judge Gor- don say today that there was a week where he was in court only for an houy a day. 'He was there to hear the cases and the district attorney’s office did not have them ready, and perhaps pleas of guilty came in. Mr. Simmons—Now, Judge Hitz, the same week, was present neither Monday nor Tuesday, so far as holding court is concerned. He puts in 3 hours on Wed- nesday, 2 hours and 11 minutes on Thursday, 2 hours and 32 minutes on Friday and nothing on Saturday. There were two forenoons and three after- noons of the five-day week that he was net holding court. Justice Siddons did a little better. On Monday he had 4 hours and 20 min- utes, on Tuesday a half a day, with 2 hours and 50 minutes; on Wednesday, 4 hours and 26 minytes; on Thursday. 4 hours and 13 minutes; on Friday, 4 hours and 18 minutes, or a total of 20 hours and 7 minutes during a week of five days. Justice Bailey, on Monday, had 3 hours and 55 minutes; Tuesday 3 hours and 30 minutes; Wednesday, 3 hours and 45 minutes; Thursday, 3 hours 50 minutes, and a half a day on Friday © During that week ring week you (Judge Stat- ford) held no afternoon courf‘. which | probably an equity court would be jus- | tified in no doing. % Stafford Recalls Tiiness. Judge Stafford—Well, I will say this, that I have been back now at wozk five weeun I wxna sick b:ng in lfid for six weel Al came C] it " ders of the doctor, e r. ; ons—We understand that vou bave not been well, Ji while, i Stmimons—Por that same A ons—For that week, Justice Wheat got in 17 hours and 55 or yes. He has been B T T Yk e ‘work. e memor&unt“hzvemenmge outside; we have many such cases as the Court of Appeals gets, that have to be examined, and we have to do it off the bench. Now, there 1s never a time when the court breaks down that we have not work upstairs to do and that we have been trying to get. | ige Stafford—And at first, for a I was only able to work half a | ON CRITICIZED FOR “SQUANDERING” FUNDS | HSTREET WIDENING * AMONG NEW TENS Work From 7th to 13th Is Listed Under Gasoline Tax and Street Fund. Widening of H street from Seventh to Thirteenth street to a width of 56 feet, at a cost of $103,000, is the most important of 99 specific items of street and road improvements and repair listed under the gasoline tax and street fund provided for in the appropriations bill, as follows: Southeast—Raleigh street. Nichols avenue to Seventh street, $6,300; Shan- non place, W street to Chicago street, $6,800, W street, Nichols avenue to Shannon place, $4,000; Chicago street, Nichols avenue westward, $7,700; Mount View place. Maple View place to Morris road. $3,000; Chester street, Maple View place to Valley place, $5,900; Fourteenth street, Ridge place to S street, $2,600: Twenty-second street. Minnesota ave- nue to R street, $7,700; R street. Twen- ty-second street to Twenty-fifth street, /816,000; Naylor road, Minnesota ave- nue to R street, $14,200: Twenty-third street, Q street to R street, $5,900; Q street, Naylor road to Twenty-sixth street. $16,400: Park place, Twenty-third street to Twenty-fifth street, $7,000: White place, Park place to Minnesota |avenue, $4,700; Thirtieth street, Penn- | sylvania avenue to R street, $8,500; Fif- | teenth street, Pennsylvania avenue to K street, $4,400: K street, Fourteenth street to Fifteenth street. $7.500; K street, Eleventh street to Twelfth street, 1$3,700: C street, Sixteenth street to Seventeenth street, $3,700. 1 Northeast Section. Northeast — Twenty-fourth street, Boenning road to E street, $9.600: Twen- tieth street, Benning road to H street, 1$6,500; Bennett place, Twentieth street to Twenty-second street, $7,600; Oates | street, Montello avenue to West Vir- ginia avenue, $8,500; Owen place, West Virginia avenue to 300 feet east, $4,000: | Evarts street, Twenty-eighth street to ;Bladen.sburg road, $8,100; Franklin | street. Thirtieth street to Bladensburg road, $7,200; Walnut street, Vista street to Myrtle avenue, $9,000; Thirtieth street, Otis street to Perry street, $4,400; Quincy street, Twenty-first street to Twenty-second street, $4,100; Perry street, Twenty-second street to Twenty- fourth \street. $7,600; Twenty-fourth | street, Otis street to Perry street, $7,300; Otis street, Eighteenth street to South | Dakota avenue, $26,500; Urell place, | Tenth street to Twelfth street, $6,900; | Twelfth street, Upshur street to Urell | place, $3,600; Randolph street, Thir- | teenth street to Fourteenth street, $9,200; Fourteenth street, Lawrence street to Newton street, $10,200; Jack- son street, west of Tenth street, $5,600: Seventeenth street, 250 feet south of Douglas street to Rhode Island avenue, $20,100; Evarts street, Seventeenth street westward, $8,000; Douglas street, Third street to Fourth street, $5,600; Northwest—Third | street to Allison s | street, New HampsHire Creek Cemetery, $9,500; Fourth street, Webster street to Allison street, $4,800; Kansas avenue, Fifth street to Farragut street, and Farragut street, Kansas ave- |nue to Fifth street. $5,900: Gallatin | street, Ninth street to Illinois avenue, $2,000; Fifth street, Longfellow street | to Peabody street, $23,300; Fifth street, | Sheridan street. to Tuckerman street, | $6,500; Tuckerman street, Fifth street to |Seventh street, $11,600; Tewkesbury |place. Eighth street to Ninth street, {$5,500; Eighth street, Van Buren street |to Underwood street, $7,800; Venable place, west of Piney Branch road, |$4,100; Sixteanth street, Dahlia street to | Fern street. $10,000; Georgia avenue, |Rock Creek Church road to Buchanan | street, $68,400; Hemlock street, Twelfth street to Alaska avenue, $6,300; Twelfth street, Alaska avenue to Hemlock street, |$9,100; Juniper street, Morningside | drive to Thirteenth street, $8,600; Thir- teenth street, Alaska avenue to Kalmia road. $15,790; Morningside drive, Alaska avenue to Kalmia road, $23,800; Van Buren street, Sixteenth street to alley east, $2,000; Montague street, Four- teenth street to Sixteenth street, $11.- 200; Iowa avenue, Piney Branch road |to Gallatin _street, $6,260; Emerson | street, Sixteenth street to Piney Branch road. $5,100; Parkwood , Four- teenth street to Center street, $5,900; Clydesdale place, Adams Mills road to Ontario road, $3,900; Twenty-fourth street, Calvert street to Connecticut avenue, $7,000; Woodley road, Woodley place to Cathedral avenue, $4,000; Ma- comb street, east of Connecticut avenue, $6,900; Thirtieth street, Albemarle street to Brandywine street, $9,200; Everett street, Thirty-sixth street to Connecticut avenue, $600; Fessenden street, Connec- ticut avenue to Thirty-fourth street, $8,400: Emery place, Forty-first street to Wisconsin avenue, $5.100; street, Thirty-fifth street to Idaho ave- nue, $7,600; Thirty-fifth street, Ordway street to Quebec street, $10,100; Thirty- ninth street, FPulton street to Garfield street, $7,100; Norton street, Sherrier place to Conduit road, $5.100; Sherrier place, Cathedral avenue to Norton street (20-foot strip), $20,000; Reservoir street, Thirty-second street to Wisconsin ave- nue, $7,300; R street, Twenty-eighth street to Twenty-ninth street, $4,200; Twenth-eighth street, Q street to R street, $10,700; Twenty-sixth street, P street to East place, $4,600; Bancroft |place, east of Twenty-third street, $4,600; Iris street, from Thirteenth treet to Sixteenth street, $20,900; Dana | street, from Conduit road to Hurst ter- | race, '$4,000; Hurst terrace, from Dana | street westward, $5,500. | West—Twelfth street, B street north |to B street south, $40,600. For grading, including construction |of necessary culverts and retaining | walls, the following: Northeast—New York avenue, Florida |avenue to Blandensburg road, $38,300; | Chestnut street. Vista street to Monroe \street, and Monro. street, Clinton ave- nue to Eastern avenue, $6,000. | Northwest—Tilden street, Sedgwick | street to Reno road; Reno road, Tilden | street to Upton street, and Upton street, |Reno road to Thirty-eighth street, 185,000; Albemarle street, Massachusetts |avenue to Forty-ninth street, and Forty- | Butterworth place, |avenue, Rittenhouse street to Daniels | road, $8,000; Rittenhouse street, Twen- {:y»mmn street to Daniels road, $! . | For widening to 56 feet and repaving the roadway of H street from Seventh to Thirteenth, including necessary re- | placement and relocation of sewers and | water mains, $103,000. GAMBLING PARLEY NEAR. ‘Lower California Official in Mexico | City for Conference. MEXICO CITY, March 17 (#).—With the arrival of Gov. Jose Maria Tapia of the Northern District of Lower Cali- fornia, conferences on the subject of gambling establishments at Agua Ca- liente and other points frequented by American tourists are to begin. Preside) o his “recommendation” to state govern- orsdtor mhlbiuz;n of the establishment and operation” of bling houses was his final view in L;;mmtm. and sald the recol ndation applied to terri. tories as Well as states, thus definitely Lower; California.