On January 31, 1866, this report was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs of the Senate, which committee, on March 22, 1866, made a report thereon (No. 45, first session Thirty-ninth Congress) accompa nying a bill for the payment of the awards thus made. In said report the committee say : From June till December last the Board organized by the Secretary of the Navy under the Senate resolution, composed of eminent officers of the Navy, was engaged in hearing evidence and investigating the claims of these parties. That investigation seems to have been fairly, carefully, and thoroughly made. It was by officers of the Department, and the award, which the committee believe to be substantially right, should be adopted as the basis of relief to the parties, and therefore your committee report the accompanying bill. One of the awards has been paid by joint resolution of March 30, 1867 (15 Stats., 353), by which Donahue, Ryan, and Secor were paid $179,000 for losses sustained by them in constructing the Comanche. Amount allowed by the board, $179,993.80. In addition, the following special acts have been passed to relieve contractors in similar cases, to wit: Act of February 18, 1873, to relieve the heirs of George C. Bester, $125,000 (17 Stats., 733). Act of June 1, 1872, to pay Charles W. Whitney, $50,000 (17 Stats., 671). John Ericsson was allowed $1,070,438.93 for increased cost of the Puritan. Act of June 10, 1872, to pay J. S. Underhill $23,310.75 (17 Stats., 691). Miles Greenwood, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was allowed and paid for increase cost on the United States vessel Tippecanoe, $76,000. Act of March 2, 1875, to pay Daniel S. Mershon, jr., $46,715.08 (18 Stats., 635). The contractors for building the dome of the Capitol were awarded and paid $96,000 for increase in the price of labor and material during its construction. The Government prolonged the time of its completion. (See Senate Report No. 132, first session, Thirty-ninth Congress.) The question of the duty of the Government to relieve the contractors for the building of these vessels has been repeatedly recognized by Congress. (Slone, Report No. 17, Thirty-ninth Congress, second session; Senator Nye, Report No. 45, Thirty-ninth Congress, first session; Senator Drake, Report No. 163, Forty-first Congress, second session; Senator Nye, Report No. 37, Forty-second Congress, second session. That the contract for this machinery was fulfilled by John Roach is demonstrated by the fact that his claim was presented and considered by said Board. Your committee sees no reason to doubt the correctness of the statements made by Mr. Roach, and adopt his memorial as part of this report. The bill referred to the committee provides for the payment of the sum found to be due by the Selfridge Board, but the substitute recommended provides for the reference of the claim to the Court of Claims, in order that the increased cost to which he was put in completion of the contract may be judicially ascertained, the judgment to be rendered by the court not to exceed the sum allowed by said Board. For economic reasons, John Roach made an assignment to George W. Quintard and George E. Weed for the benefit of his creditors. His subsequent death has worked no change in the right or interest thus vested in the assignees. The memorial of Mr. Roach is as follows: To the Committee on Claims, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.: GENTLEMEN: In compliance with the terms of the resolution passed by your honorable body on the 13th ultimo, I beg to submit my claims for compensation and relief for losses sustained in the construction of the steam machinery for the wooden doubleender gun-boat, Peoria. This machinery was contracted for on the 29th of October, 1862, with the Navy Department, by the subscriber, John Roach, of New York, for the sum of $82,000. The cost was $144,532.44, as shown by the accompanying statement made under oath before the Board of Naval Engineers appointed to investigate into the cost of the engines, who after a minute scrutiny of my books and papers fixed the amount of my losses at $61,752.51. The circumstances which led to the cost of the machinery exceeding the contract price are as follows: First. The engines proved to be much weightier than the contractors were led to believe, more costly in finish and required the expenditure of much more labor than was anticipated. When the contract was taken the plans and specifications were incomplete; it was therefore impossible to make any reliable approximation to a detailed estimate as to the weight of the machinery. On representations which were made, no doubt, in perfect good faith, the contractors were led to believe it would not exceed that of the Paul Jones by more than 15 per cent. This supposition proved entirely erroneous, as the weight of the Peoria's engines reaches nearly 600,000 pounds, while that of the Paul Jones is only about 380,000 pounds. Second. The great scarcity of skilled mechanics, the disorganization of labor during and in consequence of the war; the giving out of so many contracts at the same time for steam machinery by the Government, and the chartering of so many steamvessels of all classes to be used in the Government service created a demand for skilled mechanics to meet which the ordinary supply was totally inadequate. Later this state of affairs was much aggravated by numbers of mechanics, induced by the heavy bounties, entering the volunteer service, others being conscripted or moving to distant localities to avoid conscription, many of the best workmen being absorbed by the Navy and navy-yards, others being attracted into avocations rendered by the war temporarily more lucrative then mechanical pursuits. Not only the cost of labor kept advancing through the whole time the work was in progress until it reached from 50 to 100 per cent. above the rates paid at the time the contract was made, but owing to the great infusion of inexperienced hands its efficiency kept as steadily falling to a lower standard, taking much longer to build a pair of engines at that period than it had previously done with the same number of workmen at lower prices. This disorganization in the labor market affected the cost of work indirectly as well as directly, subcontractors in most instances failing to finish the articles contracted for at the time specified, and in many instances furnishing materials which not coming up to the standard of quality had to be condemned and replaced, causing much delay, unnecessary labor, and increase in cost. Third. The enormous advance in the cost of all materials, owing in a great measure to the depreciation in value of paper money caused by the extraordinary issue by the Government of an irredeemable currency. Pig-iron rose while the work was in progress from $27 per ton in October, 1862, when the contract was made, to $80; boilerplate from 64 cents per pound to 103 cents; bar-iron from $72.50 to $220 per ton; ingot copper from 25 cents to 514 cents per pound; sheet copper from 30 cents to 70 cents per pound. In determining the propriety of allowing any re-imbursement to the contractors for the engines of the Peoria class and the amount of said allowance, if made, I would respectfully urge the special attention of your honorable body to the following facts, and on these facts alone, I for one, am willing to rest my claims before any impartial tribunal. By referring to the accompanying statement it will be perceived that the cost of the material and sundries alone, the greater portion of which was contracted for before any great advance in prices took place, amounts without any expenditure at all for labor, to the face of the contract, and I believe on this point you will find but little disparity in the statements of the majority of the contractors. This, I think, ought to be sufficient to convince you that there must have been in the minds of those gentlemen at the time of taking these contracts a very grave misapprehension as to the nature of the work they were contracting for and that the engines could not have been finished except at a very great pecuniary loss. These engines weigh nearly 600,000 pounds, which, at the contract price of $82,000, is only about 14 cents per pound. At 25 cents per pound, a low figure during the last four years for that class of work, they will amount to $150,000. Through an unfortunate misapprehension on the part of the contractors the Goy ernment has obtained possession of this $150,000 worth of property while it has only been legally bound to pay $2,000 for it. Viewing the matter in this light, I think to an unprejudiced mind it will appear clear that the United States Government, having indisputably received the full value claimed by the contractors, in equity ought not to shield itself behind a contract based upon a misunderstanding, but relieve the contractors to the full extent of their losses. Regarding the discrepancy in cost between the engines of the Peoria and some others of her class it raust be evident that as the engines progressed, and the contractors discovered that they must incur in finishing them up an enormous pecuniary loss, a wide margin for disparity arose, as under the circumstances different contractors would doubtlessly pursue widely different courses. The subscriber, relying on the Government's fairness and believing it would be inclined to give any claim he might have for re-imbursement a more favorable consideration if he succeeded in building a pair of engines which would be satisfactory to the Navy Department and creditable to the builders and designers than if he attempted to curtail his losses by acting otherwise, spared no labor or expense to make the Peoria's engines first class throughout, and has no hesitation in referring this subject to the Navy Department, which by this time has had an opportunity of judging which ships are the most profitable according to their relative cost. Witness: EDWARD F. BROWN. JOHN ROACH. Sundries, draughtsmen, &c Mill-wrights, &c., adding 10 per cent. for shop rent, use of tools, &c., 564 Planing-machines, 34270 Drilling-machines, 123 Bolt-cntters, 151 44-10.. Punching and shearing machines and helpers, 5 14-10. Machinists, adding 10 per cent. for shop rent, use of tools, &c., 4873. Laborers, adding 10 per cent. for shop rent, use of tools, &c., 2007 8-10 Coppersmiths and w. felters, adding 10 per cent. for shop reut, use of tools &c., 9641% Pattern-makers, adding 10 per cent for shop rent, use of tools, &c., 600 8-10. Cost of engines, boilers, etc., for the U. S. gun-boat " Peoria," constructed at the Ætna Iron Works, New York, by John Roach & Son. Forger and helpers, 717 54-10. Flange, fires, and helpers, 74 Lathes, 1032% .... $5, 470. 40 114.58 5,288. 23 1,937.88 524.18 495.97 38.44 542.03 11, 086, 97 8,409. 27 3, 486.86 2,151.23 1,404.93 1,528.84 1,692.90 Boiler-work per contract.. 15, 681. 14 59, 853.85 |