June 30, 1908. has been deemed wise, therefore, to make plans embracing expenditures up to In order to do this, the probable receipts from the fund have been obtained from the General Land Office and are given below in connection with the receipts for previous years. The amounts given represent the receipts and the estimated receipts for the fiscal years ending June 30 in the years specified. Schedule of estimated receipts and expenditures. PURCHASES OF RIGHTS OR PROPERTY. Section 7 of the reclamation act provides that where in carrying out the provisions of the act it is necessary to acquire any rights or property, the Secretary of the Interior may acquire them for the United States by purchase or by condemnation under judicial process. The following is a list of the purchases thus far made under this section of the act: Hocker, Herbert. S. NE. 1. NE. SE. 4, and SE. NW. Right of way across SE. SE. 1 sec. Consider- Remarks. $3,500.00 Deed dated May 25, 1904; $500 of purchase 3,500.00 money paid by Maricopa Company. Deed dated Mar. 1, 1904. 1,300.00 Deed dated Oct. 1905. Purchases of rights or property-Continued. Description. NE. NE. sec. 19 and NW. 4 NW. 1 Lots 2. 3, and 4, sec. 31, T. 4 N., R. 14 Lots 5, 6, 7 and SE. SW. sec. 6, T. SW. NE. and NW. SE. sec. 35, Carriage of water for North Platte Canal and Colonization Co., maintenance charges to be paid by water users. Section 4 of the reclamation act gives the Secretary authority to let contracts for constructing the work in such portions or sections as it may be practicable to construct and to complete as parts of the whole project. In accordance with the requirements of this section, the surveys and examinations are brought as quickly as possible to a point where contracts may be let for portions of the work. As soon as one contract is let, the examinations are pushed forward rapidly to a point where another integral unit can be taken up. In order to expedite construction, the plans are rapidly outlined, and when the feasibility of the whole project has been determined, immediate action is taken toward beginning construction without waiting for all of the minor details to be settled. Hence, construction has usually been begun upon one part or another long before the final surveys have been finished for the project as a whole. In drawing up the large contracts provision has been made for this condition. All large contracts have been entered into upon a unit basis as to cost per cubic yard of dirt moved or concrete laid, the change in final details being at all times an essential part of the contract. This has enabled modifications to be made as the work progresses. Instead of waiting months or years to perfect every detail, it has thus been possible to get the work started and. as the ground has been opened and conditions have become better known, to modify the shape of the structures to suit the new conditions. Although the greater part of the expenditure is made under a few relatively large contracts, there is in the aggregate a considerable amount of work which must be done under what is known as force account," by the employment of men by the day. Much of the preliminary work, such as boring for foundations. putting in test pits, constructing roads, etc., can be handled only in this way. The maintenance, also, of the completed work is a matter which can be carried on only by force account. Thus there is a steadily increasing necessity for CE. Larks d Au! 1 Mar i Dec a system which will enable the force account work to be carried on economically and effectively. There have also been instances where the contractors have failed, and where it has been necessary for the work to be taken from their hands and continued by force account, under the direct supervision of the engineers of the Reclamation Service. The present system of letting contracts is unquestionably the best on any class of work capable of accurate description. It is the method which is employed by all large corporations, and where discretion is used excellent results follow. As a rule, the profits to the contractors on the reclamation work have not been large; and, in fact, there is more danger of loss to the contractors, and consequent poor work, than of inordinate profits. One of the chief difficulties encountered has been that growing out of the attempt of inexperienced or irresponsible persons to get an award of a contract. There is preva lent a mistaken idea that a Government contract is a sure road to wealth, and a number of persons who are wholly unprepared by past experience have competed by offering bids in regular form. Some of these bids, on examination, have been found to be based on ignorance, for the prices offered are less than the amount for which the work can possibly be done. Where the prices have been ridiculously disproportionate to the work, it has been possible to reject the bid altogether; but the chief danger lies in those cases in which the prices are not so extremely low that the bids can be absolutely disregarded. Some men who have had moderate experience on private work, and who can not properly be classed as wholly ignorant of contract operations, contrive to get together sufficient capital to enable them to bid, and these may underbid more experienced contractors and, if they have good luck, may be able to complete the work without great loss. These men depend largely upon the hope that they can succeed in getting some modification of the letter of the specifications or some special privileges, and do not give sufficient weight to the need of fulfilling absolutely all the requirements of the contract. In short, they hope by good luck and ingenious evasion ultimately to get through the work in some fashion. To deal with would-be contractors of this class has been difficult and irritating. In some cases the boards of engineers have been morally certain that these men could not carry out the work, and yet have not been able to obtain actual proof of that fact, as the commercial standing of the would-be contractors has been fairly good, they have had some experience, and there is always the unknown factor of good luck which keeps some men out of disaster. If the individual members of the board were handling the matter as a private affair, they would reject such bids; but as public officials they must be prepared to give proof of the soundness of their judgment. If, on general principles, they recommend the rejection of the lowest bid they are at once exposed to charges of favoritism. Hence, bids must sometimes be awarded to the lowest bidder when there is reasonable doubt in the minds of all concerned as to the wisdom of the award. Then follows a long struggle, involving daily warfare between the engineering and inspecting force and the contractor in the effort to compel him to fulfill the terms of the contract. The contractor, realizing that his profits will be small or that he is losing money day by day, resorts to every device that human ingenuity can conceive to save here and there, and there is a daily contest of wits and almost of brute force in order to carry out the work. During 1905 there has been a rapid development of railroad building in the West and of construction of all kinds. Labor, at best a scarcity in the market, has become more and more difficult to obtain, wages have advanced greatly, and the efficiency and steadiness of labor has decreased. Hence the contracts entered into in 1904 or in the early part of 1905 have become increasingly difficult to fulfill, and some of the smaller contractors have been forced to the wall. The cost of materials has also greatly advanced, and where time has been an element there have been serious losses from this source. The experienced subcontractors have nearly all been loaded up with work, and the main contractors have found it exceedingly difficult to carry out the operations at the speed agreed upon. Although the Government contracts do not recognize the subcontractor, yet, as a matter of fact, all large work is performed by subcontractors, the man or firm obtaining the contract from the Government furnishing, as a rule, the working capital and becoming the responsible superintendent. The anomalous condition is one which should be recognized, as the attempt to carry on Government business in a form different from that of ordinary commercial affairs invariably leads to unnecessary expense and difficulty. The following tables show the status of all contracts heretofore made under the several projects: |