Show THAT PAVING CONTRACT thic THE recommendation of thi the board of public works to let the bigdon big contract for paving to the barber asphalt company has occasioned more stir and indignation among busi busine neen ea men than anything heretofore contemplated by chec the lity city council there seems to have been some misunderstanding in regard to the lowest bid for the contract several objectors have stated as one of the grounds of their protest that a home company had made the lowest bid and that the barber bid was next they argue that it if the council can for any reason pass by the lowest to the next they can pass pan by that to another for some other good and sufficient reason but it appears from the actual figures that the barber b bid id was really the lowest taking the whole job in the aggregate in some of the details there was perhaps a difference in favor of another company but the total bid of the barber company we understand was nearly less than the lowest of the other bids we presume the board thought that as the barber bid was the lowest j and the company was responsible pa the law abd the regulation would require the letting of the coVAr contract act to that company so bo that a little less benun and a little more reasoning and light will probably be proper under the circumstances the rule to employ home talent home material and home hilme capital whenever justice and economy will permit we believe will find and favor with the representatives presenta tives of the people because that lo is what the people want but when home contractors want higher figures than work can be dol doie ea or Materi materials gila furnished for by outside firms surely fault will not be found with officials who consider themselves bound by the rule that contracts must be let to the lowest responsible bidder however in this case we think there are sufficient reasons why the barber company should not have the contract but that it should be let jet to the home company offering the next lowest bid and the comparatively best materials these should be considered by the city council before the recommendation men dation of the board Is ie acted upon from many reports coming from various places where intense dif dissatisfaction prevails it appears that the berber barber pavement is very defective that it has to be constantly repaired that the company notoriously by low bidding drives out competitors and then manages to keep tho the letter of their contracts by frequent patchwork until the he live five years yean limit expires and that then the public are put to endless expense by the inferiority ferio rity of the materials employed and the consequent renewal or removal of the pavement this is a very serious matter in view of the large expenditure involved and as most of the money v mill ill go out of the territory it this company is in employed the loss will be still more serious it the means can be kept at home by the employment of home materials I a i s labor and skill and in addition 1 t the h probabilities are that better work can be secured true economy and public interest would demand that the spirit rather than the letter of the law should govern in this matter it appears further that the home company making the next lowest bid is not presuming on the fact that it is a home concern and therefore seeking to obtain high figures but have put the price down to t 0 the lowest livin jivin rates also that thai its work already done to is open to investigation vesti gation that it has erected expensive works for the business that it to is ready with suitable guaranties guarantees guaran ties that it is supported by public sentiment and that business men whose property abuts on the streets proposed to be paved are willing to pay the difference between the barber bid and the figures figure of the home company with all these considerations it looks as though nothing could stand in the way of the council to the awarding of the contract to the home company unless it be some private understanding or agreement or something that does doe not now appear which would justify concurrence in the report of the committee until something definite is produced to show to the contrary we shall believe that the committee and the city council are acting on what they believe to be the law in relation to the matter and for the best interests of the city but the public are much aroused over it and we think the widespread wide spread opinion of thinking men should have due weight with the municipal authorities |