r 
 
 5TP 
 
 r ra.-^cUft.o . 
 
 TO 
 
 |l BIS EXCELLENCY: WILLIAM IRWIN; 
 
 GOVERNOR OF THE 
 
 STATE OP CALIFORNIA, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 COMMISSIONERS 
 
 OF 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 SAN FBANCISCO : 
 
 B. F. STEBETT, PRINTER AND ENGRAVER. S32 OLAT STREET. 
 1876. 
 
 BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL 
 
 LIBRARY 
 44 LI BRANT
 
 TO 
 
 HIS EXCELLENCY: WILLIAM IRWIN: 
 
 o 
 
 GOVERNOR OF THE 
 
 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 COMMISSIONERS 
 
 OF 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 SAN FKANCISCO : 
 
 B. F. STEBXTT, PBINTEB AND ENGBAVKB, 532 OLAY STBKET. 
 1876.
 
 To His EXCELLENCY: WILLIAM IRWIN; 
 
 Governor of the State of California. 
 
 SIR: 
 
 In justice to themselves, as well as to those 
 who have been in their employ, the undersigned Park 
 Commissioners, of the city and county of San Francisco, 
 request your attention to the subject matter of the pres- 
 ent communication : namely the circumstances of the 
 recent investigation into the affairs of this Board by a 
 committee of the Assembly, and the report submitted 
 thereon. 
 
 On the tenth day of January, 1S76, under and by virtue of 
 a resolution, adopted on that day, the Honorable D. C. Sullivan, 
 James G. Carson, William Broderick, Thomas Barber and Fred- 
 erick Raisch were appointed a committee of the House of 
 Assembly "to proceed to San Francisco and investigate the 
 expenditures of public moneys by the Park Commissioners of 
 San Francisco, and all the acts, business and affairs of said 
 Commissioners, in the improvement of the outside lands, known 
 and designated as Golden Gate Park, from the date of organi- 
 zation of said Commission to the present time." 
 
 1 The Committee met in the rooms of the Board of Supervisors 
 in this city and county, without previous notification to this 
 Board, on the morning of the J2th day of January, on which 
 occasion it was announced publicly by the chairman the Hon. 
 D. C. Sullivan that the knowledge of certain gross irregulari- 
 ties, delinquencies not to say, criminalities on the part of. the 
 Superintendent of the Parks having come to his ears, he had 
 asked and obtained the appointment of the then present com- 
 mittee to investigate into such maladministration as these re- 
 ported wrong-doings seemed to indicate. 
 
 The remainder of that day was spent by the Committee in 
 inspecting the Park and the improvements thereon. 
 
 The two succeeding days were occupied in secret investiga- 
 tion, to which neither the members of this Commission, nor 
 their employees, were admitted. This action on the part of the 
 Committee, as we were informed, was for the purpose of
 
 examining such complaining witnesses as might present them- 
 selves, and thus enabling the Committee to judge whether or 
 not there was any ground for investigation. 
 
 It appears that the committee were satisfied on this point, 
 from such private inquiry, and made up their minds in the affir- 
 mative on the proposition, for the two days following were 
 spent in bringing before the public, in open investigation, the 
 various charges, criticisms, etc., made by the witnesses exam- 
 ined in private. The Commissioners or their employes were 
 not informed of what discrepancies, irregularities or mistakes 
 they would be called upon to answer or explain, but were put 
 on the stand to be catechised upon the trivial circumstances of 
 a five years' administration (much of which had been, so far 
 as the Commissioners were concerned, during the administration 
 of their predecessors) upon the complaint of a number of their 
 former subordinate employees. 
 
 At this juncture the Committee adjourned to Sacramento, 
 despite the earnest request of the Park management, without 
 affording those maligned an opportunity to present a line of 
 evidence in defence against the statements put forth to their 
 discredit. 
 
 The conduct of the Chairman of this Committee, Hon. D. 
 C. Sullivan, previous to, on the occasion of, and immediately 
 after this partial investigation, was such as to induce the super- 
 intendent in the employ of this Board towards whom the 
 attack seemed to be directed to ask at the hands of the As- 
 sembly his dismissal from the Committee. Certain affidavits 
 were presented to that Honorable Body, and the member men- 
 tioned resigned from the Committee. To these affidavits, now 
 on file in the archives of the Assembly, we respectfully call 
 your attention, with the remark that it is a little singular that 
 the Honorable Member towards whom they were directed 
 never asked at the hands of the House an investigation into 
 the charges contained therein. 
 
 On February 12th 1876, the Assembly Committee having 
 manifested a decided unwillingness to return to this city and 
 conclude its labors, the Commissioners addressed a letter to 
 the San Francisco Delegation in the Senate, in which they said :
 
 " We respectfully represent that some action at the hands of 
 the present Legislature, providing for the further improvement 
 and maintenance of these Parks, will be necessary; and that it 
 has been the intention of this Commission to present the subject 
 for your consideration ; but in view of the unsettled question 
 of the faithful and judicious conduct of its affairs by this Board 
 and its chief employee in the past, the undersigned are now 
 hesitating to make any suggestions for the future. In the 
 meantime the session of the Legislature is drawing towards a 
 close, and time for clearing up the questions involved and con- 
 sideration of subsequent measures, becoming short. The 
 undersigned, therefore, having ^nothing to conceal, but desiring 
 a full and searching investigation into the management of the 
 grounds committed to their charge, now respectfully urge the 
 immediate appointment of a special committee of the Senate of 
 the State of California, to prosecute such inquiry, and report 
 suggestions for a future line of policy in the conduct of Park 
 affairs, and request your support of the movement for the 
 appointment of said commiteee.'' 
 
 In answer to which the Commissioners received a letter from 
 the Hon. Chairman of the Delegation, the purport of which 
 was, that the Delegation was not aware of any circumstance 
 which would justify the members thereof in favoring the 
 appointment of a Senate committee of investigation, and that 
 they were " ever ready to receive suggestions from the Com- 
 missioners as to the future conduct of the Parks." 
 
 Although the members of the Assembly Committee were 
 repeatedly requested, by those most interested on the part of 
 the Park management, to return to this city an'l give them the 
 opportunity of presenting evidence to controvert the criticisms 
 and charges brought forward at the first investigation ; it was 
 not until the sixth day of March nearly two months after the 
 first partial inquiry made in this city and then only in obedi- 
 ence to a resolution of instruction by the House, put forward 
 at the instance of friends of the Park management that such 
 opportunity was given, and the report of the Committee was 
 not handed in until the last working day but one of the session. 
 
 This report is such a remarkable document in the respect of 
 ;ipl>;irent,ly ignoring all testimony for the defence, that we ask 
 your attention to its conclusions in detail ; and the better to 
 facilitate your inquiry we set before you, under the appropriate
 
 headings, the several points made in it, each followed by a 
 synopsis of the evidence upon which it should have been based, 
 with such comments as appears to us proper. 
 
 The testimony taken was printed in three separate parcels, 
 by order of the House, severally denominated "Testimony" 
 &c., " Additional Testimony " &c., and " Final Testimony 
 taken before the Assembly Special Committee, appointed to 
 investigate the affairs of the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco." 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF TREES. 
 
 " First The system of tree planting now and heretofore carried 
 out has resulted in a wanton and useless destruction of one -third 
 of all the trees planted: This plan has been heartily indorsed and 
 followed by the witness Poppey. He has cut down hundreds of 
 valuable trees three years old, and raised with great care, labor 
 and expense. These trees might, in the opinion of rour commit- 
 tee, have been transplanted at a small expense, and large sums of 
 money thus saved; and brush fences could have been built of the 
 natural brush on portions of the park, and which at some time 
 must be removed.'' 
 
 (Extract first finding Kept. Assembly Park Com., page 4. 
 
 The testimony upon which the above judgment is based 
 is in substance as follows : 
 
 J. J. MURPHY A gardener employed at the park at $55 per 
 month, originally ranked as a laborer testified that some trees 
 which had been planted on the park, were cut down after they 
 had grown to a good size, in his judgment this was wrong ; the 
 trees ought to have been removed, if not wanted in the places 
 where they stood, transplanted ; had cut down some himself, 
 could not state the number ; supposed there were ten to twelve 
 hundred cut down altogether. 
 
 (See page 117 and 118 of Testimony.) 
 
 DANIEL SULLIVAN A laborer at the park testified that he 
 cut down trees himself, to the number of sixty to eighty, by 
 order of the head gardener; trees being two to three years old ; 
 did not know the number cut or why they were cut. 
 
 (See page 128 of Testimony.) 
 
 ALEXANDER ANDREWS A laborer employed at the park 
 testified that he cut down some trees himself by order of the
 
 head gardener; knew of about two hundred being cut altogeth- 
 er. Some of the trees he cut were removed for the purpose of 
 thinning out the clumps. 
 
 (See page 18 of Additional Testimony.) 
 
 This constitutes the sum total of testimony taken in 
 open session, which in any degree tends to condemn the 
 act of cutting trees. The character of these witnesses is 
 such, in the point of qualification to pass judgment on a 
 subject of the kind, that it was not deemed worth the 
 time to cross-question them to any extent. 
 
 It appears however that other witnesses were exam, 
 ined on this point in the secret session of the Committee, 
 to whose opinions the Committee have evidently given 
 'ear. Be it remembered that the park management was 
 not represented at their examination, and, consequently, 
 they were not cross-examined. 
 
 Their testimony is as follows : 
 
 WILLIAM COLLIE A gardener and nurseryman, never em- 
 ployed at the park condemned the act of cutting down trees 
 which had once been planted ; called it wanton destruction. 
 
 HENRY STEWART A gardener and nurseryman, never em- 
 ployed at the park thought that unless the trees stood too 
 thick it was wanton destruction to cut them down. 
 
 (See page 27 of Testimony.) 
 
 FRANK ROSENTHAL A gardener employed at the park, at $60 
 per month testified that he knew of trees being cut at the 
 park ; cut some down himself, where he considered they stood 
 too thick. 
 
 (See page 26 of Testimony.) 
 
 In explanation and justification of cutting trees, the 
 following testimony appears : 
 
 W. H. HALL Superintendent of the park testified that he 
 could not state the number of trees that were cut ; had author- 
 ized the thinning out of the plantations, wherever it was neces-
 
 8 
 
 sary, which was done. Speaking of planting thickly with the 
 view of thinning out, he said : 
 
 lt It is a thing done in all cases, and one probably more neces- 
 sary in this improvement than in any other of the kind in the 
 country." 
 
 Did not consider the trees as worth anything when their pur- 
 pose had been served, and it became necessary to thin the groups, 
 for they were too old to transplant to advantage. 
 
 " The trees that are on the windward side of a group gener- 
 ally are blown to pieces. Their shape, their appearance is de- 
 stroyed ; their beauty is marred very much. Such trees are cut 
 away, and others similar ones put in their places. Further- 
 more, in groups of trees it is not desirable to have all the same 
 size. These trees which were cut away (on the windward side 
 of the groups) had been protecting others which had been grow- 
 ing in the meantime, and had obtained a good form and outline. 
 Those others were brought into the foreground by cutting away 
 these in front. Then, again, the instances have been very few, 
 comparatively, where exactly the same kind of trees have been 
 planted in the same place ; and, furthermore, where the trees 
 have been cut away in by no means a majority a very small 
 minority of cases have there been others planted at all of any 
 kind. In more instances there have been shrubs planted low 
 growing shrubs. In other cases trees were cut out of the mid- 
 dle of the groups, with the intention of thinning out. By refer- 
 ence to my reports concerning the improvement of the park, it 
 will be seen that reasons are given for planting trees so close to- 
 gether. And it has been said from the first report I made that 
 it was designed to cut those trees and thin them out. That 
 work commenced last fall." 
 
 (See page 62 and 64 of Testimony.) 
 
 F. W. POPPET Landscape gardener, Head Gardener at the 
 park j educated at the Royal Horticultural College, in Berlin, 
 Prussia ; recommended by Mr. Fred. Law Olmstead, of Central 
 and Prospect parks, New York and Brooklyn explained at 
 length the circumstances of cutting down some trees at the 
 park, in substantially the same terms above quoted from W. H. 
 Hall. Said he ordered the work to be done ; and that about 
 two hundred in all were cut, principally in thinning out the 
 plantations. 
 
 (See pages 139, 144, 148 of Testimony.) 
 
 JAMES BAILEY Engaged in raising forest trees and foresting
 
 lands therewith testified that bethought it "an excellent plan 
 to plant trees thicker than they are intended to stand." 
 
 " I advocate planting a forest thicker than it is intended to 
 remain, for two reasons. One reason is, it shades the ground, 
 and prevents it from drying up so fast , another reason is, the 
 trees protect each other, and they are more apt to grow straight." 
 "Trees require thinning out when planted in this way." (Ex- 
 tracts, p. -21 Additional Test.) "Trees planted close together 
 with the view of thinning out when they commence to inter- 
 fere with each other, will make a better forest than those planted 
 further apart." 
 
 (Extract, p. 31 of Additional Test.) 
 
 THOMAS O'NEIL Nurseryman and landscape gardener of long 
 experience ; business, raising forest trees, and foresting lands 
 therewith testified : 
 
 " It is usual to plant thicker than it is intended to have the 
 trees finally." 
 
 (Extract, p. 35 of Additional Test.) 
 
 And further explained the necessity for planting thickly and 
 afterwards thinning out, in somewhat the same terms employed 
 by previous and succeeding witnesses. 
 
 J. S. HENDERSON Gardener, with experience of thirty-three 
 years, formerly employed as head gardener upon the park, at 
 present in charge of grounds of Mr. J. C. Flood, Menlo Park, 
 testified : 
 
 "In planting a place of that kind (the park) it is usual to 
 place the trees much closer than they are ultimately intended 
 to stand." "I would plant thicker even than the trees are 
 planted in the park, because one protects the other, thinning 
 out as they grow every year." "I would not hesitate in cut- 
 ting out even the best formed tree in a group, if I judged the 
 rest would have a better show for growth." (Ex-tract, p. 58, 
 59 of Ad. Test.) * I consider it true economy to plant four 
 trees with the intention of ultimately destroying two or three 
 of the number." "It is the custom from time immemorial." 
 (Extract, p. 04 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 JOHN ELLIS Landscape gardener and horticulturist of forty 
 years experience ; laid out and improved the State Capitol 
 grounds; at present Horticulturist at the University of Califor- 
 nia testified, that he could very readily understand how there
 
 10 
 
 might have been quite a number, several hundred trees, cut 
 down out of the plantations in the park. 
 
 "It is done so every where, in large plantations. It was 
 done so in New York Central Park. You have to plant thickly 
 in order to protect young growing plants in order to get them 
 up. They screen each other, and form a natural protection ; 
 whereas, if they were planted at the regular distance that you 
 would have trees to remain, it would be a hundred chances to 
 one if they would ever get up in shape in the locality of this 
 park, where the winds are so powerful from the west." (Ex- 
 tract, p. 81 Ad. Test.) ll As a matter of principle it would be 
 better to plant fifteen thousand trees to the acre, with the view 
 of destroying ten thousand of them," than not to have them 
 thick enough to render mutual protection. " It is done all over 
 the world." 
 
 (Extracts, p. 86 and 87, Ad. Test.) 
 
 In addition to the foregoing oral testimony, there was read 
 before the committee an extract from the Report of the Park 
 Commissioners of Cincinnati, for the year 1874, page 16 being 
 a portion of the report of Mr. Adolph Strauch, a landscape gar- 
 dener of much experience and reputation as follows: Speak- 
 ing of the plantations " which it became necessary to thin, in 
 order to give room for the development into handsome speci- 
 mens of the remaining trees," he says : This method of plant- 
 ing is generally practiced in the formation of ornamental plan- 
 tations in public and private grounds in Europe, and has been 
 executed in this vicinity with great success during the last twen- 
 ty years. Plant thick and thin quick, is an old saying with ex- 
 perienced planters everywhere." 
 
 The members of the committee were told that the Reports 
 of the managers of other Eastern Parks abounded with similar 
 allusions to the necessity for sacrificing a good proportion of 
 trees set out in a ground of the kind ; but they did not consider 
 such authorities admissible in evidence, and the extract above 
 quoted was not reproduced in the reporter's notes. 
 
 Explanations were made by the Head Gardener as well as the 
 Engineer, of the peculiar circumstances under which the trees 
 were chopped : namely, their situation on flat ground, in very 
 sandy soil, whence they could not be moved with much show 
 of success, or at any reasonable cost. And furthermore, it was 
 shown that a small tree, whose roots had not been injured by
 
 11 
 
 process of removal, as those of the larger trees must be, would 
 soon develop into the larger and more vigorous plant of the two, 
 and that thus it was not only more economical, but productive 
 of better results to chop down the larger trees where it was ne- 
 cessary to thin the plantations, and plant young, growing trees 
 where new groups were desired. 
 
 The testimony of Murphy is the only evidence taken 
 in public which condemns, unqualifiedly, the cutting. 
 He is regarded as a common laborer at the park, working 
 for laborers' wages for the past five years, although of 
 late styled a gardener on the pay rolls. It was not 
 thought worth while to cross-question him. Sullivan 
 knew nothing but that he cut- some trees of which a por- 
 tion were in thinning out the groups. Rosenthal cut 
 some down where he considered they stood too thick. 
 Andrews cut some in thinning out groups ; supposed there 
 were two hundred cut in all ; and knew nothing further. 
 
 The opinions of Collie and Stewart should not be ta- 
 ken at all, for the reasons (1) that it was distinctly stated, 
 by the Committee, that testimony taken in secret sessions 
 would not form a portion of their report or influence their 
 decision, (2) that these witnesses had not examined into 
 the circumstances under which trees were cut at the park, 
 (3) that no opportunity was had of cross-questioning 
 them. 
 
 Whereas, the opinions of Poppey, Ellis, Henderson, 
 Bailey, O'Neil and Hall are fortified by the most explicit 
 demonstrations of the correctness of the plan pursued in 
 this matter at the park, and by the citation of authori- 
 ties on the subject ; which explanations and .reasons the 
 most rigid cross-examination, on the part of the commit- 
 tee, failed to s.et aside. 
 
 The total number of trees cut according to Murphy's 
 estimate was eight to twelve hnndred ; according to Pop-
 
 12 
 
 pey*s statement two or three huiidred ; and according to 
 Andrews supposition, two hundred. 
 
 Hall said he had no idea how many trees were cut, 
 there might have been u five hundred or it may have been 
 a thousand." (p. 62 of Test.) 
 
 Murphy himself cut " a few." 
 
 Sullitan cut " sixty or eighty.'' 
 
 Hosenthal cut ' some." 
 
 The total number of trees planted on the eastern por- 
 tion of Golden Gate Park the portion where they have 
 attained some size, and where the cutting was done previ- 
 ous to the last season's work (that of *75-'76) according to 
 the report transmitted to the Legislature in December, 1875 
 (see page 40), was forty-eight thousand five hundred and 
 seventy-nine. This report was in the hands of the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Now, what proportion does the number of trees cut as 
 above, bear to the number planted ? 
 
 It appears that this committee in stating that 
 *' The system of tree planting now and heretofore car- 
 ried out has resulted in a wanton and useless destruction 
 si one-third of all the trees planted," report that of which 
 they had no evidence, of which they had a mass of testi- 
 mony to the contrary, and which is not so. 
 
 In stating that in their opinion " these trees might 
 have been transplanted at small expense, and large sums 
 of money thus saved," they simply set up their individu- 
 al opinion, unsubstantiated by competent or .admissible 
 evidence, against that of six persons all but one of 
 whom, " known to be experts on the subject under con- 
 sideration, all of whom, cognizant of the particular 
 circumstances of the case made clear by demonstra- 
 tion, supported by authorities, and unshaken by cross- 
 examination.
 
 13 
 
 In implying that trees were cut for the purpose of 
 building brush fences with them, by stating that " brush 
 fences could have been built of the natural brush on 
 portions of the park " 
 
 they have put forth an idea for which they had no foun- 
 dation ; for the amount of natural brush actually used 
 has been reckoned by thousands of loads, while the trees 
 cut in thinning the plantations and otherwise, as proven, 
 would not make twenty loads. 
 
 WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 "Second A well was sunk, and a pump, tank and engine pro- 
 cured at great expense. Twenty-five thousand gallons of water can 
 be obtained from this source daily. Yet this source of water sup- 
 ply was used but for a few months; and the park is entirely sup- 
 plied by the Spring Valley Water Works, leaving the well and its 
 apparatus entirely unused. Two years ago the commissioners con- 
 tracted with the water company for four hundred dollars per 
 mouth. This sum was paid for but two months, and there now re- 
 mains due the company about dollars, depending upon 
 the decision of the Supreme Court in the pending water litigation. 
 The Commissioners' contract was for one year; but at the end of 
 that contract they should,, under the circumstances, have availed 
 themselves of their own supply, and thus lessened the debt, if any, 
 to the company." 
 
 (Extract second finding p. 4, Kept, of Committee.) 
 
 From the finding of the committee it might be in- 
 ferred (1) that pumping works were erected at great ex- 
 pense, and then suffered to lie idle without reason ; and 
 (2) that the Commissioners purchased water from the 
 Spring Valley Water Works, when a supply might have 
 been pumped at the park works at less expense. 
 
 The facts of the case as shown the committee, are that : 
 
 The well referred to was regarded from the first as an experi- 
 mental work, which would furnish water for the time being, 
 and data upon which to base expectations of amount of water
 
 li 
 
 likely to be obtained by such means on the park reservation ; 
 as such it has fully answered its purpose, and is still, with all 
 appurtenances, a good piece of property, in servicable condition, 
 and ready for use if required. 
 
 Subsequently, when much more water was needed than the 
 works spoken of would furnish, without considerable outlay on 
 the well to enlarge its supply, the Commissioners succeeded in 
 bargaining with the water company, for sufficient water for all 
 purposes at a reasonable price per month, (obtaining better 
 terms from the water company by reason of having the well 
 supply to fall back on, thus being in a measure at least, inde- 
 pendent of the company) and then the use of the well and 
 engine was discontinued. 
 
 Still later, because of the unsettled condition of affairs relative 
 to the supply of water to the city and its public grounds, and 
 for the additional reason that the Park Improvement Fund has 
 never been in a condition to warrant an outlay for suitable 
 pumping works, it was not judicious to prosecute the search for 
 a large supply of water further, or increase the dimensions of 
 the present well. 
 
 And, whereas the well without enlargement would only yield 
 twenty-five thousand gallons of water per day, the amount used 
 to advantage on the park during the summer season ranged from 
 fifty to eighty thousand gallons per day. 
 
 The most favorable terms which could be obtained from the 
 water company, gave the Commisssoners the privilege of using 
 as much water as was needed, up to a limit of one hundred 
 thousand gallons daily, for the monthly rental of $400 ; under 
 which circumstances it would have been useless to run the 
 pumping apparatus. 
 
 And, furthermore, as admitted in the report of the Com- 
 mittee itself there being an unadjudicated question as to 
 whether the water company might not be obliged to furnish 
 water for the park gratuitously, the Commissioners felt them- 
 selves amply justified in continuing to take the water as long as 
 the company would let them have it without immediate pay- 
 ment, seeing that the rate would make the expense, even if ul- 
 timately paid, less than, under the circumstances, it could be 
 pumped for.
 
 15 
 
 (See pages 48, 50, 51 of Testimony; 
 79 and 80 of Additional Testimony; 
 8 and 9 of Final Testimony.) 
 
 The attention of the Committee was also attracted to the fact 
 that the subject of this water supply had been repeatedly al- 
 luded to by the Commission in its reports to the Legislature, 
 which allusions are found to explain the course pursued by the 
 Commission in the matter. 
 
 (See p. 7 and 8, Second Biennial Report ; 
 p. 10 and 50, " " " ) 
 
 * 
 The inferences to be derived from the very obscure and 
 
 covert criticism of the course of the Commission in the 
 matter of water supply for the parks, are totally unwar- 
 ranted by the state of facts and circumstances shown the 
 Committee ; and the second finding of their report can 
 only be regarded as a befogged statement of the case on 
 this point, upon which a perverse opinion is put forth. 
 
 Furthermore, the opinion of the Committee is absurd : 
 for it apparently justifies the Commissioners in taking 
 water from the company the first year, when they expect- 
 ed to pay for it ; but censures them for not going back 
 to their pumping works, and for continuing to use the 
 water from the company's mains thereafter, when they 
 did not have to pay for it, and when as stated by the 
 Committee in connection with their opinion a doubt had 
 arisen as to whether the Company was not legally obliged 
 to furnish the water gratuitously. 
 
 Now suppose the course opposite to that criticised by 
 the Committee had been taken, and the Commissioners had 
 resumed the pumping of water, with its attendant heavy 
 cost for extension of works and running expenses, "at the 
 end of that contract," as the Committee say ; and that the 
 result of the pending litigation is a decision that the 
 company has to furnish water to this park gratuitously : 
 who would be to blame for having constructed needless
 
 16 
 
 pumping works at the park, and for running them at 
 heavy expense, when water might have been had for 
 nothing ? 
 
 From the facts, as set forth by the Committee itself, 
 the Commissioners were most justified in taking the water 
 at the very time when the Committee censure them for 
 taking it. 
 
 CUT ON THE NORTHERN DRIVE. 
 
 "Third A cut on the new northern drive, originally intended 
 
 for a tunnel, and BO marked on the map, we consider a piece of de- 
 liberate extravagance. There existed no necessity for the so-called 
 improvements. It never could as a tunnel, and can now less as an 
 open cut, be any addition to the beauties of the Park. As good if 
 not a better road could have been built to the northward, and at a 
 vastly less expense. Some natural beauties, rare in the neighbor- 
 hood, have been effectually destroyed by it, and the unfortunate 
 part of the affair is, that the bad work has so far progressed that it 
 must now be completed." 
 
 (Extract third finding Eeport of Committee, pages 4 and 5.) 
 
 The cut spoken of had been referred to in the report of 
 the Park Engineer, transmitted to the Legislature with 
 the Third Biennial Report of the Commission ; copies of 
 which' report were in the bands of the Committee, and 
 the explanatory paragraph quoted below was pointed out. 
 
 " At a point about one third of the distance from its eastern 
 extremity, the Northern Drive encounters the rocky ridge which 
 extends in a northwesterly direction from Strawberry Hill, desig- 
 nated in former reports as the Great Transverse Ridge, which 
 separates the East from the West Park, as it will be some day. 
 It is designed to carry the drive through this ridge, by means of 
 a heavy cutting at a low point, and thus render its passage im- 
 perceptible, so far as inclination in the roadway is concerned. 
 Froiu this cut all the clay and a great portion of the rock used 
 in the construction of the road was obtained ; but the macadam- 
 izing material, -being of an inferior quality, the cut had to be 
 abandoned as a quarry, and material obtained for the road sur- 
 face from the top of the ridge, so that it was not completed 
 when the road each side of it was finished. A side road over 
 the hill was then built, to accommodate immediate requirements, 
 which it does very well, leaving the surplus material in the big
 
 17 
 
 cut to be quarried when it shall be needed in the construction 
 of other roads, projected in that portion of the reservation, for 
 which purpose it will do very well, when applied, as it was on 
 the Northern Drive, simply as a primary layer of the surfacing." 
 (Extract Report of Engineer to the Park Commissioners. 
 Third Biennial Keport of Park Commission to the Legisla- 
 ture, December, 1875, p. 24 and 25.) 
 
 The opinion of the Committee, as expressed in the third find- 
 ing of their report, first above extracted, concerning the cutting 
 referred to in the report of the Engineer, also quoted, must have 
 been formed from a personal inspection, of about ten minutes' 
 duration, which was made of the point in question ; for there is 
 no evidence whatever recorded, rior was any taken, which in the 
 least degree tends to establish the view of the case taken by the 
 Committee, and very much which j ustifies the work as planned 
 and performed as follows : 
 
 W. H. HALL Engineer of the Park explained that in the 
 passage of this ridge he effected the location of the roadway on 
 desirably gentle curvature and easy gradients, by carrying it 
 through the ridge in a heavy cutting originally planned as a 
 tunnel; that a certain amount of material, of the character ap- 
 pearing in this ridge, at or about the point selected for the cut, 
 was necessary for macadamizing the three miles of roadway con- 
 stituting the northern drive ; that such material was only to be 
 had, in the neighborhood of this roadway, upon the ridge crossed ; 
 that he adjusted the alignment and grade of the road in the cut 
 spoken of so as to obtain therein sufficient material to accom- 
 plish the macadamizing work ; that all the material taken from 
 the said cut was used as a primary layer of the macadamizing ; 
 that being disappointed in the character of the material upon 
 approaching the centre of the cut it not proving to be of 
 proper quality for the surfacing of the roadway the cut was 
 temporarily abandoned, a side road built over the hill, and ma- 
 terial to finish macadamizing the roadway taken from a point on 
 top of the ridge near by ; that it is the intention to finish the cut 
 as material is required therefrom for the primary layer of macad- 
 amizing of the roadways yet to be built in the neighborhood. 
 He therefore considered that the cut, as such, had not, thus far, 
 cost anything ; and being completed as proposed, would not add
 
 IS 
 
 anything to the cost of the roadway, but, by shortening the 
 length of road-bed graded and macadamized, actually make it 
 cost less. The material had to be quarried somewhere for the 
 purpose, which that taken from the cut had served ; the locality 
 where the cut was made was the most convenient point to the 
 entire length of roadway built ; there was, therefore, no extra 
 expense incurred by making the cut, for it was, in effect, quarry- 
 ing material for macadamizing, and grading road-bed at one and 
 the same time. From an aesthetic stand-point, he considered 
 the cut could be made a feature in the landscapes of the Park, 
 which could not be obtained in any other portion of the reserva- 
 tion a rocky canyon, possessing natural-like attractions, which 
 would add greatly to the scenic effects of the neighborhood ; 
 and, furthermore, that the roadway by its present location was 
 kept in low ground, sheltered from the winds to which it would 
 be subjected were it carried around the ridge to the northward, 
 even if it could be so carried on admissible grades and degrees 
 of curvature. 
 
 (See pages 40, 41, 42, 43 of Testimony; also, pages 67, 68 
 of Additional Testimony.) 
 
 The following evidence appears, in substantiation of the posi- 
 tion taken by the Park Engineer, being the testimony of wit- 
 nesses who made an examination of the ground at the point in 
 question, sufficient, as they expressed it, to base their respective 
 professional opinions upon; which examinations were. somewhat 
 longer and in every way more thorough than the examination 
 made by the members of the Committee, although they, the en- 
 gineers, did not go to the top of a certain hill, and come down 
 again, which the Committee appeared to think was a necessary 
 thing to do in order to be able to judge of the lay of the land. 
 
 GEO. F. ALLARDT Civil Engineer of twenty years' exped- 
 ience, recently Chief Engineer to the Tide Land Commission 
 justified the work from an engineering stand-point, giving rea- 
 sons substantially the same as those given by Hall ; considered 
 the cut an economical work, and saw no evidence of unneces- 
 sary expenditure of public moneys in the construction of the 
 roadway. 
 
 (See pages 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50 of Additional Testimony.)
 
 19 
 
 T. J. ARNOLD Civil engineer of twenty-two years' experi- 
 ence, now Engineer to the State Board of Harbor Commission- 
 ers and City Engineer of Oakland considered the road well lo- 
 cated ; justified the work at the cut from an engineering stand- 
 point ; thought the cut a judicious piece of work ; did not think 
 that there had been any unnecessary expenditure of public money 
 at the point in question. 
 
 (See pages 89, 90, 91, 93, 94 of Additional Testimony.) 
 
 JOHN ELLIS. Landscape gardener of forty years experience ; 
 planned and executed improvements of the State Capitol grounds; 
 at present, Horticulturist at the State University justified the 
 location of the roadway in passing the ridge at the point in 
 question, from an artistic and economical standpoint, substantiat- 
 ing his opinion by giving reasons therefor. (See pages 52 and 
 53 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 Kegarding the cut from an artistic standpoint, he says : 
 
 11 It will add such a feature to the park as is not to be found 
 in it elsewhere that is in the introduction of rock work ; 
 which could be carried out very prettily there, and probably 
 nowhere else in the park." (See page 55 of Additional Testi- 
 mony.) 
 
 W. N. LOCKINGTON. Landscape gardener and architect of ar- 
 tistic garden and park structures, of much experience and ob- 
 servation in Europe ; justified the work in question from an ar- 
 tistic point of view, giving reasons therefor. 
 
 (See pages 77, 76, 75, of Ad. Test.) 
 
 In this connection the topographical contour line map of the 
 park, showing in minute detail the shape of the ground its 
 height and slope at all points was offered in evidence, as a 
 basis upon which the engineer, Mr. Arnold, might further 
 explain his views concerning the location of the road, and state 
 positively whether or not it might advantageously have been 
 carried around the hill to the northward, where the Committee 
 thought it ought to have been located. The introduction of the 
 map was objected to by the chairman of the Committee, en the 
 ground that there was no evidence to prove that the map was 
 correct. It was then offered by the park management as the 
 official map of the Commission, on file in its office, but was not 
 admitted, notwithstanding that it appears that it was admitted,
 
 20 
 
 " for what it is worth," on the 93 page of Ad. Test., as printed, 
 and the engineer referred to was not examined upon it, as the 
 park management desired he should be. 
 
 On this point the Committee, in their third finding, 
 have taken their own judgment upon a subject totally 
 foreign to the business experience of any of their num- 
 ber formed from a cursory observation of the ground 
 as against that of two civil engineers and two landscape 
 gardeners of the highest rank in their respective profes- 
 sions (whose examinations of the position were made 
 with a professional eye, and with a view of testifying on 
 the point in question) ; and in further antagonism to the 
 full explanations of the merits of the case as set forth by 
 the engineer of the park. 
 
 This finding of the committee is a sample of presump- 
 tuous dogmatism, unsupported by any evidence, contra- 
 dicted by all the evidence and lacking the apology of 
 ordinary dogmatism, viz. : an honest conviction. 
 
 CUT ON THE SOUTHERN DRIVE. 
 
 " On the Southern drive a large amount of unnecessary cutting 
 and filling has been done/' 
 (Extract part of third finding p. 5, Report of Committee.) 
 
 In the construction of the Southern Drive, at a point 
 about opposite Second Avenue, it became necessary to 
 pass a certain ridge of sand which lay across the proposed 
 path of the road. The Park Engineer located the road 
 through this ridge. 
 
 FRED. Mow Civil engineer and landscape gardener ; em- 
 ployed as a foreman on the park in 1872, when the above men- 
 tioned work was going on testified that the road should have 
 been carried sharp off to the right, around the point of the ridge, 
 whereby much cutting would have been saved, the face of na- 
 ture less changed, and the protection of the ridge, for the 
 grounds on the leeward side of it, preserved entire. 
 
 (Seepage 100 and 101 of Testimony.)
 
 21 
 
 A question put to this witness on cross-examination by the 
 park management, an answer to which would have put him 
 squarely on record as to his judgment on the point whether or 
 no ' the principles of good taste and the carrying out of a ju- 
 dicious plan" are "to be sacrificed to the saving of a little 
 money in some earthwork," was not admitted by the Com- 
 mittee, on the ground that it was a leading question. The wit- 
 ness might have answered the interrogatory as put, in the affirm- 
 ative or negative, according to his judgment. The question 
 was not a leading one, and the ruling of the Committee was in- 
 correct and unjust. (See p. 107 of Test.) 
 
 It was sought by the park management to show from this 
 witness himself, the circumstances of his leaving the park em- 
 ploy, and his consequent status. This was not allowed by the 
 Committee. (See p. 109 of Test.) 
 
 In justification of the work as executed, the following evi- 
 dence appears : 
 
 W. H. HALL Engineer of the Park, explained that certain 
 advantages were gained by locating the road as it was through 
 the hill which advantages were : the obtaining of necessary 
 material for adjacent fillings ; adjustment of easy curvature and 
 grades in the roadway, without any material sacrifice of the 
 protection afforded by the ridge, or of the desirably natural 
 configuration of topography. Also, that a road around the 
 point of the hill, as proposed by Mow, could only be made upon 
 very sharp and inadmissible curves, or by the execution of 
 equally heavy earthwork to avoid them. 
 (See p. 41 and 44 of Testimony.) 
 
 Messrs. Allardt and Arnold, civil engineers, hereinbefore re- 
 ferred to, justified the location of the road as it is, on engineer- 
 ing grounds, giving reasons for their opinions. Did not consider 
 that there had been any unnecessary expenditure of public 
 moneys at the point in question. 
 
 (See p. 43, 44, 47, 48, 88, 89, 92 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 Messrs. Ellis and Lockington, landacape gardeners, also 
 referred to, justified the location of the road from an artistic
 
 22 
 
 standpoint, and considered the cut an economical piece of work 
 in the construction of the road. 
 
 (See p. 51, 52, 54. 55. 74, 75, 78 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 This is all the testimony concerning earthwork along 
 or upon the Southern Drive. 
 
 In saying that there has been "unnecessary cutting and 
 filling " performed in this quarter, the committee express 
 an opinion based upon the evidence of a man who occu- 
 pied an inferior position at the park, the tone of whose 
 testimony before them, both in secret and in open investi- 
 gation, shows him to have been embittered towards the 
 park engineer, whose work he was criticising ; a man 
 whose status it was necessary to conceal ; as against that 
 of the four experts of the first standing in their profes- 
 ions, who having examined the ground, sustained the 
 course pursued by the engineer of the park, in the strong- 
 est terms. 
 
 It is neither shown nor claimed that the Committee 
 were engineers. They neither criticise nor explain away 
 the testimony of experts. They scorned topographical 
 maps, which showed the original shape of the ground, 
 and ignore everything upon which a conclusion contrary 
 to that which they have come to, could be based. Their 
 finding is therefore an arbitrary opinion of unqualified 
 judges. 
 
 SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS. 
 
 " Fourth By the system of accounts adopted by the Commission 
 it is impossible to arrive at the cost of any large work. The Secre- 
 tary himself admits this. Your Committee endeavored to learn the 
 cost of the cut to this time, but without avail." 
 
 (Extract fourth finding p. 5, Report of Committee.) 
 
 The accounts kept by the Secretary show the disposition of 
 the monies drawn from the Park Improvement Fund, according 
 to the demands drawn each month in payment to each em-
 
 23 
 
 ployee for services rendered at the park by him (as credited and 
 returned by the Park Keeper in the shape of a pay roll) and 
 for material, supplies, etc., purchased, as recorded in vouchers 
 containing detailed bills thereof. An individual, credited with 
 time on the pay roll, may have and probably has been employed 
 upon from five to twenty-five classes of work during the month, 
 of which, several may have been on the same day j the pay roll 
 could not possibly show this. Supplies purchased are distributed 
 amongst many different works ; the bills rendered the Secretary 
 could not show this. Therefore his accounts did not exhibit 
 the. items of expense demanded by the Committee. 
 
 An account of the disposition, in detail, of this labor and of 
 these supplies, etc., is kept at the park, by the Engineer and 
 Park Keeper. 
 
 Had the demand have been made upon them, when the Com- 
 mittee was in San Francisco at one of its earlier sittings, a 
 statement of the cost of the several classes of work and specific 
 itenrn of expense at the park, could have been furnished. But 
 the Committee waited until the last hour of their last session in 
 the city, to instruct the Secretary to prepare a statement which 
 the time allowed him would not admit of his accomplishing, 
 and for which his accounts did not furnish the data. 
 
 The criticism of the system of accounts adopted by the 
 Commission, as contained in the fourth finding of the 
 Committee's Report, is calculated to convey an erroneous 
 impression, which the lights before them must have made 
 apparent. 
 
 RECORD OF VISITORS. 
 
 ' ' Several men are employed at the park making daily reports of 
 the number of vehicles, visitors, etc. These may be useful in 
 showing the popular use of the park, but they serve no other end." 
 
 (Extract fourth finding p. 5 of Report of Committee. 
 
 What evidence this statement is based upon it is im- 
 possible to say ; the only testimony on the point being 
 that of W. H. Hall, Superintendent, as follows :
 
 24 
 
 " There are two Gate Keepers, each having charge of one 
 gate; the other gates are opened and shut by the Assistant Park 
 Keepers on the roads. The Gate Keepers live in the gate hou- 
 ses, open their respective gates at five o'clock in the morning, 
 and close them at eight o'clock in the evening. Their duties 
 consist of watering cleaning and otherwise taking care of a sec- 
 tion of roadway about one thousand feet in length adjacent 
 to their respective gates, and of the grounds bordering thereon. 
 They are required to be on duty to be there present about 
 fourteen hours per day, besides sleeping there at night. They 
 are only permitted to go away to their meals and back again ; 
 and have one day of liberty during each month. The counting 
 of vehicles passing through, is merely incidental, and not sup- 
 posed to interfere materially with their duties on the road." 
 
 (Substance of testimony of W. H. Hall; see p. 73 of Testi- 
 mony.) 
 
 The manifest intention of this statement of the Com- 
 mittee is to convey the idea that men are employed to 
 count visitors, etc., rendering no other service. 
 
 In this light the statement is false, according to the 
 evidence and the fact. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT'S ATTENTION TO DUTY. 
 
 "Fifth. The superintendent receives a salaryof four hundred dol- 
 lars per month, and the people are certainly entitled to his entire 
 time; yet we find him making surveys in San Mateo and Marin 
 counties. '' 
 
 (Extract fifth finding p. 5, Kept, of Committee.) 
 
 It does not appear in the testimony that the Superin- 
 tendent has ever been engaged otherwise than upon park 
 work since his salary was placed at a figure four hundred 
 dollars per month which was considered by the Commis- 
 sioners a sufficient remuneration for his exclusive services. 
 
 The contract work undertaken in Marin County was comple- 
 ted more than five years ago, before the Superintendent was em- 
 ployed regularly by the Commission. The work in San Mateo 
 county was contracted for and completed upwards of two years 
 ago, when the Superintendent's salary was three hundred dollars
 
 25 
 
 per month, and when his understanding with the Commissioners 
 allowed him to take outside work which would not interfere 
 with his duties as their engineer and general superintendent. 
 He was absent but a day or two occasionally, in his attention to 
 the San Mateo work, of which absences the Commissioners were 
 aware. 
 
 (See pp. 60 and 81 of Test., and pp. 96, 97, 104 and 105 of 
 Ad. Test.) 
 
 This complaint is a fair sample of the spirit of petty 
 fault-finding displayed throughout the entire proceedings 
 of the Committee, and manifest in every paragraph of its 
 report, and is but one of the instances wherein a gross 
 perversion of facts and evidence is resorted to in order to 
 make even such trivial criticism. 
 
 RECLAMATION CONTRACT. 
 
 The superintendant "has taken private contracts for the recla- 
 mation of private lands adjoining the park, and in the latter there 
 is the evidence of the witnesses Burns and Ward as to the manner 
 in which they were in part paid for their services. The amount 
 involved is small, but the fact exists." 
 
 [Extract, p. 5, Kep't of Committee.] 
 
 The western end of Golden Gate Park, for about two 
 miles of its length, is situated upon the sand downs. 
 This portion of the reservation has been in a gjreat meas- 
 ure primarily reclaimed covered with vegetation suffi- 
 cient to stop the drifting of the sands by plantations of 
 the lupin bush. It is protected on the west, at the beach, 
 from the inroad of the sands, by a brush fence, but has 
 been subjected to the drift on its northern and southern 
 sides. It early became an object of solicitude on the part 
 of the Commissioners to have the adjoining lands from 
 whence these drifts came, also cultivated, because of the 
 great drawback they, in their unreclaimed condition, 
 were to the progress and completion of the park work of 
 that character.
 
 26 
 
 With the knowledge and approval of the Commissioners, Hall 
 undertook to reclaim for the owners, by private contract, a cer- 
 tain tract of this sand land lying next to and south of the park 
 reservation. The reclaiming of this land was considered a de- 
 cided benefit to the park because it protected the reclaimed 
 land of the reservation from the drift on that side for about a 
 mile and a half of its length. 
 
 (See p. 126 of Test; see p. 58, 60 and 61 of Test) 
 
 The work of reclamation under the contract taken by Hall 
 was prosecuted on two occasions during the winter of 1874-5. 
 On the first occasion men and teams were employed from six to 
 eight days in making the plantation ; and on the second occasion 
 some weeks afterwards men and teams were employed from 
 two to four days, over the same ground, repairing damage done 
 to the plantation by storms. 
 
 (See Private Pay Bolls of Hall, submitted to Committee.) 
 
 PAT. BURNS testified that he was employed as laborer on the 
 park ; worked ten or twelve days for Hall on his private con- 
 tract work at two dollars per day, for which he received but 
 five dollars and a half from Hall, and got the rest of his money 
 for that time, from the city treasury, on his park voucher drawn 
 to him as a laborer on the park. (p. 110 of Testimony.) 
 
 On cross examination Burns states that he worked for Hall 
 in all ten or twelve days ; that he received all the money that 
 was due him for the total time worked by him. (p. Ill of Test.) 
 
 Burns identified his signature on Hall's private pay rolls ; on 
 the first that marked ''Original plantation" for 7.3-9 days 
 at $2.00 pr. d.; on the second that marked '* First repairing" 
 for 2.5-9 days @ $2.00 ; making in all about ten days, 
 (p. Ill of Test.) 
 
 A comparison of the private pay rolls, above mentioned, with 
 the park pay rolls, has shown that Burns is not credited with 
 time on the said park rolls which is allowed him on the private 
 rolls, that the credits upon the two together make up the sum 
 total of the working days claimed by Burns in all. 
 
 A comparison of the demands drawn to Burns' order (upon 
 which he identified his signature) on the Park Improvement 
 Fund, in the city treasury, with the park pay rolls, shows that
 
 27 
 
 the time for which he was paid on said vouchers corresponds, 
 in each instance, with the time credited on the park pay rolls 
 and therefore did not provide payment for time not on those 
 rolls. (See p. 99 and 100 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 W. H. HALL testified positively that Burns was paid by him 
 in full for all time worked by him (Burns) for him (Hall); and 
 that he never credited any man upon the park pay rolls with 
 time which he did not work upon the park. (p. 59 of Test.) 
 
 Louis ENRICHT former Assistant Engineer upon the park 
 testified that he kept the time of Burns and that the credits on 
 the park pay rolls represented the actual amount of time worked 
 by Burns for the park, and no more ; and that he witnessed 
 Hall pay Burns cash in full for the time represented in the pri- 
 vate pay rolls, (p. 10 of Additional Testimony.) 
 
 The case of Pat. Ward is an exactly similar one. 
 
 These men receiving all the money due them, which 
 they acknowledge ; and drawing from the park fund pay- 
 ment for the time represented on park pay rolls only, 
 which did not include the time worked for Hall, 
 must have received from Hall payment for full time 
 worked for him, which time corresponds to that credited 
 them on the private rolls. 
 
 In calling attention to the testimony of Burns and 
 Ward, without noticing that this is contradicted by com- 
 petent evidence both oral and documentary, the Commit- 
 tee have been consistent with the course pursued by 
 them throughout the entire investigation. 
 
 MONUMENTS. 
 
 ' ' Prior to the appointment of Mr. Hall as superintendent of the 
 park, he had, under a contract with the commissioners, made a 
 topographical survey of the park, and as part of his contract he 
 placed certain granite monuments to designate certain points in his 
 survey. The testimony of several witnesses, the admission of Mr. 
 Hall himself, and his own first biennial report, taken together, show
 
 28 
 
 conclusively that he removed from the park a number of the monu- 
 ments so placed by him and used them in one of his private sur- 
 veys at San Rafael. The cash value of the monuments can scarce- 
 ly be considered the true question involved, 'i he monuments, if 
 for any purpose, were intended to mark certain points and lines. 
 Now, these monuments removed, is not every evidence of boundary 
 distance and direction destroyed ? Are not new surveys rendered 
 necessary when any work shall be attempted ?'' 
 (Extract, page 5, Kept, of Committee.) 
 
 The case upon which this censure is founded, as present- 
 ed to the Committee, is substantially as follows: 
 
 Of four sets of specifications for the original topographical 
 survey of the park reservation, submitted by civil engineers to 
 the Commissioners, in July, 1870, those presented by W. H. Hall 
 were adopted. 
 
 (Minutes of Meeting, Board of P. C., July 26th, 1870.) 
 
 As originally drawn, these specifications called for small gran- 
 ite monuments, or corner stones, to be placed at such points, 
 viz.: ''all angular points of the exterior boundaries thereof" 
 (the park reservation) "and at the intersection of centre lines 
 of streets therewith," as to make the total number required 
 about one hundred and thirty. 
 
 These specifications were amended " to economize in the 
 price of the survey." (See p. 39 of Ad. Testimony.) 
 
 As amended, the words "and at the intersection of the cen- 
 tre lines of city streets therewith " being left out, these specifi- 
 cations required the contractor to furnish and place ten granite 
 monuments or corner stones, viz : one at each " angular point 
 of the exterior boundaries thereof,'' (the park reservation) these 
 angular points being nine in number, as shown on the map, and 
 one on a certain hill near the centre of the reservation. (See 
 page 40 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 Upon the specifications thus amended and adopted, the Com- 
 mission solicited proposals to contract for the survey required. 
 (See p. 39 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 The contract was awarded to W, H. Hall, he being the lowest 
 bidder. (See minutes of meeting of Board of P. C., Aug. Sth,
 
 29 
 
 The specifications of this survey, on file in the office of the 
 Commission, were produced before the Committee, identified in 
 detail by A. J. Moulder, former Secretary of the Board. (See 
 p. 39, 40 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 W. H. HALL testified as follows : 
 
 " T undertook this survey under these specifications as they 
 are here, and as they have been identified, and put in twenty- 
 seven granite monuments of my own motion, under a specifica- 
 tion which called for ten. In other words, seventeen more than 
 I was paid for. I did that because they cost me but little, and 
 because I expected to be Engineer of the Park, and I knew that 
 a greater number would be of advantage and convenience to me 
 in surveying. Afterwards, when the Avenue was being graded, 
 and four or six of these monuments were being covered up, and 
 no longer of any use there. I had either four or six taken away. 
 I considered them my own. I consider that there are eleven or 
 thirteen monuments there on the park now that I have never 
 been paid for, and I don't expect any pay for them. Right here 
 I will state that under the same circumstances, in the some case, 
 I should remove those six granite monuments again. They 
 were my property, and I took them away." (Extracts from 
 testimony, of W. H. Hall, p. 41 of Ad. Test. 
 
 The monuments cost $1.75 or $2.00 each. 
 
 J. "W. HODNETT, former assistant foreman at the park, testi- 
 fied to having taken some of these monuments, number uncer- 
 tain " eight or ten, or may be less than either " away from 
 the park, by Hall's direction, some time during the year 1871, 
 previous to his employment on the park. (See p. 94 of Testi- 
 mony.) 
 
 Louis ENRICHT, former Asst. Engineer on the park, testified 
 that about April, 1872, there were twenty-three of these granite 
 monuments in position on the park. (See p. 6 of Ad. Test.) 
 
 It appears then that the monuments taken by Hodnett 
 were those referred to by Hall. That Hall exceeded his 
 contract work, and that the park is still debtor to him 
 for thirteen monuments. 
 
 It was explained to the committee that the removal of 
 the particular monuments taken would not necessitate new 
 surveys, because a fence was built on the line upon which 
 these stones had been.
 
 30 
 
 * 
 
 The very uncertain and noncommittal conclusion of the 
 committee on this point absolutely ignores, as do all its 
 findings, the testimony taken on the occasion of its second 
 visit to San Francisco, and printed as Additional Testi- 
 mony, in which will be found a complete line of defence 
 against all of the points published abroad in the first 
 pamphlet, as the Testimony taken etc. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The committee conclude by saying: 
 
 ' ' Tour committee recognize to a large degree, the amount and 
 Talue of the work already done upon the Park. It was found by 
 the Commission almost a desert. They have succeeded in bringing 
 a large portion of it to a state verging upon perfection, and the re- 
 mainder is in a fair way to the same result." 
 
 " The Golden Gate Park ought to be considered the pleasure 
 ground of the San Francisco of the future, and so treated." 
 
 " But while your Committee would thus urge a large liberality in 
 the premises, they would insist upon a close regard, on the part of 
 the management, to details; a more watchful supervision of em- 
 ployees; a restriction of the powers of subordinates, especially in 
 matters of purchases and proposals, and prosecution of the larger 
 works, and generally we would insist upon personal care and at- 
 tention necessary to produce an efficient, economical administra- 
 tion of affairs commensurate with the interests intrusted to them." 
 
 "These views of your Committee carried out the Golden Gate 
 Park could be made what it ought to be, an immediate benefit to 
 the city of San Francisco, and a matter of pride and credit to the 
 State at large." 
 
 To consider the fourth paragraph as above quoted : 
 the report does not favor us with a single practical view, 
 original with the Committee or borrowed. It was their 
 
 r> 
 
 work of nearly the entire session, but it is as bare of 
 suggestion as their course of action was of good result. 
 There was no evidence whatever before the Committee 
 to show that there had been any laxity on the part of the 
 Commission in the management of its affairs that it had 
 delegated any such plenary powers to its chief employee
 
 31 
 
 or subordinates as implied by the Committee throughout 
 their report or which proved that the trust imposed 
 upon the Commission bad suffered in any manner by the 
 confidence reposed in the Superintendent and Engineer 
 of its works. On the contrary, the trust was well de- 
 served. 
 
 A large amount of evidence was adduced and offered 
 which showed a state of affairs the reverse of that re- 
 ported by the Committee, and more of a similar charac- 
 ter would have been brought forth but for the manner 
 in which much that was produced was received. 
 
 There are some other points of less moment which 
 might be noticed in much the same manner as those 
 already touched upon ; but enough has been said to show, 
 that while the course and manner of the Committee's 
 proceedings from the beginning to the close thereof 
 partook more of the character of an overt and aggressive 
 prosecution of charges contrived and framed in secret, 
 than of a calm and impartial investigation for truth alone, 
 the report itself, the product of these proceedings, is still 
 more remarkable in some of its characteristics, than all 
 that preceded it ; and for these reasons : 
 
 First On questions, which, by their nature, are deter- 
 minable, only, by professional learning and skill, the 
 crude opinions of committee-men are, with equal ignor- 
 ance and dogmatism, substituted for and made para- 
 mount to the well considered and deliberately formed 
 opinions of engineers of acknowledged capacity, attain- 
 ments and experience ; 
 
 Second In respect to other matters, conclusions are 
 announced which, in some instances, are in direct conflict 
 with the overwhelming weight of evidence, and, in others, 
 are not supported by any evidence whatever. 
 
 And yet, again, we have directed attention sufficiently 
 to demonstrate, that the Committee to whom the House
 
 32 
 
 delegated the duty of a fair and unimpassioned investiga- 
 tion of Park Commission affairs, have performed that 
 duty, either, under a sense of the solemnity of the obli- 
 gation so faint as to disqualify them for its discharge, or, 
 that, wholly ignoring the obligation, they have wilfully, 
 to the extent and in the particulars pointed out, shaped 
 their official acts after a manner inconsistent with the 
 development of truth and the doing of justice, and, 
 withal, grossly unbecoming the dignity of the high legis- 
 lative body which they represented. 
 
 The Commissioners wish to state in conclusion : that 
 they are conscious of having discharged their duty ae 
 Siwdi to the best of their ability ; and are desirous of 
 being judged by the practical result of their service, 
 and a just analysis of the evidence taken before this 
 Committee for they feel that nothing has been proven to 
 their discredit or to that of any of their employees. 
 
 Very respectfully submitted, 
 
 E. L. SULLIVAN, 
 
 WILLIAM ALVORD, }- Park Commissioners. 
 
 Louis
 
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