The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-05-01
Metropolitan improvements. /.

Let opinions or fears in relation to the per-
manency of our Union be what they may at
the North or the South, it is very evident,
and various buildings now going on in the me-
tropolis, that here, at least, the dream of dis
union has not yet troubled the quiet of our citi-
zens. And here, being the focus Of political
opinion, perhaps safer indication of the actual
thought of the whole people could not be found
than that presented by the prosperous look
which our city wears, externally, at the pre-
sent time. New hotels are being built and old
ones enlarged and beautiied, while the private
houses now in course of erection are of a better
order, more extensive, elegant, solid, and, Of
course, costlier than the older buildings,
many of which appear to have been built
to answer temporary purpose rather than
for permanent mansions. Although we do
not attach much importance to brick and
marble as conservative elements, yet it is un-
doubtedly true that the buildings and monu-
ments of a country do have an effect upon
the morals Of the people. The affections
must have something substantial to cling to-.
The cockney of London has the same
kind Of feeling towards St. Paul's that the
Swiss has for Mount Blanc, and as for the
Partisan, nothing but force can induce him to
lose sight of the Tuilleries and the splendid
monuments with which his birthplace ahounds.
Among the thousands offoreigners daily landing
upon our shores, we very rarely find Cock
ney or Partisan. They will rub along, by
hook or by crook, and endure any degree of
misery, sooner than quit sight of the objects
which have become part of their own being;
but the inhabitants of the rural districts pack
up their worldly goods, without regret or re-
morse, and GO off thousands of miles to find
new homes in new lands. There are scores
of "deserted villages" in England, but there
are no deserted cities.
The improvements now making in our city
are doubly gratifying, inasmuch as they ex-
hibit unmistakable evidences Of the confidence
of capitalists, who are generally the most saga
cious and quick-sighted Of men. in the perma-
nency of the Union; and furnish in themselves
new aids towards its preservation. Those who
devoutly believe that the Union is essential to
our glory and happiness as a people, should be
forward and active in making the city which
belongs to the Union an object of pride and af-
lection to the whole people. 1t should be to
the North and the South what pet child is
to not very happily matched couple, who
have no other object on which they can both
lavish their affections without jealousy of each
other. During the debates in the last Con-
gress on the New York mint bill. it was pain
full to observe the jealous feelings that were
exhibited towards our great commercial me-
tropolis, whose prosperity should be the pride
and boast of the whole country. But there
will be jealousy and bitterness Of feeling be-
tween rivals; and Pennsylvania must always
be calculated upon as an opponent Of any pro-
position that has for its object the benefit
Of New York, and SO of every other State and
town and city in the Union; each has its rival
and its opponent. But the metropolis of the
nation, which belongs to the Union, is happily
without rivals; and when opposition is made to
any proposition for it's benefit, (Which is also
for the benefit Of the nation,) it must proceed
from sheer nggardliness of spirit, or from lack
Of an intelligent consideration of the subject.
An expenditure Of a million a year in beauti-
flying and improving the metropolis, would be
one of the cheapest methods of preserving the
Union that could be devised.
We are not much surprised to find that the