Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-11-14
The FedernI CapItnI-E,. RemernI DIE


Special Correspondence Of he Chicago Times
WAsHIEGTON, November 2-It is said tha
among the topics which will probably be attend
ed to in the Presidents message, and which will
certainly, be brought before Congress at the ap
preaching session, will be the expedierey Of re-
moving the national capital to some poiu
further north. The readers Of the Times viii
remember that this question is by no means .
new one, and that It has been brought up al
periodic intervals under almost every admins
tration, and its alleged expedience urged by
men OF all political parties. ] will briefly con.
dense the arguments pro and cor, so tar as ]
| have heard them; and in this condensation I
omit many arguments used on both sides, either
by men Of no influence, or by men who are evil
IDENTIFY urged on By msleVoleRt motives.
! 1t is argued, on the one hand, that after the
rebellion is put down, and the insurgents dis
banded, and the Union restored, the mere Sc
curity of the city will require not only an i'm
mense garrison Of troops to be constantly main
tanned here, and the forts around the city TO be
kept in constant order, but also the erection at
once, HOto, of many additional Qualifications
The proper defense Of the city, even under pres
ent circumstances, and in view Of a possible
foreign war, requires even now the immediate
fOrtihcatiOn OF the whole of Chesapeake Bay
and the Potomac aud Patapsco rivers, to an ex-
tent that will snake it impossible fJr an enemy's
heet to sal up the two latter An examination
OF good map will show why this is so. And
our experience in 1872 and in the faH Of 1861
will afford lessons on the sut ject which we would
be mad indeed not to profit by. The erector Of
these naval defenses (snd they must be works
combining the strong points of Fortress Mon
roe and the rebel FOrt DsJliug) will cost, with
suitable srmameRts, untold millions; aud to
garrison and defend them, and to support their
defenders, will require, at the lowest computa-
he arc az Wnn
well trained troops. (It is necessary TO keep
here now 100000
The minor arguments on the same side
ere quickly enumerated It is said, with
truth, that there is no place in the Union so uu-
pleasant to live in as Washington always has
been, and always will be- The dolorous COM |
plants OF Mrs Madison has become historical, |
and they are well founded now as then The |
streets are always either covered with mud or /
dust; their arrangement is tie most ridiculous |
incOnvenisnt, and wsstefuI of space that could |
be devised; and their nomenclature (Which |
might easily be chsngedl is the height of sb- |
surdity There is no city in the Union where |
lt Is so difficult to obtain any article you want,
either for use or ornament, or food while the |
prices are the most exOrbitsnt An excellent
city government is hsmpered and thwaried 10
all their efforts to provide for the proper mu-
nlclpal welfare of the city, even in the items OF
cleanliness and cOmfo,t of the streets, BY the
neglect and caprice of successive sessions of
Congress The nation is yet in is infancy
We have yet probably many centuries Of ma
tional glory and power before US. If we can
afford to sPeud 50 100000 day, or 5000 Co.,
600 ayear IN conducting this war, it will be easy
70 appropriate the expenses OF forty days, or
: 10, 100000, for the removal of the capital
l. is said that Philadelphia, or New York, or
Chicago, or DstroIt, OF Buffalo, will either one
afford far more eligible site for a permanent
national capital than Washington Neither of
these cities have any such thing as Arlington
Heights trOwning upon 1t, and inviting The cree
ton of hostile batteries. Either Of them pos
5esses such advantages for defense that It can
be made impreguable (Which neither New York
Or Philadelphia now s). The proximity of these
two cities to the seabssTd, and their exposure
10 The terrible assaults Of steei-msiled vessels
"a danger to which this city is most culpably
eft expOsed), are objections which do not exis.
IA the case of the lake cities Canada will one
day (and that speedily after the rebellion is
oVer) be ours. Aud even if it should not be, |
there are means at our disposal now of prevent
ng any hostile feet from entering Lake Ol-
'ario; while our ability to prevent the passage
nto Lake Ere, Lake Hu o l. and Lake Micni- |
gan, is doubled. trebed, and quadrupled
1t is argued, on the other haLd, that any
shange of the capital, either now or after the
war, will be an acknowledgment Of our inability
o hold it. That we are abundsnily able to de-
end it, not only against the rebels, hut e'so
when the contemplated works on the Cbesa-
oesEe, the POtomscy and the Patapsc shall have
been completely sgsinst auy foreign attack
hat as it was made point OF honor in 1914 70
etain the capital here and rebuild the public
buildings, which had been burned by the Brit
sh, so it ought to be point of honor to retain
now; that the public buildings, at least the
,aptol and the treasury, have now reached such
| stuPendous magnitude, aud cost so much
money, that it would bankrupt US to abandon /
hem (thOugh it is admitted that no such OBJ
ectiOns exist in the case of the Presidents
louse. or the state department, or the war de-
or the navy Department.. The ofi-
,ers of the War Department. were driven out Of
heir building like drowned rats few days ago
u rain storm of moderate fury.