, 1863-09-12

Old Union Printing Office, and extending In
front OF the theatre.
tne progress It is making here, add lave M a,
doubt that 1t caves hundreds, nightly, from
'patronizipg the grog- shops, the eamblino
housee. ard other more loathaoa,e 6aunte o]
vice and crtme-if there be others more loath
some than gambling, The man who goes tt
the theatre may stop at the beer Of wiut
saloon, but 1t is great gain that he does mol
! tpend The evening there. After attending
The theatre, where he will See Justice vln
dicatec, virtue rewarded, and basenes5 re-
b9kcd orpupi6hed-he cannot fill to 70 no nj
better mac-with a stronger 6eube Of JUS
t1ec, and With waImer sensi6illties.
regret to say that gambling aud drinking
naFe Increased in even greater proportion
than those devoted to Legitimate business
The authorities, military and civil, are great
y to blame for licensing or tolerating the
latter, while the former should be suppress.
I'd with the strong hand. I understand thai
the Provost Marshal, with his troopers, who
promenade the streets by night, have pouuced
upon many Of these establishments recently,
ard that he has resolved to break them up,
we have l2H here Furnishing faro dealing
with the peniteatiary, but the first victim,
Who Was convicted under the law, though an
old offender, was p2rdoned- out, and thus
those der6 Of fnfamy have 1ourished none
| the less In consequence Of the severe penalty
which The silent letter Of the law provides.
Houses Of III fame keep pace with those de-
doned women who hare docked here since
the war commenced, nre said to be equal to
an army In numbers. Common fame reports
that they have monopolized whole streets and
blocks between Pennsylvania avenue and the
caual, and that they register themselves,
thnpoee II f!1m On r. she popular name gysn
and eonfectioner in the vicinity, who was
sbout to give up busineas at the commence
mint Of the wsr, is rapidly making his for
time by supplying these di:reputabie houses
With fine dinners at the expense Of army con-
tractors, dealers in suffers stores, and army
officers.
Another dourishiug institution, which o1es
its rise to the war, is the city railroad. The
corrpapy was chartered in the spring Of 1862
md about the first Of September f5llcvios,
the cars were running. In no cit: of ths
Union, probably, has the SUCCESS -, similar
cuterprises been equal to this one In Waeh-
Georgetown to the Navy Yard, and from the
Northern boundary Of the city, on Seventh
Erect, to Frazer's steamboat landing, where
tie ferry-boats to Alexandria stop. Also,
from the Northern boundary on Fourteenth
| Et,eet, to Pennsylvania ayenue. Ths two
frstnamed ruutes have double tracks, tue
latter . single one, for portion Of the dis.
tarce. The cars have been running Just
| about twelve months, and have already paid
| Tor themselves, together with the cost of con-
| struction Of the road, the purchase Of horses.
and the building OF stables, barns, &c; Tae
ssy ha d9ss eSs sfe pe4 ee sPD* n''
1t il to be regretted that schools and
churches have not tiourished in equal degree
with ether things. So fur from it, If the
truth must be told, they we're never less
nouri-hiDg. I haye slready mentioned the
nf rf a theatre
Several others were, for months past, shut
up, partly Us punishment Of their dis'oyal-
~, and partly from the military necessity
which brought them int" Ecquisition as hos
pita!s. The schools we're for several months
almost entirely suspended, Mt thu breaking:
families most able to pay, who went South
ord even now, Washington Is By no means
forward, as 1cga1ds the facilities Of ednca
lion.
During 1861 and 1869, the streets were eith-
er some fee. deep Ia mud or fathoms deep In
dust Last winter they were nearly impassa~
ble. 1t We had had pictorial, tho condi.
lion CT the streets, with carriages and horses
sinking out of sight, Men aud women cliug-
ing 10 an umbrella until boat could come
to their relief, and similar scenes, might have
furnished ]iyely subjects Of Illustration. This
hcriible condition Of the streets WAS entirely
due to the thousands Of Government wag-
ons which are, or were, employed daily ia
The transportation Of armJ supplies During
the present summer much has been done to
remedy the evil Several streets, most used
and worst injured by the wagons, have been
grayelcd, aid in some places paved, aud it
uaY he hoped that the worst is now over.
For long while the improvements, in the
way Of building, which have accompanied the
sudden development Of Washington enter
prisc, took the form Of repairs, additions and
elnendatious. The lower stories Of dwellings,
we,e turned into stores, old stores were en-
largcd By elongatlon, and occasionally new
structure WAS put up. But at length the pep
I.1e began to have confidence In the perma-
nent prosperity Of Washington, and to feel
that he pres ent transitory With the army
would be followed by a permanent and steady
growth. The army and the navy can never,
at leaet within generation, return to any
he large and expensive, and the operations uf
the Treasury must In the future be On agteAt
tea1e-an Of which circumstances coaspi5e to
give importance to the National Capital.
Washing gton is destined to become 4 gseA.
city; and capitalists, foreseeing It's future
glo1ies, have began to e1pend their money in
liberal improvements. I doubt If there Is
apy city In the country, except Chicago, which
ie improving ns rapidly as Washington. All
| is new reck1essnefs and Indifference to every
thing but gain aud pleasure; but with the
restoration of peace and union, which are
rear ut hand. will come order, decency, aud
yi1tue; and the city Of Washington. and its
ratural features, perhaps the most beautiful
in the world, will become worthy Of Its great
naM eeake aud founder, and of the great Re.
publiczn empire, Ct which 1t II the Capital
SPECTATOR.