Evening star., 1869-12-08
The National Capital.

Some person, who has evidently given but
little thought to the subject, has revived the
States from the city of Washington to the Val
ley Of the Mississippi, and the suggestion has
been gravely discussed by many journals, par
ticularly i'm the West. Nowhere else but in this
country with bat one exception that We can
think off, would such a proposition be seriously
entertained, and that it is considered here at all
Is perhaps due to the restless and rowing habits
OF portion OF our cOuntrymen, who seem to be
uneasy unless they are moving or changing
something. The notion is not a new one. Fif-
teen or twenty years ago We heard the Hon.
Dayid n Cartier, then member of Congress,
propose to ''put the Capitol building on tracks,
and move 1t to the Valley of the Ohio" But
since then, Congress has spent many millions of
dollars III making the Capitol worthy of the na-
tiOn, and twenty or thirty millions in that and
other public buildings and grounds. This does
not look as If the idea had made much pra, teal
progress.
The attentive and studious reader will look i'm
vain through the publications of those who ad-
vocate the removal, for any solid reasons for it,
and there are great many Of the most substan-
tlal character against it. If the national capi-
tai is to be removed at all, it should be removed
for causes Of overruling necessity. None such
exist in this case. Washington city is neither
difficult of access nor unhealthy, nor in anywise
untitled for the haJitdtof the General Govern
ment. On the contrary, it is at this time better
lifted for the purpose than it was before. 1t is
now far easier of access to the whole of our
widely extended territory than it was to the in
Ohio and the Atlantic at the time when it
was selected as the site of the national capital.
Senators Casserly, OF California, and William
OF oregon, can leave their homes and get u
their places in the Senate chamber much quick
er, and with far less fatigue and expense than
John Langdon, of New Hampshire, could in
1sO1, or Henry Clay could in 1910, or Andrew
chosen to the Senate in 1II9, it would have been
as serious n journey to get from Nashville to
Washington as it is now to 60 around the world.
nothing whatever a
accessibility now, while, the contrary, it t,dS
serious question fifty years ago.
In no way does the suggestion removal COM
mend itself as a matter of necessity, much less
of controlling necessity. As to policy of pro
priety, We see nothing TO recommend the pro
posed change at ALL Il is more customary
tlelr political capitals. Canada stands almost
If not quite alone i'm the folly of removing seat
OF government TO a remote point in the wilder
ness. Her absurd example should not be follow
ed by the United States. There is not a capital
OF any one of the great nations of the world.
either IN the geographical centre, or centre OF
population, or any where near either the one OF
the other. St Petersburg, instead of being i'm
any centre of the vast Empire of Russia, is near
the northwestern frontier; Berlin is nearer the
western boundary of Prussia; Vienna is
London is in the southeast of Britain.
with only Kent between it and the
North Sea, and only Surrey and Sussex between
it and the English Channel; Paris is in the
northwest Of France; Copenhagen is on the ex-
treme east of Denmark; Stockholm is on the
extreme east of Sweden; Rio Janeiro is on the
extreme east of Brazil; and so we might go
through the list Of civilized nations. No such
fanciful notions as change OF the seat OF gov
ernment to imaginary centres OF territory or
population are entertained with respect to the
capitals named, although they would be much
more forcible with respect to some of them than
they are against Washington. An established
political capital becomes an established politi-
cal necessity. and wise people permit 1t to re-
main a settled fact. Steam has settled all
questions of distance.
We have not gone into the question of cost
because it is Of secondary Importance, although
very grave question in this country Just now.
1t is no light matter to sacrifice fifty to a hun
dred millions of dollars spent upon national
buildings and grounds, to go into an expenditure
OF fifty to hundred millions more somewhere
else. We cannot conceive how any thoughtful
man can advise such thing for next to no rea-
son at all. Nor do we think the idea will make
any substantial headway in our day. 1t cost a
seven years struggle to get the capital estab-
lished where it is, and it was feared at one time
that it would end in the disruption of the infant
republic. 1t was ten years more before any
part of the public buildings were in habitable
condition. They are but barely finished now,
after lapse Of nearly seventy years. Such facts
do not invite or encourage the idea of change al
this time or during the present generation
Philadelphia LEDGER.