The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1869-03-20
Where the Capital of the Union,
Mi1It Haze Been.

we don't know who wrote the following.
He probably is an intelligent man. notwithstand-
ing the light and unrespectful way 10 which ne
speaks Of the village of Germantown :"
The original sites proposed for the capital OF
the Union was Germantown, Philadelphia, Havre
de Grace and Baltimore. Germantown, as many
may not be aware, is hilltop village, seven or
eight miles interior from Philadelphia, founded
by Dunkers, Quakers, and Hard-shells OF every
denomination It was once actually voted to be
the site of the capital and during the interval OF
year before the repeal of the act, the stad pop
ulation of Germantown was violently convulsea.
The good old Quaker women grew refractory,
and ordered new b0nnets The old bunker
wives expected each of thier daughters to marry
a member of Congress. The young men stopped
ploughing and expected to be department clerks.
Ale houses opened in wonderful excess, and every
Germantowner took to reading political papers.
It was q year Of decadence and delirium tremeas.
The graveyards got fat that year. They thought
of giving up the othodox meeting-house
for war department and stopped the cannon
ball cracks in the old Chew mansion to tit up
for Gen. Washington. Germantown has never
recovered from the blow. Ever since the act
Of repeal the Friends meeting-house has been
empty. Philadelphia has been partly described
by James Parton as "Quakerism modified BY
Franklin." II was the great city OF the country
when the nation began, being at that time about
the size of indianapolis at present. Whisky was
known to be good there, and hotel room ample.
No man could lose his way home aftera political
caucus by taking q crooked street. So 1t had
many friends to vote it the permanent capital.
In the Senate, when the matter was proposed in
1880. twenty-two voted for Philadelphia as the
capital, to thirty mine against 1.-THE same
figures as those which lost Germantown And
Philadelphia died hard It felt that indig-
nant sentiment of the boy who was rejectdD TOR
the captaincy Of the cornstalk military company
sMy I'M mother saws I'm the biggest, and ought to
be captain" Consider the present circumstances
If Germantownilad become the metropolitan city.
We should have had the Congressional debates
prin ted only in German. Every Senator would
have had bis desk full of pretzels. The-hole-in-
the-Wall would have run lager everlastingly.
The Speaker of the House must have sat in the
epllcry, SO that the debaters could see 10 address
him over their enormous abdomens. Sausage
would have been franked to all parts Of the c0un
trv and switzerkase by the ton charged to the
item Of stationery Wm. Penn and Gambrinus
would have been perched together on the dome
OF the capitol. The Journal of Congress would
have baen dated First day Of the seventh month.
All the Presidents receptions would have been
held ID drab coats, and General Grant would
have worn the uniform Of o perpetual Saenger-
feat = What q lot Of public printing we should
have been spared ourselves. Havre de Grace,
would have made one of the most beautiful sites
In America for the capital city. High blue ridg-
es Of wooded n1ountains lie In its perspectives.
| It stands at the head Of the noblest bay on the
Atlantic coast, with the valley Of the Susquehan-
nah opening communication with the North and
West; great city Suburban to il, coal and lum'
Der flowing naturally past II, and the garden
country OF the Middle States for lis lawns Il
would have made as it may still make one day,
situation worthy Of a vast trade.