The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-21

soup ~siB npf Qlstrlnuteu until Twelve WASH
ington, being peopled chiefly by under-p nd
clerks and their worse paid chiefs, the
charity Of tlteAciiy WAS even more ovortasked
than its gas works; and there seemed no way
in which those peor people could be saved
from starvation, except by a gift of public
money-national money-the property of
Maine, Oregon, Florida, California, and the
other States. The absurdity of the act was
undeniable; but when human beings are
seen to be in the ngonies of starvation, con
stitutional scruples generally give way. Con-
gress might just as properly have voted thirty
thousand dollars to relieve the suffering poor
of San Francisco. The accidental proximity
of those perishing people gave them no claim
upon the national treasury which the poor OF
other cities did not possess.
The stranger, repeat, observing these and
many other evidences Of inefficient govern
ment, naturally asks an explanation. The
explanation is, that the unhappy city has two
governments namely, Congress, and its own
Mayor and Aldermen-one very rich and
close, the other very poor and heavily
burdened with expense. Between these two
powers there is a chronic ill-feeling, similar
to that which might exist between a rich uncle
and a married nephew with large family and
many wants-both living in the same house.
The old man is under the impression that he
makes his nephew munifcent allowance, to
which he adds Christmas and other gifts on
what he considers asliberal scale. His hume
rous other heirs and dependents share this
opinion. They even reproach him for his
lavish benefactions. They go so far as to say
that he ought not to have paid that last heavy
plumbing bill for letting the water into the
house. The young man, on the other hand, sofar
from being grateful for his uncles generosity,
is always grumbling at his parsimony; and
every time an unusual expense has to be in
CURED there is a struggle and wrangle be-
tween them as to which shall pay it. "Pay it
out of your income, says Uncle Sam. mo,
my dear sir; this is permanent addition to
your estate, replies the nephew. "You re-
quire me" he continues, 'for your own con-
venience and advantage, to reside in this
huge, rambling, expensive mansion, far away
from towns and markets; and / am thus
compelled to live on scale which is out of
all proportion to my slender means 1t is
but fair that you should help me
out" The old gentleman assents to the
principle; but he never can be brought
to come down as handsomely as the young
nephew feels he ought Hence, the feud be-
tween the two.
This state of things is injurious to both;
but to the city government it is demoraliza-
ton and, paralysis. After many years of silent
and of vocal strife, there has come about
kind of understanding" that Congress is to
''take care" of Pennsylvania avenue, and the
city government is to do all the rest. But
the real object of strife appears to be, which
government shall most completely neglect
the duty assigned it; and each excuses its
neglect by pointing to the inefficiency of the
other. The remedy appears simple and
feasible. Let Congress restore to Maryland
her sixty square miles, and pay taxes on the
national property. By this inexpensive expe-
dent, Congress would get rid of the trouble
some task of misgoverning O small princi
pality, and the city government would be
put upon it's good behavior, and supplied
with adequate means and motive.
The question. OF the removal of the capital
is scarcely ripe even for serious consideration,
since we cannot know for ten years or more
what effects will be produced by the Pacific,
railroads, built and to be built; nor whether
the country is to extend northward, south
ward, in both directions, or in neither. If
Canada is to come in, then Mr. Seward
may be right in his conjecture that the final
capital of the United States will be some
where near the city of st. Paul. If Cuba is
to be ours, if the other large islands of the
West Indies are to follow, if we are to dig the
Darien Canal, and the United States is to
compete with Great Britain for the commerce
of the world then the future capital may pro-
perly be an Atlantic seaport, New York per-
haps. If we are to- take upon ourselves the
grievous burden of Mexico, and extend our
empire along the Pacific coast, then some
central city yet to be created may be
the predestined spot! If none of these
things is''to happen the beautiful and
commodious city, of St. Louis presents
almost every advantage that can be
desired. Many years must probably elapse
before any of these IFS are out of the way.
In the meantime no reason appears why Con-
press should not GLADLY hermit the Deonle re-
siding in the District of Columbia to take
care of tAeir own municipal affairs. There
would then be one committee the less one
lobby the less, one whole class of ill-defned and
undefnable claims the less. 1t would not re-
quire ten years of lobbying, under that sys-
tenn, to get Pennsylvania avenue paved; nor
would Congress have to spend precious time
in providing soup for the poor.
"PUTNAM's.,
The February number of PUtaam's Ad9a-
zine has the following table of contents:-
"a Woman's Right" novel, III, Mary
Clemmer Ames; ''Virginia, Old and New, y