National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-02-28

THE BRIDE OF THE UNION.
A GLANCE At THE OLD AND III Z; NEW
Sill NlsT0N

A GLANCE At THE OLD ANDTHE NEW
WASHINGTON.
Tie CHICAGO Post, in q recent editorial on
Washington, says: Observers who have been
in the habi: of visi;ing Washington fur,ish
ample testimony to the beauty, the elegance
and the intrinsic value of the magniiicen. lin
uprovements which have resulted from the joint
labors of the Board of Public Works and
the Commissioner of Public Buildings and
GROUNDS. Whatever he the result of the
thorough investigation now going forward,
involving the integrity with which these
WORKS nave peen prosecuted. there is no ques-
zion respecting the high intelligence which has
guided the operations of these officials, the
efficiency which has characterized their con-
duct, or the taste which has been productive of
such astonishing results. The memory suffer.
tax of but three brief years to recall the
mud-bedraggled streets and the tumble down
buildings that scorned to struggle above their
surroundings, and the forlorn and neglected
parks and private Enclosures that told the story
Of shiftlessness and decay inseparable from the
existence of the enervating and prOstitutinE
system of slavery. Not an indigenous plant
or shrub or tree, which, given half q chance,
would have made Washington . bower Of
loneliness and beauty, was even nursed into
being while slavery cursed the country. The
a
fitting emblem of the character of the listiess
people who inhabited them. All this has not
only been changed, but the bewildering trans
formation, like q sudden enchantment OF Alad-
din's lamp, has been wrought in the twnkling
of an eye. A magic wand has been waved
over this desolate and forsaken city, and l0l
the novels have risen into palaces the mud
has been solidifed into hard and regular pave
ments, roads and diversified drives, and the
public grounds and parks have become mir
acles of landscape beauty and taste, and bloom
and blossom as the rose.
All this work has not been done without vast
expense and an energy of effort, both physical
and intellectual, born of the changed condition
| OF affairs at Washington. The slave 0ligarchy
has abandoned its citadel, and the genius Of
| free institutions has occupied the hold. North
ern energy, Northern capital, Northern brain,
| Northern speculative adventure have usurped
| the places of the departed regime, and have
| wrought, with a suddenness as astonishing IS
the upbuilding of Chicago from its ashes, Q
change as gratifying as it is complete.
| Has this vast work-this miraculous trans
formation-been accomplished with honesty
and honor along with energy and taste! OF
| that We express no opinion. We do not antici-
pate the verdict of the investigating committee.
But of one thing there can BIZ no dispute. The
people, instead of being Inundated by the ap-
pearance of strangers from abroad in the capt.
/ wi Vi INC ICpuOiiCf uia-y NciCOuic tHciu W =
city made worthy Of its peculiar distinction.
The squalor of the old Washington is no longer
made conspicuous by the grandeur OF the pub
lie buildings which were once so VIGOROUSLY
demeaned and belittled by the surrounding
| filth.
And this is as it should be. The people
when they go up to their Government seat
should find it q model of taste, of elegance, Of
beauty, of magnifcence. They should lind an
example for imitation in landscape adornment,
| in art culture, and in all the evidences of high
education and refinement. 1t is the common
presumption that at the capital of the Govern
ment are gathered the wisdom, the statesman
ship, the education, the progress Of the rcpub-
lie. What better evidence can be presented Of
the truthfulness of this claim than the result
ing labors of the architect, the landscape gar
dener, and the artist, that have in 20 brief .
time demonstrated SO eonclusively the native
taste as well as the native energy of the grand
est nation on the globe ?-C'hica9o Post.