The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1879-12-03
Letter.
A QUORUM OF CONGRESS PRES
ENT- WASHINGTO REVTVED-
WILL THE CAPITAL BE REMOE

wAsHxaros, D. c., November %, 1879.

RI!
WASHINGTON, D. c., November %, 1879.
To the Editor OF the Morristown Gazette:
For the last two weeks Congress has been brew
ing in the air, and now the hotels and boarding
houses have more than quorum. The heart of
the city throbs with life. The avaricious
faces of the shop-keeper, the bartender, and Of
the innumerable host who have rooms to let
lighted with the expectation Of gain. The Depart
ments and Government clerks, we have nearly al
ways with us Congress comes and Congress goes
and these go on forever. But Washington is new
er really herself socially morally, Gmmorally) and
politically except during the congressiJ session.
A common remark is " What splendid capi-
tai we viii have in FIVE, ten, or twenty years."
Architectural improvements are in constant pro-
gress Millions have been expended to make
smooth and solid the streets Parks have been
laid out in every section of the city. Forests of
trees have been planted. Colossal bronze eques-
TRAN statues mount guard in the squares and
circles Fountains, flowers, and foliage contend
with the miasma OF surrounding swamps to make
this unfortunate locality an urban paradise But
the surrounding swamps and physical geography
are more patent than congressional appropriations
or the enterprise Of real estate holders. We will
have a splendid capital when the seat of govern
ment shall be moved to locality more favored by
nature, and this removal VIII probably take place
much sooner than is anticipated. TIE political
significance of the next census will be felt in
Congress In five years the questions of solid
North and solid South will have ceased to agitate
and distract the country. The solid West viii
! loom up and not even the North and South soldi-
! fed can prevent that unsentimental section from
| removing the capital a thousand miles from the
! tomb of Washington. But the North and South
cannot be solidifed on this question What OBJ
lection will Tsxas make, or any State whose bOrd-
! ers are washed by the Mississippi or the Gulf
| Tennessee and Kentucky have the prepOnderance
of wealth and population in their western sections
/ New England. New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia. the Carolinas, and possibly Pennsy lvsnia
and New York are all that can be relied upon for
| solid opposition to the Westward movement. 1t
would seem at first thought Titanic task to re-
move the group of palaces that compose the Ma
tional, Legislative and Executive Departments,
! but the work will be easy when compared with the
transportation feats of the Egyptians 5000 years
! ago. The cost would be less than the sum Louis
XIV expended on Versailles. With modern appli-
ances the removal might be accomplished in five
years, The reluctance of Congress to improve the
! harbors and drain the pestilent swamps that en-
viron Washington is found in the secret conviction
that this is not the abiding city of the nation, and
that it is poor economy to expend treasure Oh q
| temporary habitation
| In the Congress that will convene on next Mon
day the Democrats will have majority of 8 in the
! Senate and III the House.