Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-11-05
WASHINGTON LETTER.

commercial metropolis, whatever be
its size and pretension, can offer.
The capital of the Union enjoys a
distinctive supremacy no other city
of this country can aspire to or rival.
For brief summer season the life
and garb of its regency were put
aside and the quiet ways of other
cities marked the seat of government
during its interval of rest. Now,
again, the pulsations of new, yet
old life are rousing it from six
months dishdbiNe. Pennsylvania
avenue is the pulse of Washington,
and one can readily diagnose the
condition of the city any fine after
noon of the year, by watching the
flow of life along this thoroughfare
from until O'Clock.
The throng of promenaders daily
grow larger, the familiar faces of
Washington's legislative hobitues are
seen in increasing numbers while
busy scenes, busting life, and accel-
Grated business trade are all sympto-
matte of the near assembling of the
Forty-eighth Congress Of the United
States. The session promises to be
an exceptionally interesting one. 1t
will be held during the year of Presi-
dental nominations, and Presidential
aspirants will attend in full force, as
will also a vast concourse of Presi-
dent makers, from every state in the
Union. The extinction of the old
party issues, the development of new,
the election of new Speaker in the
House, and the revolution there, con-
sequent upon the accession of a
Democratic majority, are all antici-
pated with eager interest. Presiden-
tial possibilities may be met every
day and the long list that will appear
r upon this scene of action before the
, season is far advanced is almost lu-
f dicrous to contemplate, as well as
! pathetic, when one thinks of the am
bilious human hopes that will be
blighted with the frosts of 1884.
= But do not imagine the local pros
perity of Washington is dependent
f on anything so evanescent as Goa
gress that comes and goes in the
9 space of six months. Such might
: have been the case in more primitivt
i times, but now the city has perennial
# resources independent of the pres
4 ence of the national Legislature.
y The vast machinery of the United
V States government, by which the ma
J. tional affairs of nearly sixty millions
% of people are conducted, being cen
tered here, entails the employment o
thousands of people, and, conse
81 quently, the expenditure of immens
Is sums of money. The government
" expenses here are one and hal
81 million monthly. This amount dis
d bursed regularly to government off
ID cials and employees, without regar
at to seed time or harvest, or other mat
III tiers which to some extent effect tn
Ill business centers of trade elsewhere
81 insures to the capital more uniforl
v local business than any other city ell
Sc joys. Then, again, the bold syste1
I'll of public Improvements wrought OF
OIL for Washington by such Progressive
ne engineers as L'Enfant, SHEPHERD
}" and Twining, has furnished work
oe thousands of laborers, and has dor
oe for the capital of the United Stat
nc what Hansmann and Napoleon /
81 did for Paris. 1t has grown so SUI
er stantially and improved so beautifu
ly in the last two decades that pc
#. sons of wealth and culture from e
,s cry section of the Union are seekir
70 permanent homes here. They a
if attracted as much by its physic
,at beauty perhaps as by it's political
no social advantages, and, wooed
No ''winter sunbeams,' visitors frC
~ the north, and west, make the cal
o. tai as desirable resort in winter
q Ocean Grove, Saratoga, and N
York are in Summer. There is e
20 cry probability of crowded city tt
-, winter. The "real estate men" /
.;ol port that they could rent ten tim
ion the number of houses they have
81, their books. There are hundreds
100 boarding houses in Washington. T
=; house that does not hang out ST
: 'trooms to rent is exceptional;
ol most every householder IN Washin
o1 lOll ckcS Oub Dlo lICOiuC III uulo Wd
Small houses are scarce the real
tate men say that ground is too hi
ste in the city limits to pay to blu
ind small tenements. For this reas
en- people with small incomes have
in take large houses and sub-rent to s
,se, the price down within their meal
to Washington becomes a camp in
ING winter. One-third of the populati
us is transient 1t seeks Congress
mes flies swarm to lamp. Here is
the centre of legislation, of power,
the national wealth, of political pref
res, ment, of social standing. Fifty n
ais lion people look to Washington
Sir cry day as the index of their p
,art poses. The news from Washingt
'ou- is no small item in their daily llv
pro- Is it any wonder, therefore, that t
the place attracts crowds of visitors fir
ting all parts of the Union.
~ IT, GcLon,.,o,, -. +I,o D,;+.o1, 49,,