Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1890-10-17
THE CAPITAL SITE.
No Location in the State That Can
Equal It.

The voters Of the new State who have
never visited Olympia will naturally
like to know something of the site she
has to offer for the Capitol building.
They have heard of the offers OF rival
cities OF acres upon acres of land for q
Capitol site; they have seen, perhaps,
photographs or highly colored pictures
OF some of these sites, with beautifully
laid out grounds, magnificent walks
and drives, fountains playing, street.
cars running in all directions; in q
word, magnificent locations-in photo
graphs. But it must be remembered
that all these beauties and attractions
are things sin the future" which in
more than one case the nature of the
soil and the climate of the country will
make it impossible to realize. Olym-
pia's site is on a hill OF easy ascent, sur
rounded by beautiful park in which
large trees are now growing. The
grounds extend to the water front, and
the waters Of the Sound form their
western boundary. They were donated
to the State, or Territory, for Capitol
purposes by Mr.. E. Sylvester, and will
revert back to his heirs if the Capitol is
removed. They are valued at $3.50, 600,
which is far more than any two sites
offered by other cities are worth in the
market to-day. The view from Capitol
Hill has already been described in other
articles in this supplement. Judge
Sturdevant OF Columbia county, one of
the delegates to the Constitutional Con-
vention, declared it the best site for q
Capitol and the most beautiful view in
the State, an opinion in which the ma
jority of his fellow delegates openly
agreed. From the front porch the view
extends over the city, Budd's Inlet, the
forests, the suburban residences, for
miles in all directions. 1t is a view
which cannot be equaled anywhere in
the State.
Some capital is sought to be made
by rival cities in the present contest
out OF the fact that they have offered
this or that sum of money toward the
erection of a Capitol building, etc.
They hope by this means to catch the
vote of the citizen who is not we'll nc.
quainted with the provisions of the
Enabling Act by which the new States
are admitted into the Union. Section
IL Of that Act provides "that upon the
admission of each OF said States into
the Union, in accordance with the pro-
visions of this Act, fifty sections (32,.
600 acres) of the unappropriated public
lands within said States, to be selected
and located in legal subdivisions, as pro.
vided in Section 10 by this Act, shall
be, and are hereby, granted to said
States for the purpose OF erecting public
buildings at the Capital of said States
for legislative, executive and judicial
purposes" To this very liberal grant,
which in itself would be sufficient to
erect all necessary buildings without
the raising OF cent for that purpose
by taxation, Section II OF the Enabling
Act adds "one hundred thousand acres
for public buildings at the State Cap
ital, in addition to the grant heretofore
made for that purpose" AS the school
lands are to be sold for not less than
$40 per acre, and these $4,000 acres
for public buildings are to be the pick
Of the lands in the State, it is safe to
estimate that Washington has the
equivalent of two million dollars with
which to erect her public buildings at
the Capital, and will not need any do
nation or bonus from this or that city.