Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-05-31

may De eSaied and postponed. but IL postponed
today 1t will haunt our legislative halls again
and again hereafter to the greater ultimate loss
OF the railroads as well as of the city What Is
now asked for is o minimum never to be re-
duced
The city of Washington was not made solely
Tor the beneht OF railroads. but railroads were
made for the bench: of the city. whose honor
and welfare, as well as that OF the people at
large, should be CONSIDERABLY cared for and
resoutely protected to the very front line OF all
their rights and privileges in the national capt.
tai
That it would be an immense improvement
to diminish the circutous length of these roads
into and through the city and diminish the
large number OF street crossings will not be de-
MED by anybody. 1t will also be lust In any
permanent arrangement which may be made.
that absolutely equal privileges shall be ex-
tended to all railroads now asking or hereafter
10 ask for proper accommodations. Means Of
ireer communication with the rapidly grow
ing enterprise of our fel!ow-citizens IN the
southern states. whose property has so marvel
ously increased, almost by billions. within a
haIf dozen years, should not be withheld. post
poned or monopolized by any single corpora
tion Here is a great continental gateway of
commerce and travel between the north and
south, and il should be open TO the world with
| wide and generous policy. and wholly liber-
ated from the narrow dog-in-th manager ieal-
ousies OF single corporation.
congress very reluctantly. and not without
IL
trespass upon or to cross Indian reservations;
and II the reasons are less urgent WIZ such
trespasses should not be permitted on reserva-
Hohs mere In the very lap of the capital. it
would seem to argue that we have less love for
our own people than for the Choctaws and Ara
pahocs.
II ID not too much to claim for the health and
aaornment of the capital of the American peo-
pie what appears TO have been universally ac-
corded to the people of other enlightened ma
htr Ia, 10 L.. Il,
permitted to approach tho outskirts of their
chpt'hls. AT London. Paris Vienna and Madrid
they are wholly excluded from all parks In
Sonlon no railroads cut through Regents
farR' hyde Park, st. James Park or any
others.
THIS RAILRoAD-BEMASGLUD PARK,
now almost and soon TO b. wholly ruined. If
'ls bilI OF the committee shall be accepted, BY
an hi-s'arred severance into comparatively use
less fragments, will soon have many acres of
ground and some small but glittering
sheets or water added to its western boundary
oy seclamatlon from the Potomac. az well as
from the shameless cupidity OF bootless and
Dottcmless land jumpers. The expenditures for
THIS noble work have been large. but they will
nave been made with IA clipped wing. If not
improvldenty, there IS 10 BE not only no re-
cihmaiion OF the original park from the iron
grasp OF the great Pennsylvania railroad cor
poration, nut Shat the also great Baltimore
MI OillO corporation snall De invited TO lend a
mana 10 the spoliation, leaving the widowed
fragments 20 be FILTERED away, or TO survive,
no longer loved, no longer whole
BEsMrEcHED PICTURE
We are protesting TO revere the memory of
Washington by monument on the western
portion OF this ground, which lacks nothing of
subllmIty III its unequalcd height and dimen-
sious. completed at cost of more than a
mhnoh dollars; but ali who may hereafter as
cend to its lofty summit aud look out upon the
wonderful panorama presented-where men are
reduced to the size OF pigmies, where we seem
10 take up the isles a very little thing and
TO lay the earth in a balance'-will often have
their eyes rlveted upon the park once as dear
TO Washington as the apple of his eye and not
less dear TO us as the palnstaking work Of JEFF
iersOn, now proposed to be completely be-
hoadcd-the head forever separated from the
trunh-by an impossible and walled gulf from
which the steam smoke and SCOT of a rookery
OF engines will be continually ascending and
VIII wonder why an American Congress should
permit so foul a blotch to besmirch the face of
so grand picture, and more wonder WHY the
reverence paid to Washington should be SO
Diasphemed on the ground where his memory
was intended to be forever consecrated.
ought we not to have the privilege to visit
the monument directly from the Capitol with
out peril and without going a roundabout zig
gag way to 1t through back streets?
We spare no expenditure for the preservation
OF national park on the Yellowstone which
comparatively few Americans will ever see and
yet we are almost hopelessly cOntendlng for
the preservation, without any expenditure of
a park In the national capital, which ali good
Americans hope TO see before they die
STRAINED as our government was for funds in
Its early days and as rampant as was the specu-
latlve demand here for city lots, the govern
ment did not part with one lot or little of
Jefersons darling park, then called the Mall
but 1t was held intact, sacred as the garden
OF the Hesperides, In order Ito FORM" as 1t was
declared
"A broad and uninterrupted landscape con-
nectlon between the square on which were to
be placed the executive buildings and the
grounds for the future site of the Capitol"
We hold this ancient park in trust from the
original proprIetors. and cannot afford to do
less than to hand over the heritage with defer
entail realty to our successors whole and unn-
numbered
We hold the park for the health and happi-
ness OF the greatest number of people OF those
destitute OF horses and carriages and unable
10 incur daily expense for their hire, but who,
with their families, when through with the
iabors and fatigues Of the Gay. OF sedentary
life, including weary brain workers would often
gladly seek one of the dearest pleasures of lite
fresh air and restored vigor-on terms which
they could accept. 1t is park close at hand
ia the very heart of the city. with a landscape
and walks to be made sweet and attractive by
the toiage and fragrance of ali the trees and
shrubs which thrive in this favored latitude
with natural splendor Of health and beauty
Little heed appears to have been given to
former petitions or to later protests of large
numbers OF the most substantial citizens of
Washington, and therefore the NONRESIDENT
capitalists and promoters of the destruction of
the park appear to expect Congress will re-
spond to every fresh demand that may be made
by railroad potentates. 1t was not enough that
the park should receive a fatal stab from one
railroad corporation, but it is proposed 20 in.
dict some punishment after death by a dIyis-
ION and distribution of its garments among
those assumed TO be willing to become equal
partners in the outrage The bill in charge of
the Senator from West Virginia is based on the
idea that not enough has been done for the
benefit Of the Baltimore and Potomac Com
pany. We granted, beyond a valuable fran
chise: the use OF avenues and streets. without
cost for their tracks. We gave the company
the Long Bridge In perpetuity and have let |
them have the use of depot land assessed at
$40 600 Out worth much more for sixteen
years. subject to the payment Of taxes. The |
appetite Of the corporation has grown upon |
what it has fed and the ability Of the United |
states to furnish further bounties is assumed to
be equal to the greed of the company. |
The era Of railroad ascendancy may nc, yet |
have passed away and if