Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-09-20

N Rond tune, II We can ever keF ooza-
-. M that will mot be dominated by
- iaea az economy. the process q evola-
to, viii be carried still further BY the
rrrrfion Of splendid colonnasie along the
vessern front. Thus the fest 81 turning
the capitol around, or. more strictly speak
ine al giving it two fronts instead OF one.
wiz have hNn accomplished II Is WORK
which should be done. and it cannot oe
done TOO seen. for the city Of Washington,
which is rapidly becoming one Of the most
hssus;fal cities Of the world. and which Is
the American city tnost admired by foreign
rrs. is growing almost entirely To the west
N the capitol. and it is shame TO have
tho principal facade OF orr grand state
house on the wrong side.
Thor. is another thing that should be
done. a,a it is such simple matter thar
4, M, ,iesr,air Of its accomplishment IN the
rear future. IL is 10 turn the face OF the
Goddess Of Liberty toward the west. For
Al wears. or some such matter, the beanti-
fui goddess has stood there with her eyes
looking toward the Atlantic ecean- Not
only is the major part of the city Of WASH
iny,ou behind her hack, but also that great
eusnir,s over which she holds sway, and
vhase institutions and freedom she Is the
syuahsl of. Fer two or three years have
been advocating change in the position OF
this our patruE goddess, and am willing
10 90 on record with the prediction that IN
the next five years she will look toward the
mighty ives, instead of gazing in the ciree-
ton of the ocean.
While / sat yesterday listening to the
speech of President Cleveland IA, the ami
yersary exercises could not repreSs the
thought that this great building has dur
inr the past century been the scene Of more
history making than any other building IN
the world. Within its halls the mightiest
experiment in human government ever
known has been successfully carried on A
form of INSTITUTIONS las hsen nodded ana
nerfeetei wi. liz. ITS walls that marks "A rev
olution in the sciences of government.
Burned by tas. vandnl ha.r.s of monen-
tarily vic,o,iuus hGsstiles, planted III the
midst az Z, swamp. surrounded during It's
earlier da, rs "a handful Of patriots and u
lens., bank of forsts lying net far beyond,
it has grown - the nation has grown anu
stands at last the proud sea- Of govern
ment which ranks puihahly first IN all the
world When one stnps to think Of IL, the
history Of this gray OH lmiiding comes very
near being the history of the American ma
ton.
Its "A pleasant thought, too, that il is
grander building externally in its architee-
turr in the pgoport !nns of its halls and the
maguifcence al its great dome. than 1t Is
in its interior decorations. This Is so be
cause the architecture and the building
were the work Of American hands, while
the interior decorations for the most part
were executed by foreign artists. Forty,
so IS or 80 years ago there We're no artists
in America who were thought competent
to decorate the interior of such grand
building as this. Nearly all the artists
and many Of the artisans employed for that
purpose were Italians. Some of their work
was well done, and some OF 1t was Ill done.
The comfqlting part Of The thought Is
that today art has made such rapd strides
in all its fields of effort that plenty OF
Americans can he fonnd to do all this work
much better than il was done. There is
such thing now AS American art, and
ehile il may not have a school all its own
it is fast achieving one not alone 10y adap-
tation of the best there is in foreign schools,
but by creation out of its own genius and
environments.
Long before this grand old capitol shall
have another centennial anniversary look
forward to its complete overhauilng anu
renovation inwarlly, and when that takes
place it will be decorated by American art
lists in truly American manner, with their
themes and their inspiration drawn from
the history of the country that has derel-
oped from settlement to an empire while
this palace of state was going through the
process of evolution from pair of small
wings to its present imposing form aud di-
mensions. ->