The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-04-20
OUR NATIONAL CAPITAL.
A City of Many Attractions Material,
Intellectual and Political.

ssee Paris and de- but the man with a
healthy Imagination and robust constitution
who really sees washington city in all its
effectiveness and enters fully into the cos
mopolitan spirit which pervades everything
and everybody, will necessarily come to the
conclusion that, after all. life is well worth
living, even after the French capital IL in,
spected. n.4
The growth of the, city in a material way is
interesting. According TO the last census re-
port. the national capital stands seventeenth
in the list of manufacturing centers-the
aforesaid interest lying along the line of
exploration, since one may look in vain for
those tangible evidences which give the in
dustrial center an individuality of its own
viz: huge smokestacks, with their daily
vomit of dense, black, sitting smoke. How
ever, the daily output of the Bureau of En-
craving and Printing, with its constant grisr
of. greenbacks and postage stamps. may be
included in the list OF manufactured articles.
since the single-standard folks, according to
the 16-to-1 people, make a fetch of the yellow
metal, regarding green goods in much the
same light as other manufactured prod
ucts."
Those low maxims Of prudence to which
one of our modern philosophers points as the
governing impulse OF not a few Americans
in their mad rush after wealth-an impulse
which tends to dwarf those loftier and nobler
faculties Of the mind and heart by which the
manners are softened and refined, and
which inspire one with a generous
enthusiasm for all that is elevating
in the social and business life of the national
capital, and 1t is probable that there is no
city in the Union where liberal ideas obtain
so largely as they do at Washington City.
If aQl1ld coar0olv he 0tbarurica oipoo THE 10
common ground for all classes, creeds and
conditions, and there is nothing like associa-
ION ION a and c con ! OF, = II you please, compar r
opinions and promote a spirit of compromise
and concession, so that the most radically in
clined soon learn, that much-needed lesson
liberation. This constant contact of widely
differing minds gradually undermines an
tiquated notions and pretudices and obliter-
ates many OF those harsh features which
were once so prominentia characteristic of
the human landscape-when viewed from a
distance. Henry Clay. we are told, was once
engaged in a friendly chat with John c. Cal
houn, when one of Mr. Clay's rural con-
stituents, who happened to be at the national
capital, unexpectedly entered the room
w wasi shocked oes d" to think iSat M his %p oitasS i ahd
should be so lost to a Just sense of propriety
as to hold any Intercourse whatever with
his political enemy. But all history teaches
and 1t is also the essence of social life. Con-
genial spirits are drawn together, be they
Republican Democratic, Populist or what
While the growth of washington city in a
material way is interesting, it is
Of Intellectual activity. The numerous i,n1s
educational institutions together with those
contemplated-somes osuthemn ON a scale OF
great OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES with the in
creasins interest in-lterary subjects I'm gen.
sraI; and pao more lef n So &rn and are ,o rowing wing
means Which have for sf their ro obie sari the d Ssner
| opment of "%cultufe without pretense and
good breeding without ceonventionality," or,
In other words, along natural lines, all tend
TO make Washington ,eity a great radiating
whose lone is the sky Add TO ali these the
constant gathering ttof scientific bodies. as
well as the visits. Of eloquent statesmen. pub
for, ' be It re sne SSRFsis t Rsa1l making nee1 Wash
at J~erusalem"-ahd weset a fair idea of the
numerous opportunities here offered to those
who Will take advantage OF. them.
.h Ina Il cOm n spirit which is SO notice,
cities does not pervade the atmosphere of
the national capital very largely. Politics is,
Of course, the overshadowing Influence, and
whatever is said and done at the capital is
OF more than passing interest to all the
people. The facilities for obtaining and dis
enterprise of the great metropolitan dailies.
and even the rural press, so marked a fea-
ture Of modern life, that the entire Nation is
kept constantly i'm touch with the seat Of the
general government. and AN intelligent com
prehension of ccnternporaneous events on
the part of all the people Is one of the most
| signal achievements OF, triumphant democ-
racy." 4gt+-r ~
Just now everything seems to have for its
ultimate object the making Of a President"
There Is much mining and counter-mining
wire-pulling and that sort OF thing, such as
Is always incident TO a presidential contest,
while numerous 'favorite sons and sundry
dark horses cannot with propriety pro-
claim to the word their presidential aspira-
ions. Yet they are there all the same. and
the application Of a psychological x ray or
thing possible, would doubtless reveal the
ksrnal Of an ardent hope in more than one
scorching sun CT a st. Louis June day. What
q satisfaction 1t would be IL one could on.y
shout into the sibyl cave OF destiny and get
something more than an echo for an ans
the fates are pointing as the lucky man.
Not a few people are inclined TO the opinion
that Ohio's ~favorite son Is the coming man.
but things sometimes get badly tangled and
history may repeat Itself to such an extent
hat 1t may, require the magic name of a
distinguished eS.president, whose home is
knot. Stranger things have happened.
| But after all, Is the satisfaction of being
President a sufficient compensation for ali
ton? The President may have smooth sail
ing for a few months, but the trouble will
come. His every act and word will be twist
,onged-for opportunity of uncorking an
accumulation of psnt-up spite. which
is generally worked or with an
energy that is truly dynamical in its in
te~nsity-arrows sometimes poisoned with
calumny and sharpened with rancorous
hate"-so that every word uttered by the
| chief executive becomes a sort OF boomer
ang. 1.-The dignity that doth hedge In a
king is found to be no protection to a
President. and he can only suffer and be
strong" Since he cennot meet his assail-
ants uron the common level of ordinary
dfsrutation, these premeditated and UMPIRE
meditated attacks upon the President
making use OF the ammunition he himself
has furnished-are somewhat suggestive of
Byron's mounted eagle, which
Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart.
And winged the shaft that quivered in his
heart;
Keen were his pangs. but keener far to feel
He nursed the pinion hat impelled the
steel"
The American people are reported on high
authority to be a turbulent people," and
while IL is not in good taste TO proclaim il
from the housetops to Europe. yet we must
confess that, as a peop-e, we enjoy nothing
better than a good-sized political row-es-
pecially when IL is confined to the opposite
party from that TO which we belong.
L. N. W.
Washington, ID. c., April IS.