Evening star., 1898-11-15

I
| win for the District the blessings TO flow
| from the adoption of the code and to re-
| heVe the capital from the throttling bur
! den OF ancient laws now fastened upon its
| reck. like the Old Man of the Sea on the
| shoulders of Sinbad.
III success meets the movement Judge
cox in whom the whole community feels
coincidence, will have crowned long life
| Oh puollc usefulness by q monumental la
| DOR which will bring untold benefit to the
community. high and deserved honor to
| tne codlfer. and transform conditions sur
| rounding District concerns into modern
shape, conducive to the progress and pros
| perity of the nations city
Maintenance of the Organic Act.
Another feature of the legislative cam
| patgn for the Districts welfare of vast i'm
portanee is the constant struggle for the
| maintenance intact of the organic act This
! principle will come into question at the ap-
| preaching session in three ways:
l. In the extension of suburban streets
| In amending the highway act at its last
| session, Congress repealed section Is and
| thereby condemned the proposal embodied
| IN the highway law to extend the grand
| national p an of the original city over the
| misht subdivisions and unsubdivided lana
OF the suburbs entirely at local expense.
| But hardly is the District rid of the per-
| nlciouS provisions of section 10 when legis-
| latton is proposed, in various bills which
| VIII re-enact, piecemeal, in the case of sue
| cesslVe single streets, the iniquitous pr.n-
| clpie OF exclusive local contributions for
| SUBURBAN street condemnation and improve
! ment which Congress has lust abolished in
| us application to the comprehensive ex-
| 'enston OF Washington's streets collectively,
49,. me principle needs to be guarded in
! every appropriation which disburses the
| revenues of the District of Columbia
| j. The principle is brought in question
py propositions to raise the standard of
| local tax assessment and to increase the
| blStrlCt burden of
| A pamphlet containing an abstract of
| ISuihehtS on this subject by the president
OF the board of trade before various COM
| mlttees OF Congress at the last session has
peen ordered to be printed by the directors
| ana Will be issued for distribution before
| the conVening of Congress- The over
| mneIlnlns Importance of this branch of the
| DiStrict campaign for justice is fully rec
| ognlZed and the fight along these lines viii
| unnouotedly be vigorously contested
The board will also doubtless be active in
pashins us forward public projects which in
| 80 nave taken so excellent a start: (a)
endowment and development of the public
ilDrary; tb) the securing Of more and hettnr
| water and the defeat of meter protects
| Whlch tend to limit the use and Increase
| the cost of the water supply: (c) recisna-
| tion of the Anacostia fats; (d) development
| OF manual training schools; (el speedy com
| Piehon or comprehensive system of sewage
| disposal
The City's Centennial
| Congress at the coming session will he
asked by the President of the United States
| in his annual message to make legislative
| provision for the appointment of a commits
sion, representing the House, Senate. the
| states of the Union, and the District of
Columbia, to arrange an appropriate cele-
| pration In 1900 of the Tooth anniversary of
the establishment of the seat of govern
ment in Washington. This occasion so in
I teresting and so important both nationally
! ana locally. deserves and will
ceiVe the earnest and thoughtful attention
| OF Congress, the nations and the Districts
legislature 1t may safely be assumed that
| the board of trade will be active both in
securing appropriate legislation in the mat
ter and in contributing directly by its la
bors TO the success of the enterprise.
Looking Forward.
The future upon which the capital is
about to enter is one of brilliant promise.
Reference has been made to the beneficial
effect of the war with Spain upon Wash
| ingtou's business interests. This benefit is
profoInder and farther reaching than is
usually imagined. 1t is not confined to the
temporary increase of business in a few
lines of local trade due to the physical
presence of many soldiers. The benefit is
permanent and its causes are deep-rooted
The national capital is the heart of the
nation, from which issues and circulates
the life-givtng element, permeatiug with
national influence and power the whole of
| the body polite. The greater the current
of national life, the larger and stronger
the heart, the muscle. which sends the re-
publics life blood pulsing through its veins.
As the body polite expands and puts forth
IT'S strength the national heart grows in
proportion. Thus Porto Rico, Cuba and the
Philippines in enlarging the republic and
| broadening the scope OF national govern
ment, increase also the official machinery
operated here, and develop the govern
ment's city.
The national capital is not only the heart
but the soul, of the nation, the peculiar
abiding place of the spirit of nationality
The legends of every imaginative people
zeal IN some fashion with the fancy of the
interwoven fates of widely differing individ-
uaiS, OF crossing of life lines between
them, so that the prosperity or adversity
tne sickness or death OF one of the affin-
ltles Is faithfully reflected and reproduced
in the other, however separated in suace
In age or conditions of life they NAV be
The republic and its capital, the city Great
ed, largely owned and exclusively controlled
py the nation. are such affinities. Their
common life line is the national patriotic
sentiment Strengthen the spirit of Ameri-
can nationality and the nation wakes
stronger, and the capitai responds will
corresponding growth. Wound the sent.-
ment OF nationality and both caDftal and
nation languish; destroy it and they d,e.
AS blood of martyrs is the seed of the
church, so blood of the patriots is the seed
of American national sentiment and OF the
national capital which embodies this sen
tlment. The bloodshed OF the revolution
created the federal Union and the capitaI
The bioodshed of the civil war DEVELOPED a
nation and a national city. The bloodshed
or the war with Spain washes out all
traces of the civil struggle, reunites the
national elements, expands and promotes
the nation and the nations city
FOR the new America there is to be a
new Washington. There can be no genuine
expansion of the republic which does NOT
snow forth as in an index in the republics
city. So, likewise, prosperity in the federal
district means that the whole nation pros
pers and develops more and more from
day to day. Their life lines being inter-
woven no one may savagey cut at one
without Injury to the other; and ne who
FOSTERS the one builds up the other and in a
tWo-fold capacity meets the requirements
and enjoys the patriotic privileges of a
loyal and enthusiastic American
A Vote of Thanks
After the applause which followed the
conclusion OF the reading had subsided. Mr..
b. H Warner moved that a vote of thanks
be extended to President Noyes for the
most able annual report, as he expressed IL
that had ever been heard in the history of
the board. He also moved that a special
vote of thanks be extended to Mr. Moves
Tor the efficient services rendered bv h,,,,