Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-12

| trict and of the federal city. 1t was he.
| personally, who made the bargain with the
nineteen original proprietors, advantageous
| to them, but much more to the govern
| ment and who finally brought even the
| fractory David Burns to terms. 1t was he,
| personally, who directed the commissioners
, and the surveyors, as they laid out the
| streets and built buildings, and who medi-
| ated between them when they quarreled.
! 1t vas the browning work of his life, and
perhaps nothing tiiat he did, except the
Jersey campaign that saved the revolution,
and the making of the Constitution that
| saved the nation, interested or pleased him
| more. 1t must have grieved him that he
| &C uld not live to the actual establish
| ment of the national government the
| city that had been named for him. He died
| In December, ana, under the act of Congress
passed ten years before, the national gov
eminent began its removal from Phiiadel-
! phia in May. By July the six executive
departments of that day were all in full
| working order here. BY November Presi-
! dent Adams, after a visit Of inspection in
June, was occupying this house and Con-
gress was in session preparatory to the reg
uiar session in December. The Supreme
Court having adjourned in August until
February, did not meet here in 1900 But
through the address of President Adams in
Congress, and the responses of the Senate
and the House, it was officially declared in
November that the seat of government
had been established here.
Early Complaint and Criticism.
dresses exchanged by President Adams and
the citizens, are full of gratitude for the fact
that the national government had at last a
home of it's own. Privately there was much
complaining over the discomforts of the
new city. The letters of Mrs. Adams show
what was thought of the Presidents house
by his family. There were similar crit
icisms of the unfinished Capitol while SEN
ators and representatives complained of the
places where they had to board, and all
agreed In announcing the wretched roads
which We're called streets. Besides the con-
struction of a few public buildings, at a
cost of a million dollars, given by Mary
land and Virginia or raised by the sale of
lots, and the outlining of the few streets,
little had been done by the government in
the ten years of preparation and less, pro-
portionately, had been done by private in
dividuals. The government had money
TO spare for such work from its scanty
treasure, and there We're only few thou
sand people here. There had been a good
deal of speculation in the new-made real
estate lots, but there had been compare
lively little building them. 1t is not
strange that the members Of the govern
ment and of the diplomatic corps looked
| back regTetfuly from the crude capital to
! the comforts and pleasures of Philadelphia
If Congress had then begun to provide for
| The gradual Improvement of the streets and
parks reserved by Washington as the prop
| erty of the nation, which owned more than
half of the new city, it would have carried
out the plan of the founder as ne doubtless
intended should be done. But Congress left
almost all that work to the few thousa nd
inhabitants, who We're also expected to pro-
vide most of the cost of police and fire pro-
lection, and other municipal services while
Congress practically confined its appropr.a-
tons to the construction, repair ana main
tenance of the government buildings and
their surroundings
Municipal Hiseries.
1t was Impossible for the people of Wash
ington to sustain this burden, which was
not shared by their neighbors of George
town and Alexandria, and as the size of the
government and with it the population and
needs of the city increased, its municipal
affairs went from bad to worse Guided by
their admirable mayors Cat first appointed
by the President, but afterward elected,
first by councils and later by the people, as
sisted by councils), the Washingtonians
doubtless did their best to perform what
was impossible, but, of course, failed
Even when Congress recognized this failure
and provided for some of its Indebtedness,
it made no material change in the arrange
ment fer nearly three-qu2rterS of a century.
Indeed, It provided no form of government
for the entire District of Columbia until
1871, and no permanent form OF government
for it until 1873, although in 1901 it did es- |
tablish judicial system for it. Washing |
ton and Georgetown, and Alexandria Cunt l. !
grown tired of the unreciprocal arrange !
ment, she induced the nation in 1916 to let |
Virginia take back the territory south of |
the Potomac, had each a separate munich |
pal government, while a levy court of JUS |
tees of the peace in Washington county |
and county court of justices of the peace |
in Alexandria county looked after the re- |
gions outside of the towns. The United |,
States, owning more than half of the real |
estate of the District of Columbia was |
for nearly three-fourths of the century |
like visitor rather than a citizen, paying I!
no taxes, and making but small direct con- !
tributions to meet the expenses of the city |
of Washington. or of the District of CO. !
lumbia. 1t spent over 500 100000 in the |
District in that time public buildings |
and their surroundings, including ot.,a-
sional contributions to local objects, but it
left the citizens to carry out the rest of |
WashingtOns plans, and to maintain local |
government.
National Interest Aroused at Last.
1t was not until after the civil war had |
made the national capital known to the |
whole country and endeared to tWo-thirds |
of it as never before; 1t was not until it had |
been contended for by the bravest armies
ever arrayed in battle, that the national in
terest in 1t induced Congress to assume the
nations share of its government and its
burden. The national government ceased to
have transient feeling, and the talk of
the removal of the capital west of the Mis-
sissippi could for the first time be treated |
humorouSly. The hundreds of thousands of |
men whom the demands of war first
brought to Washington came from all the
states and territories. Many of them went !
home again to tell the people how homely
Washington was yet how well worth fight
ing for; many remained citizens, while
others gave their lives that it might con-