Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-03

departments grow and their business be-
comes differentiated. Among tie most re-
cent in the series Is the noble library build
ing, on a site which adjoins the Capitoi
grounds-a structure that now vies with the
Capitol as the show building of Washing
ton. Another is the new government print
ing ofhce-a huge affair. and model OF Its
kind. The new work that will be antici-
pated with most interest will be the extern
sion of the White House. The day will
come, perhaps in the early future, when
accumulate as to justify the building OF a
great national gallery. When that time
comes. If not before, the National Museum,
with its priceless collections of American
archaeology, will need a much better build
ing than it now possesses. and the Agri-
cultural Department also will have claims
that cannot be ignored.
Apart from the great buildings pertaining
to the business of the national government
the city of Washington has some other new
structures worthy of mention, among which
are the post office building, on Pennsylva-
MA avenue, the Corcoran Art Gallery and
the public library, now in process of cree
ton, toward which Mr.. Andrew Carnegie
has given several hundred thousand dollars.
The District as an Educational Center
The development of the District of CO.
lumbia as an educational center has of re-
cent years been surprisingly rapid. The
subject Is one that requires, and will have
in the early future, separate presentation
in this review. The universities, colleges,
professional schools and institutions for
special and general culture in the vicinity
of the great libraries and scientific collec-
lions of the national government are all
worthy of encouragement. The intimate
contact of the educational world can only
be of benefit to the predominant official
element at Washington. This particular
kind of evolution is just what the men who
founded the District of Columbia would
most have desired. Washington himself
had faith in the association Of university
work with governmental life, and actually
left some money to accumulate toward the
establishment of higher institution of
learning.
Division of Cost of Maintenance.
Presumably, the cost of public work
like the proposed memorial bridge would
be betrayed entirely by the national treas
ury; but for all ordinary public improve
ments in the District of Columbia. as well.
indeed, as all ordinary expenses of munich
pal and general administration in Wash
ington, Congress appropriates just one
half and the remaining 30 per cent is pro-
vided by ordinary taxes levied upon the
property holders. The Commissioners of
the District make up their annual esti-
mates. which are submitted for revision to
the Secretary of the Treasury, and they
are then transmitted to Congress and re-
ferred to the standing committees on the
District of Columbia, Senator Mcmillan of
Michigan being now chairman of the Sem
ate committee on the District, and Mr..
Babcock of Wisconsin chairman of the
House committee.
Washington had at one time for few
years, an elaborate and ambitious munich
pal government but in 1878 reversion was
made to the simpler and more effective
plan of centraliZing all authority in the
hands Of commissioners. At that time the
board of metropolitan police and the board
of school trustees were abolished, as was
also the board of health and other sepa-
rate boards and commissions. The affairs
of Washington are ably, honestly and
conducted, and the various
branches of public work are supervised by
men of special training and fitness.