The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-15
The CAPITAL
CENTURY AGO
CITY OF WASHINGTON IN IT'S
PICTURESQUE INFANCY.
First Congress to Meet in New Cap
ital Found Little Except Mud and
Magnificent Distances" - Coming
Of President Adams and the De-
vartments-Public and Private
Accommodation Alike Wanting.
Moore's Satire on Modern Rome"


from W aSnnRtpn Iont.
The A,e spirit of independence
which prompted the fathers OF the re-
public to sever the political ties bind
ing them to the mother country
prompted them, no doubt, to- go out
into the wilderness to build capital.
The deeds which made the early his
tory of our nation were not in the pur-
suance OF precedent, but were prece-
ent-inaking. When it was proposed
therefore. that in Il virgin city the seat
Of government should be established,
no one stopped to inquire if there was
precedent for doing so. There was OPP
position to the project. it Is true, but
the opposition sprang from the cities
already established, aspired to BE- the
capital, and was in no wise due to the
daring nature of the project itself
When the bands of the British
troops marched out of Yorktown play
ing 1.-The World Turned Upside Down."
their music truthfully portrayed the
spirit of the times. They We're not
great battles. as our idea of battles
go today. that were fought by Wash
ington and his ragged and oft-times
hungry, but dauntless and patriotic
followers, but in their revolutionary
and far-reaching consequences they
were the most stupendous in the his
tory Of the world. 1t was a time when
old customs, old modes of thought.
old institutions, and old ideals We're
falling shattered on every side, and it
was taken as a matter of course. when
no existing city seemed suitable for q
capital, that the young republic should
build city to its liking.
, EUROPE JEERED.
Europe was ready with her jibe and
sneer, and there We're carping ones at
home, who whined and grumbled but
The men who had given the world it's
greatest bill Of human rights, and
with the sword had made the world
receive 1t, were not apt to be swayed
by such petty chiding. They knew that
forests would give way to the axe Of
the forester; that swamps and NOR
asses and other obstacles could be
overcome. and they set themselves to
the task. The Washington of today
is their enduring monument. The Eu-
rope that Sneered at the wilderness
capital" of the "bucolic republic" now
comes to admire and marvel at its
beauty; the city. for the founding of
which the primeval forests were in
places cut away. has. in hundred
years, grown in magniticence to be the
pride and boast of Americans every
where.
The constitution had given congress
exclusive control over a district ten
miles square. such as might be given
TO the nation by the states for the
seat of Federal government. The
next task was to locate this district.
There was a squabble in the first
congress among advocates Of many
different sites. notably those along
the Delaware, Susquehanna and Po-
1omac. Once both houses actually
voted to locate the capital at German
town. P;l.. but reconsidered. New
England members denounced the Po-
tomac region as an unhealthy swamp.
The southern members won out. The
Potomac site was selected in 1890 by a
majority of three votes in the house
and two in the senate. Pennsylvania
was humored by grant of the tenn
porary capital for ten years. Presi-
dent Washington was allowed to
choose any spot within about 100
miles above the junction of the Poto-
mac and it's eastern branch. The
father OF his country arrived In
Georgetown March 2s, 1891, and the
next day, with the three commission
ers he had appointed to govern the
district, together with two surveyors
selected to lay it out. began to mark
the bounds of the new city.
MAI. I.'ENFANTs FIRST WORK.
One Of these surveyors WAS Major
Pierre Charles L'Enfant. French
engineer. He drew a careful plan Of
the future city Of Washington. This
was accepted by the immortal George
in 1879. General Washington was not
hampered by law in his government
of the District of Columbia. He ap-
pointed his three commissioners,
AIessrs. Johnson. Stewart and Car
roll. without the advice or consent OF
the senate.
Another squabble had arisen over
tho name to be given the new capital