Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-05-20
The Commercial Development of
Washington.

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Your article on Birth of Canal should
be provocative as well reminiscent.
George Washington was practical ideal
list. These move the world-such as the
young man who sees Visions as Joel SAYS
and then works them out: whose mind is
SO built that it can control within facts
and construct in detail the picture of his
imagining. 1t makes opportune the sug-
gestion I've had in mind some years-that
the time has now come to make begin
ming In the practical consideration of his
prophetic visions. The broad-minded sur
Veyor who was the father of his coun-
try" blazed the way for waterway devel-
opment. The resources and abilities of his
day resulted in New York as here in
made bitches. They served for the past
century well indeed Today in any large
point of view they now rather affect rates
than do business. We must now CONVEX
SAINT with modern engineering and with
the idea of Washington, consider the i'm
provement OF the natural waters, making
them the landmarks of commerce, perfect
ing natures ways by the art of man.
Washington's provision located the new
federal city just below Georgetown, the
head OF inland navigation, with the eX-
pectation Of, by a series of dams and con-
nected locks, forming pool stretches, slack
water navigation, canalizing the Potomac
and connecting streams back into the Ohio
lands and the lake region. The engineer
ing devices and abilities, the extent Of the
traffic and the results, our resources JUS
tify today what was the dream of Wash
inston, and make it practical, by energy
applied commensurate with the situation
If as a political eXpedient 1t is less insist
ent, it. is more so as a commercial factor
Electricity, which he knew not Of will at
each dam not only furnish light and power
for the waterway and structures, but for
localized industry, upbuilding power be-
yond his dreams. big route will bring
business and perform the true function of
a waterway as a complement of the rail-
way. affording transportation for bulky
products at a rate impossible by rail. and
bringing to communities raw material
making cities and towns-not born, but as
Topsy says thus "growed''-whose higher
class traffic the rail lines serve, promoting
even for these wealth beyond the dreams
of avarice of any short-sighted manager
who pursues a policy of obstruction to re-
tain the business in sight.
General Washington selected a strategic
point in the capital city, now composed of
the two. Every intended advantage may
The wharves of Georgetown may again be
redolent Of the sugar, spices and fruits of
the Indies now mainly ours. and busy
with the exchange Of the products of the
and from our inland seas, so different
from the back country Washington
minds eye dwelt upon. Expansion, not
contraction, is the law of trade, and broad
mindedness and not narrowness the rule
of commercial grandeur. There is a tend
ency in this capital city to rest upon it's
future as the camping ground of a fed
eral civil service and upon the gatherings
Of the strangers within it's gates, the city
beautiful, as sure thing" Well and
good but 1t were better to assume a posi-
| ton less dependent or paternalistic, and
more like that Of the lawyer who has oc-
cuDatlOn a stipend d.
vocate of a great corporation, and is yet
| free also to employ his talents, capital and
energy for his own benefit outside. con-
| sistent with that employment, and does
! SO, not remaining inactive. Sure enough,
the opportunity (by the Potomac) lies be-
| fore Washington, was seen by its
! founder, to be commercial and industrial
| center and the gateway of the, country
| back of it. and yet remain a pleasant
| enough place to dwell in. Permit me to
say in conclusion I believe cities can make
| themselves. as men make themselves. 1t
all depends upon the men. J. A. c. w.