The times., 1901-03-28
Mnshinrton as n CITY.

A Washington business man recently
advocated the idea that factories should
be established in this city. lie said it
was all nonsense to think Of making it a
city Of leisure. He expressed his views in
this way;
''Nbst the twentieth century wants and win
have IS the smell Of coal smoke supplemented
probably, hy the use Of power from the Po-
tomaC River. How mann rich people are there
IN Washington ] would like to know. Certainly
not one-thIrd OF the population, and here as
elsewhere. where there are leisure class they
are a nuisance. pure and simple. They add moth
ing but bad example to the young and they aid
abe city only in the amount they spend for their
living and their pleasures
''The idea o. reserving Washington as some
sort 0i q social city, where industry shah not
come. j. radically wrong There is not such
capital ia the civilized world, and there never
ought 70 be. II is contrary 10 common sense.
The bona fde population OF Washington IS grow
ing; i las longIngs for intiIstEy, trade. and
Cc-aDserce. and these IN time il VIII have as tie
.'sGcb business ana. rasnufae,urcs as have been
established Iu Washington hzIe prOsBcrei. We
make now a good mauy things 40 a profit fDr
home consumption. and utcre j. 30 reason. except
one born ci a fdlse notion II what city ought
10 BE- why Our industries should ug' multiply
and grow far beyond the Units 0i Drc.d-H.aking
beeI-JTeHing. and fne manufacture Of CoHfea-
tJnerr Why not shoes shirts hate and cloth
ingg Nobody raised word Of rem0Hstrance
when the street car coupanies began to manu-
facture the electric current. establishing there
i0r several Of the largest plants in the District
because il was evident tast This manufacture
supplied @ great public need. Now. Is it not a.
sensible and necessary that NasIingt9Hlsu.
should manufacture such things as are worn every
6av. TO create tIat current 10 enable riel
and poor alike 20 ride about the cityg
Washington. with all thc cities Of th. lower
latitude. IS little shy what tGe Yankee
cali guuUtiOU but their siUvne-s d. only a tenn
porarv matter. Though slow, Baltimore Ric-
uoud Atlanta and number 0f Others have
Overcome thc hiucraaces Uf climate and the fact
that they were not just IN the early tracks Of
overland traffic. and have made good showing
industrial and trading cities. Washington
must follow ia the aamc path cease 90 be.
u cannot live much longer of the departments
and tia few rich people Wto grayltste here for
their winter pleasure. 1he destiny ~ tbe city,
as does that 81 every other, points 70 zelf--up-
porting industry aside from and independent
of ths National Government A. ! take IT, the
Washington q the year POO VIII be a city
that could lose the Government Offices and the
whole traditions ri tne Capital and still 90 on
and prosper by its own industry and trade"
The original idea OF excluding Industrial
enterprises from Washington, tacitly or
explicitly. was that their establishment
might result IN undue influence being
used on Congress. and Il must be admitted
that this reasoning has some sense in f.
But aside from that there is a strong ar
gument against making this IN any sense
manufacturing city. We want one place
IN the country where "the smell Of coal
smoke does not penetrate, whether the
twentieth century demands II or not
There are plenty Of other cities IN the
land. suitably situated for manufactur-
ING where such business can be carried