Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-18
and enjoy, the more complete and full will
be for thee the delight Of living"

This beautiful expression is particularly
applicable to the present ambitious mood
III which we find ourselves. The artistic de-
velopment of Washington will teach us to
know and to enjoy, and our delight of liv-
Ing and the delight of living of those who
come after US will be more complete and
full.
The nations. the states and the munich
pal governments of this and other lands are
constantly erecting things of beauty
statues of celebrated men. public buildings
decorated with costly designs. All this
Shapes public taste; 1t may not be always
IN the most purely artistic direction but it
Shapes public taste for something beyond
the common architecture of Washing ton
II teaches us to demand that our libraries,
capitos, public halls and churches shall be
works of art Are there many such in this
CITY! we see something Of this artistic
oeVeiopment. however. in such structures
as the Boston Public Library with its
splendid ornamentation; the Corcoran Art
Gallery, which in itself Is poem, and that
most magnificent of all buildings in this or
IN any land. as have said. the new Con-
gresslonai Library. All these things be-
speak moral and economic results that can
not De calculated by the statistician and ii
Is their influence that makes the common
man insist that If he is to purchase a
kitcnen stove 1T shall be artistic.
Nature Not All.
Let me repeat another story During the
worlds fair at Chicago an old farmer liv-
ing In southern Illinois was advised to visit
the exposition. His answer was: mo; we
nave mad cattle fairs in Shelby county that
can beat anything they can put I'D In Chi
cago. After some persuasion, however.
the worthy farmer concluded to visit chi
cago. and his friends had the shreWdness
to take him to the exposition by the water
route from the city. Coming up from the
pier ne was first introduced to the artistic
magnihcence Of the White CITY AS he en-
tered the Court Of Honor. with its brilliant
electric illumination. he suddenly STONED
ana an raising his hands. said, with an oath,
Il don't believe It," 1t dawned on thai
man for the first time in his life that things
could be created out Of the minds of men:
mat tnere was something that did not
Sro"' that nature was not all; that God
mad endowed His beings with creative souls
as well as with souls for worship and with
hands for work There was an inspiration
In the mans mind, the effects of which
couid never cease to influence him. Now
under the new Washington, let the crude
citizen, who knows nothing of art who has
never seen anything of beauty, visit it. and
ne Will experience the same delight of ex-
banded soul that the old farmer of south
ern Illinois experienced in visiting the
Court Of Honor.
Stimulate Life Of the People.
All creations of art stimulate the moral
and economic life Of the people Others
may dwell upon the esthetic effects of the
nomic effect is one that we must consider
in the beginning; for in all its forms. art.
as expressed to the eye the heart and the
SOUL has In 1t something Of divine inspi-
ration and has contributed more to So
ciai weil-neing than any other force
that can be named. 1t has made
the plain beautiful; 1t has made nature
something more than nature itself.
MT F. Hopkinson Smith In his sketch
enIlIied "A Day at Laguerres' has told us:
q ftxyr ltol.
IN nature until she has been rough-ha ndled
by man and has outlived the usage: it is
the picturesque. In the deep recesses of the
primevai forest. along the mountain slope,
ana away up the tumbling brook nature
may be majestic, beautiful and even SUBJ
lime. but she is never picturesque This.
quality comes only after the ak and the
saw have let the sunlight into the dense
tangle and scattered the falling timber mr.
the round Of the water wheel has divided
the rush of the brook"
Ihis Is true; the picturesque does not
come until art has shaped the SURROUNDINGS
It will be the result of art that the natural
beauties OF Washington become picturesque.
Future Of Washington.
We can easily foresee the moral and eco
nomic results-we cannot only foresee. but
we know what those result will be: the
experience Of the world emphasizes them,
for art everywhere has been a source OF
wealth and of moral influence. Fine art
itself Is a wealth producer. The payment
OF ten or fifty thousand dollars for a paint
Ing enriches the community in which the
artist lives. There has been something
added in the way Of treasure to a country's
assets by the production of it's artistic
genius. The very presence Of great pic
lures Is local benefit. Take the Sistine
Madonna from Dresden, rob Paris of the
Louvre, despoil London Of its National Gal
ifry or Antwerp of its Rubens collection.
take the Art Museum out of Boston, de-
stroy the Congressional Library and the
Corcoran Art Gallery. remove the galleries
which are growing up so rapidly in our
western cities and the commercial value
Of all the places In which these rich treas
ures are stored will be deprecated.
SO when Washington experiences the |
grand delight OF having all such things, /
and more-the things that are suggested |
In the proposed plans-it will find '.seIf
enriched. not only in moral inffuence-in |
the development of taste for the best |
there Is in architectural art and in land |
scape architeeture-but richer in a pure
ly commercial sense, and when this rich |
ness comes to 1t no argument. no consid- |
Grafton, can induce the city or Congress |
or the people (who make the Congress) |
to remove It In the least degree.
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