The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-06
WILL NOT ABANDON
THE WHITE HOUSE
Famous Historical Home of Presidents Will Be
the Dwelling Of the Chief Executive for Years

owners have abandoned all hope of
unloading it upon the government of
the United States.
Unloading it upon"~the government
of the United States is the proper ex-
preston, because it is we'll known that
the government has to pay three or
four prices for every piece of real es-
tate which it acquires. This state
ment has almost daily illustration.
Just now there is a great deal of dis
cussion in the newspapers about the
high prices at which property in
certain square near the War, State
and Navy building is held by the va
rious owners-two of them high Off
Gals of the United States government
because the government seeks to Sc
cure this property for its proposed
Hall of Records building. A good
many of the fortunes enjoyed by resi-
dents of the District of Columbia had
their bases in fortunate sales of real
estate to be used for governmental
purposes. This is stated, however.
merely as a fact, and in no spirit of
criticism. The fault, if there is one,
is not with the men who make the
sales, but with the Congress which
makes the purchases.
The improvements recently made in
the White House and the removal of
the Presidents offices to the box-like
little office building, which at present
mars the beauty of the White House
grounds, is responsible for the aban-
donment of the Presidential palace pro-
ject There has been much criticism
of some of the changes made in the
White House. These criticisms are
based upon alleged architectural and
decorative solacisms and upon the al
legged destruction of appurtenances of
\ CT CT HOY
there is for this criticism is a matter
of personal opinion. The net result of
the changes has, however, been that
the White House has been greatly i'm
proved for residential purposes and
that whatever ground there might
heretofore have been for the arguments
in favor of the presidential palace
somewhere elsa in Washington has
been removed.
The removal of the Presidents offices
has taken away from the White House
the office aspect, which was such an OBJ
lection in the eyes of many people,
because it resulted in the Presidents
home being overrun by hordes of Of
flee seekers, and naturally caused the
privacy of the members of the pres1-
Dental household to be obtruded up
on. There is no case on record where
an American citizen declined nominal
ton to the presidential office because
of these objections, but it is unques-
tionably true that the old order of
things was unpleasant at times.
Now the White House is given over
entirely to residential purposes. 1t
may not be as fine as the palaces of
European rulers or as some of the
palaces of American money kings, but
as it now stands, it is beautiful and
imposing structure, and possesses all
the conveniences essential to the hap
piness of it's occupants. There was
time when the nearness of the Potomac
flats, which were popularity supposed
to breed malaria to an inordinate eX-
tent, was cited as an objection to the
White House, but the reclamation of
the flats and marshes along the river,
which has been done most scientifical-
ly, has removed the grounds for that
objection. The view from the White
House across the White Lot and the
Mall to the Potomac, with it's fringing
of Virginia hills, is most beautiful
and the surroundings, even with the
Treasury on one side and the War
State and Navy on the other, are most
attractive.
There is apparently no danger that
at any time in the immediate future
the White House will be abandoned to
Office purposes.