The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-03-29
A Zone for Manufactures.

Thomas w. Smith is not disheart-
ened over the failure of the Board
of Trade to hire a commercial sec
Rotary. His mind is as full of a
purpose to develop Industrial Wash
ington as ever. No one can doubt
that who read his extremely inter
esting answer in last Sundays
Times to the question:
What's the matter with Washing
ton?
There is nothing the matter" he
answers, with Washington as
place of residence, as a place for
noted men and men of this country
to come to and reside in for six
months in a year. There
is nothing the matter with
Washington over 50 per cent of
its surface. The extreme
Southeast, the Southern part along
the Anacostia river and Poto-
mae river, that part of the North
western section along what was at
one time the old Chesapeake and
Ohio canal is neglected by
the people who are residents here,
by the District Commissioners, and
by the General Government"
The physical. sanitary and moral
conditions of the excepted sections,
thinks Mr.. Smith. are such as ward
away rather than upbuild. The one
course to remedy that condition, as
he sees it, is TO make the region a
manufacturing zone. privileged by
less drastic smoke laws. The mere
amending Of the present regulations
so that manufactures within the dis
trict specified can emit smoke at
stated intervals for two or three
minutes at a time would, in his
Judgment, not only fill the waste
places with industrial establish
ments, give the city vastly more
trade than it has today, and provide
employment for its youth, but it
would also cause the removal to that
zone and away from the other sec
tions of the District of all CONNER
cial establishments which now find
the smoke law irksome.
The first essential to Mr.. Smiths
plan is its chief difficulty: 1t Will
be hard TO persuade the Senate and
House to amend the smoke law in
the slightest degree, and especially
hard to amend it for the advantage
of a particular section. Even if the
law be so altered in Congress, it
must be signed by the President,
and there is little reason to hope
Theodore Roosevelt would agree to
any such legislation. Yet Mr.. Smith
says truly that such action by the
Legislative authorities, executed res
olutely by the District Commission
ers, would build up that portion
of our city which is deteriorating in
value"
Another feature of Mr.. Smiths
statement reveals this same dispo-
sition not to give up because the
fight has temporarily gone against
him. It is set forth with sufficient
detail in his concluding paragraphs,
which read:
Away from the question of what is
the matter with Washington, it might
be said that there is matter with the
people and with certain corporations.
These corporations have practical mo-
noDOlV along certain lines. and in the
interest of their stockholders they DO.
not respond to the public demands, not
withstanding the fact that the public
gave them control over the monopoly.
These monopolies have suffered very
great apprehension concerning legisla-
ton during the last session Of Congress.
Their ap3rehensiOns need not be al
layed for the movement against them
by the public for the publics rights will
still continue along the lines which will
not be confiscated. but which demand
of them a fair share of the money they
receive from the public in extension Of
tracks, more and better cars, better
traCkage, greater transfer facilities. and
general supervision by the people
through their accredited representa-
tiVes.
1t is easy to tell where we shall
find this business man in the future.