Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-22

from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska. and
| from here to the other coast. solely on
! account of merit and quality of goods and
not because they are cheap. The Section
! south of the Capitol, in the southwest and
| extreme southeast, across the river on the
Anacostia side as far north as BennlnG,
and now that the foundation has been
laid. in that section of lexington near the
railroad. could be used for industries with
out injury to the residential section In the
| slightest.
| This impetus to commerce." he added.
E"cannot be, though, if our worthy Com
missioners are to be handicapped with
legislation that keeps out OF our midst the
| live business man who wishes to put his
| capital here and our local men who go TO
other places where they are wanted
wanted TO such an extent that they are
| offered sites free of cost, and Where there
are no smoke laws or other prohlbltlse
!, rules Apply the smoke law to che str1ct-
| ly residence section he said, but do not
| nermit ANYTHING in reason to interfere
with industry; industry that Will keep GU!
boys at home, industry that VIII prevent
| the parade of well-1dresSed youngsters on
our streets idle because they cannot hiio
work. as there is no work here. Let US
have a city where the boy or man 10 De
respected is the boy or man who WORKS.
Ironclad Building Regulations.
! Building regulations such as we have
now are too ironclad. A poor man now
has to pay So, 800 for a home here that
would cost at least $500 less if he were
| not forced to buy a house with a 12-inch
| wall where a 9-inch would suffice. l re-
call an instance" he said, where an out
of-town gentleman recently made an of1er
| for an old tumbled down shack opposite
| two of our government departments, and
| was to pay $500 for the site. When IN
| formed of the many building restrictions,
| as to height, etc, he called the deal OF,
| and said Washington was eighty years
| behind the times.
washington will be one hundred years
| older" he continued, before we reach the
million mark in our population If we dis
| courage industries. To make this city but
| winter resort will force us backward.
| and one of those large Western cities Will
| come along some session of Congress and
| steal the capital from us, as Chlca-
| go took the worlds fair away. We do
not want to overestimate the permanency
| of Washington as the all-time capital of
the United States" he said, "as we are
not geographically the center of these
! United States. but we can keep 1t mere by
| making the city amount to something be-
! sides the beautiful place it is now.
! Many inquiries are received. by our
real estate men," said he, from out of
| town people to locate here, but We are
! aware of the foolish restrictions, and the
| ideas of a few back-number natives to
| keep out industry, and we cannot encour-
l age them to come. Think of it., he ex-
| claimed keep out the very life blood of
| all that goes to make a city what it
| should be.
Visit our railroad yards and see car
| after car enter Washington loaded with
products from other places. and see car
after car leave Washington as empty as
| a drum, and see, too, if you won't agree
| that the drum needs some beans In it to
make noise like life or industry"
| Dual Conditions Discussed.
| ]. Louis Willige. president of the Will
| lge, Gibbs & Daniel real estate corpora
| ton, expressed the following views
"A discussion of ways and means OF i'm
proving Washington first. with view to
| it's possibility of becoming the most beau
| tiful city in the world, and secondly. with
| the enoeavor to make it in reality. from a
commercial trade standpoint. the Gate
way Of the South could hardly be at
| tempted coincidently. for as a general
proposition the commercial development
OF particular locality is fraught with
corresponding injury to its. artistic and
eStEetic features.
Not only the design and construction of
buildings for commercial uses, but the
cupation of streets and thoroughfares with
drays and other vehicles of industry, and
the character Of population attracted by
commercial enterprises, naturally and
necessarily initiates against architectural
| adornment along artistic lines. The city
that is commercial in character is apt to
be built on lines of greatest utility rather
| than with view to estheticism, with the
effect that the residential portion of the
community is relegated to the outskirts of
the city, resulting In the enhancement of
the suburbs with delightfully."- improved
towns and hamletS, such. for example, as
Orange. Mount Clair, New Rochelle and
| other places in the outlying districts sur
rounding New York city.
There are, Of course exceptions to the
general rule that, notwithstanding pro-
| nounced business activity, certain portions
OF city proper are yet improved in an
| artistic manner, the commercial features,
with a few exceptions. being excluded.
Distributing Center.
"From a local standpoint the increased
| business activity not only promotes the
success of various commercial enter
prises but enables broadening of scope
and the specialization of business, such
| as makes a city the distributing center
| for outlying districts and even for ad-
iacent states. This results in the aggre-
CATION of wealth and corresponding OPP
portunities for high development of the
suburban sections. 1t adds. In fact to
the Importance and influence of the city
in many respects
From an independent viewpoint how
ever the Identification of the Capital
city is to my mind much more impor-
tant consideration than it's commercial
advancement, for the boasts of European
governments in their Paris, their Berlin
and their Vienna are prOverbial. while
their Havre, their Hamburg and their
Trieste are unheralded. The civilization
Of a nation is best evidenced by its ad-
vances in science. In letters. in the fine
arts, and it should be the constant aim
of every patriotic American to encourage,
through the representatives OF his dis