The Washington herald., 1909-01-03
By +. W. FITZPATRICK.

the plan urging the creation Of q gov
ernmental Bureau Of Fine Arts. A mos
laUdable movement but certain thing!
have 10 be COPIED with and especial con
ditons recognized.
To have such a bureau exercise any IN
duence or control il must have some au
Jhority. To secure that authority, Con
gress must act
Congress Is opposed. as a body and in.
dividuaIly- generally speaking. 10 any.
thing that is exclusively and solely ar
tisIic- Il believes that In its account
ability 20 the people all legislation must
have a practical value. And for some
reason or other men such as our grea'
and sood Speaker have not yet realized
that anything practical can ever com,
from the aesthetic or be suggested by a
mere artist
Suggests New Department.
Great results could be obtained and
sooner BY clothing these artistic desires
Of ours IN a practical garb and Il would
seem To me that we should turn our ene--
gies toward securing what has been SO
often suggested in the architectural press
and that It is the separation Of matters
structural, artistic. &c. from the Treas
ury and other departments and merging
them all under q new department. with
a Cabinet officer. and properly called a
Department OF Public Works.
We pUt up a good fight 10 secure the
adoption o. a systematic plan for the i'm
pr0vement Of Washington. to which al
improvements made year by year should
conform An art commission was ap-
pointed, but IL rests purely upon Execu-
tive favor; II is not recognized By Cen
greSs and has absolutely no authority
merely & case Of a number OF public
spirited and able gentlemen who. az the
invitation Of the President, respectfully
suggest that this and that be done. and
IL is q matter Of some indifference tC
Congress and 10 bureau heads whether
the advice IS taken or not
Treasury Department Too Big.
The Treasury Department Is altogether
too comprehensive. Congress realized
that some time ago and separated some
Of that departments bureaus from II and
grouped them under the new formation
OF q Department Of Commerce and Labor
Il IS timely that we should urge upon
Congress the subtraction OF still other
bureaus from that department and from
other Departments
We now have post-offces and court
houses built under Treasury direction,
barracks. stores, &C. under the War De
parlmenI management waterways 81
charge Of the Engineer Corps. &c. The
thing is a tumble. To have the War De-
partment in charge Of great public works
with a commercial favor is q good deal Of
a farce and that the public buildings
should be under the Treasury Depart
menr IS equally silly The head Of that
department IS generally q fnancier and.
as a rule knows as much about public
works as kitten does about Christmas
Yet all matters Of Importance about such
public works and buildings go 70 him
c3r final decision
The supervising architects Office must
ofteutiues be most seriously hampered
because OF the Unfamiliarity with con
strUction and such matters on the part
Of the responsible chief OF the department.
other Nations Have IL.
do not know Of another country where
there is not a distinct and separate de-
Dartment OF public works. We might
as well have education, labor. and f.
nances administered by the Navy De-
pa-tment as 10 have our public works
administered as they are now. Under
this new department should be grouped
absolutely everything in the nature
OF construction and maintenance Of build
ings. Of waterways. Of Federal roads and
anything that involves improvements Of a
structural nature Naturally the head
Of such a department should be an archi-
tect or an engineer. the same as is a
lawyer always selected as an Attorney
General. or a fnaucier as Secretary OF
the Treasury.
IN the development and planning OF
such department naturally attention
would also be given 20 the essentially ar
tistic. There would be a bureau OF. com
mission that would attend TO Just such
things as the architects recite in their
plea for such a special bureau. but this
bureau. being a part Of department
in charge Of al public works. would
have authority. would be more than ad-
visory merely and there IS infinitely more
probability Of getting it through Congress
IA such shape than as Il Is now proposed.
To II would come all questions having
any bearing whatever on matters artis-
tic: the selection Of designs for our coin
age and stamps even would be part Of its
functions.
Influence Would Be Wide.
It's authority would be fundamentally
Federal. but its influence would he felt
in every direction. While not ciamoring
for anything overpaternalistic OF that
would tend TO the Capitalization Of power.
I still firmly believe that the depart
ment would be Of Infinite advantage 10
all the States and individuals.
The Weather Bureau is for the benefit
Of all the people; the Agriculture De-
partment not only attends 10 matters
Federal in that line but its advice and
service are available and are given to
all State experimental stations and to
every farmer in every State who asks
therefor.
So with the artistic bureau would its
advice and help be at the disposal of
every State or city having artistic prob
lens TO solve. Its trained assistants and
its advisers. men Of the highest attain
ments in the arts, would be ever avail
able and anxious 10 aid any one seeking
10 improve. TO beautify q city, a park. a
railway terminal OF WhatnOt Of a public
or semi-Dublic' nature Il would urge ali
our cities 10 have formulated q fixed and
artistic plan for progressive growth. one
not necessarily involving the immediate
expenditures OF vast sums, but determi-
nate plan 20 which would conform ali i'm
provements as they became necessary or
for which funds became available
In Chicago it is authoritatiyely stated