The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-01

as Is well known. in close proximity to the Capitol. and not far away to the north Is the mammoth new union sta tion built by the railroads. and which will be until the Pennsylvania station in New York city is completed. the fin- est in the world
 And things are in a ragged condition. too, in the immediate vicinity of the railroad station. Travellers are dazed and pleased when they alight from the trains and walk into the station, but what disappointment when they come out into the open and behold the sur rounding squares. for they are all torn up. In a year, though, 1t is calculated that the railroad companies will have the plaza in front of the station in good order, and that will be very pret- ty when 1t Is finished
 The grand new national museum which is approaching completion is one of the most attractive of the modern government structures. That is a It, tie north of the old flat brick building that is now being used for the display of Uncle Sam's wonderful collection of curiosities and articles of historic in- terest and value. The old building Is further back in what Is known as the Smithsonian grounds by reason of the fact that the Smithsonian Institution was the first to be placed therein and later came the Agriculture building and the Medical Museum in the sams grounds, and the group Of buildings re- quired by the Bureau Uf Engraving and Printing are just across Fourteenth Street to the west, not far from the Washington monument. Within year two marble wings of what will be eventually the spacious new home of the Department of Agriculture have been completed and are now occupied. The center building. which will be the largest and far more striking in an architectural sense, Is yet to be con- structed, and when 1t Is done the struc- ture will be one of the most imposing of the governments property.
 Will Enlarge the Mall.
 Eventually 1t is believed that the government will own all of the squares south Of Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol grounds clear down to Fifteenth Street, diagonally across from the treasury. It will take first and last over $30.000.000 to acquire all this ground.
 Fifteen years ago at least the propo- sition was advanced to carry out the scheme of locating most of the public buildings down on the Mall, as 1t Is called. IL was popular, and 1t looked as if 1t would be done with something of a rush, for the funds were plentiful then as compared with the treasury vaults now. But the Spanish American war came on, and that little brush and the consequent enlargement of the army and navy, which nave to be main tained since the United States acquired the Philippine Islands, put serious ob- stacles in the way. That war is also held responsible for the failure of Con- gress to vote as liberal appropriations for rivers and harbors as the country has demanded.
 Before the Spanish American war and before our government got into wha' some folks call the world power" busi- ness. the total annual appropriations for the maintenance of both the army and the navy were a little under $60,- 0oO. 900. For the present fiscal year the appropriations for the navy alone are in round numbers s137.00o.oOo, and $sS.- 900, 900 for the army.