Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-23
L'Enfant's Inspiration.


The nation and Washington will most
notably and appropriately honor l. En-
FAINT by catching the inspiration of his
spirit and his genius and by applying 1t
not so much In the development Of the
original city in exact conformity with
the minute details of L'Enfant.s design,
as In planning on noble lines and de-
reloping the new Washington outside the
original boundaries and in perfecting the
grand park system connecting thousands
of acres OF parking outside of. surround
ing and framing the original Washington.
L'Enfant dealt grandly with the prob
lem of his day and with the problem of
the future. SO far as the broad plan OF
the original city was concerned. Our
ambition should be TO deal as worthily
with the problems of today as he did
with that confronting him.
The great task of today is not TO ex-
anime microscopically the partly illegible
LtEnfant plan of 1871 and then to re-
produce literally our Interpretation of his
suggestions without reference to the con-
ditions which have arisen since his
death. We are not, for instance, simply
because he suggested it, TO locate
churches of different denominations on
ubic spaces now perhaps developed in
Il parklets for the peoples use. or to
reate a broad avenue with sidewalks
passing under arches, running eastward
rom the Capitol and furnishing a vista
With the Capitol and an itinerary column
as the termini; or to replace a canal
the northern limit of LEnfants gar
den (now the MalD, connecting the Capt.
tol and White House grounds; to de-
siroy fine trees now growing in the Mall
10 make way for straight lines of trees
suggested by L'Enfant when the site of
his proposed garden was a swamp.
We beiittle BEnfant and belfttle our
selves by this microscopic investigation
and slavish imitation. We shall honor
him most by absorbing his grand thought
Of city planning and by applying ii in his
spirit and under the Inspiration of his ex-
ample to the conditions and problems of
today.
The Greater Washington outside of
l., Enfant's city contains over five times
the latter's area 1t should be developed
on LEnfant's street plan in substantial
conformity with the grand design of the
original city This task is not difficult in
dealing with large owners of unsubdi-
vided suburban land in the District, who
would equtably and doubtless readily
donate the necessary streets, as their
predecessors did at the founding of the
city. But the owners OF lots in the belt
of misfit subdivisions which the Districts
legislature has permitted to intervene be-
tween the original city and the unsub-
divided land and the owners of small
plots in such unsubdivided land whose
property under extension of the original
city's plan would either be all taken In
streets. or SO mutilated as to be rendered
practically valueless, must obviously. in
equity. be compensated directly for their
property. since they enjoy no indirect
benefits whatever.
The nation has retarded and in part
defeated this extension OF the LEnfant
plan by higgling over its participation in
the cost of the extension. 1t has been
disposed to say that. while the original
plan should be extended in large measure
through these misfft subdivisions and
the outlying territory Of Greater Wash
ington should be developed substantially
on the lines Of the original city. this
development should be accomplished
solely by the local taxpayers with the
nation exempted from participation as a
Contributor.
But the plan of Washington as con-
ceived by our forefaShers was on a ma
tion2L not a local scale. the broad
streets. avenues and alleys occupying
more than one-haf the entire area. The
scheme would have been absurd for a
self-supporting. self-developing Maryland
village of that day. Its extension at this
time to adjacent territory is equally alb
surd. as well as grossly unjust and I'M
bearably oppressive, unless the nation
stands in the same relation to the ex-
tended as to the original plan and in
the same relation TO the enlarged as to
the original city.
No act Of the forefathers furnishes more
convincing evidence of wise forethought
than the creation and general design of
the National Capital. What they planned
tho men OF today are to carry out with
the engagements and improvements be-
fitting the greater republic of the present
time and necessary to make the modern
city in every branch of municipal de-
velopment a model capital
So in respect to the Districts park de-
velopment, covering several thousand
acres, not contemplated in the least in
LEnfants plan, including both banks of
the Potomac, Rock Creek valley, Soldiers
Home, both banks of the Anacostia and
their bridge and parkway connections
Here arise grand new problems, to be
dealt with not IN literal conformity with
what we guess TO be L'E>lfant's treatment
of mis- Mall garden. but broadly and vigor-
ously under the inspiration of his spirit
and example As was said concerning
C0rnpreh en- sfya mark deyeIOpmept ~, 1904.
Let us of the Washington OF today, I'm
building up the nations city Of the second
century Of its life, emulate the breadth
and holiness In design and vigor in execu-
ton which were displayed at the end of
the last century and in 1900 by the
founders of the capital