Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-19

Within the range OF my own opSefNd-
ton L will say that the most public
spirited and far-sighted citizens whom l
have known in this city have been among
those men whom | have seen publicly
charged with undue efforts to enrich
themselves at the expense of this capital.
l feel that l am competent to speak With
out prejudice on this subject, for, beyond
my home and one fifteen-foot lot. which
have never seen, lying somewhere to the
northeast of this capital. j am SO unfor-
tunate as not to have dollars worth OF
interest in any real estate in the District
of Columbia. My position as defender of
this city is due not to any personal in
terest that ] have. but to a patriotic feel
ing that 1t is in "a way the heart of this
country and should be cared for
Il would call the attention of those rep
resentatives who make apparent their UNI
friendliness to this city to a few facts
whic happear to me quite pertinent to
the matter.
Government Owned All Land.
First, this entire District was con-
veyed originally, to the federal govern
ment and accepted by ii upon certain
trusts. expressed or implied. The Con
gresS thereupon became the owner or the
title of every square foot of land within
the District. subsequently the federal
government sold out of it's holdings what
ever ground private citizens now hold In
the District, retaining all the rest OF the
original purchase. Thus the title to every
square foot of land in the District of Co
lumbia held by private or corporate per-
sons traces back to the original title III
the federal government. The government
required that even the alternate blocks.
which by agreement the nineteen original
owners were to retain, be conveyed to the
government and then reconveyed by the
government to the original owners.
Another consideration presents itself
in this connection Not only has the Con-
gress the exclusive right to legislate for
the District, but the Congress has also
been wont to consider itself under the
supreme law, as the absolute ruler of the
people of the District of Columbia. But
the good of the people is the supreme law.
Absolutism does not exist in this country
not even in this District. Congress has
not only the power, but it has equally the
concomitant responsibility which sucn
power carries with 1T, to govern the PEG
pie in the best way possible for their
good.
"Other territories have their representa-
tives. The District of Columbia alone has
none. 1t alone must rely on the Congress
for justice, for a government as good as
that in other parts of the land. II the
Congress fail to give it this, then it is
as derelict in so doing would be any
other government which is guilty of NAL
feasance in office. And though there be
no remedy available under which the
wrongs Of the people of the District may
more culpable in such a case, for it is
exercising mere tyranny. And this is an
inquiry to the whole nation, to every
citizen of the country and to the Congress
itself.
THE people of the District of Columbia
may then regard the Congress as their
trustee, If not as their representative,
and may appeal to it not only On the score
of public policy, but of their duty. And
it is no less a principle in ethics than
in economics that the less the possibility
Of being called to account for failure of
performance the greater the responsible
ity to perform duly the duty.
Suggestion for Model City.
TT was wisely suggested not long since
by the Secretary of the Treasury that the
Congress should make the city of Wash
ington. model city. The thought Is
high Che. and while not new abstractIy,
Is new in its concrete application to eX-
listing conditions. Is it too much to hope
that Congress will some day awaken to
the duty imposed on it to do this? This
would involve many things. 1t would in
volve the perfecting of the municipal
scheme in every direction. the internal as
well as the external aspect of the case.
1t would make it the most comfortable
the safest, the most attractive, the best
city i'm the world to live ina city that
should not only fill full the measure of
civic excellence and beauty, but should
extend it's beneficent influences through
out the country throughout the word
and throughout the ages. 1t should ex-
tend it's influences Athens extended
hers, in the days when liberty and art
were joined in that wedlock whose Off
spring, in however attenuated a form, sur
wives today; extend it's influence as Rome
did in the days when she sent her off,
GERS to teach order and her missionaries
10 teach Christianity and peace to a
pagan and warning world. This is the
well. The people of Washington are not
aliens no mendicants. to be ruled and
treated as though every crumb accorded
them were given of grace if not from
their masters table. yet still of grace
from those who have the right to give or
withhold as they feel disposed
The peop,e of the District of Column
bia are a constituent part and peculiarly
representative of the people of the whole
country They represent every state and
every section of every State-eVery class
and. every stratum of every class that eN-
lists in the country. They comprise a large
number of the very poor. both of those
who have always been poor and of those
who have seen better days and have been
reduced to poverty: likewise large num-
Der of the well-to-do and a fair number
of the wealthy.
''They comprise possibly a larger pro-
portion of scientific people than any
other city of the country, a larger pro-
portion of men who have served their
country in some way in the army or
navy or in some public capa city; they
likewise include larger proportion of
those who have become students of gov
eminent than any other city So they
are. at least, respectable as to position
and attachments.
IA considerable number of them have
come to the capital from other parts OF
the country. either originally in some
representative capacity or for personal
reasons. and. having been persons of con-
sequence in those parts, still retain "a
close and important connection with
their old homes. while they have form
ed new connections and assumed new
responsibilities here. These responsible
ties they carry with all the fidelity and
earnestness of good citizens. They per-