The Washington herald., 1913-02-24
funded DEBT OF
CAPITAL JUSTIFIED
Clean Up Of City in lS7l-74, :,
When Obligation Was Con-
tracted, Great Benefit.
WAS DISGRACE TO NATION
Best Expose Of Conditions at that
Time Given in Book of
Charles Dickens.
By JOSEPH p. AMIN.

By JOSEPH r. ANNIN.
A nations capital. in the eyes Of
foreigners and foreign governments, Is.
as a general rule, the criterion Of that
nations civilization.
Debate on the District appropriation
bill in both Houses of Congress, recently.
resulted in several days spent In dis
cussing the funded debt of the District
and the responsibility for its payment.
The ''absurdity" OF the Federal govern
mcnt paying any part OF the interest or
sinking fund for the debt was the cause
of much oratory, particularly In the
House.
The so-caIled funded debt comprises
the $50 per centum bonds. These bonds
were authorized to take up certificates
of Indebtedness issued by the Board of
Public Works OF the District In return
for services rendered between ISL and
1874 by contractors and workmen In
cleaning up Washington. To the Board
of Public Works. appointed by the gov
ernment. was assigned the gigantic task
of wipinG out a nations disgrace-clean-
! ing UP a national capital which would
| have at that time reflected upon the
civilization Of the fifteenth century.
Congress LekaIi.es Debt.
After the Board OF Public Works had
| continued for four years, it was found
| that ii had far exceeded the monetary
authorization OF Congress, though II had
| accomplished the Herculean task set for
IT. The debts thus incurred were legal
| lied by act of Congress and Congress
assumed one-halt OF the burden OF their
payment. after they hal been funded
into the 365 bonds.
| These conditions had been brought
about by the neglect OF Congress. Rec
ognizing this fact. Congress Immediately
after assumed responsibility for one-half
of all the expenses OF the District gov
| ernment.
The conditions in ISL were relatively
much worse than in 1872. when Charles
Dickens, the eminent English author,
visited Washington. Mr.. Dickens was
! greatly impressed with the conditions
he found in Washington. after visiting
| in turn. Boston, New York, and Phila-
delphia. His American Notes tell OF
| his surprise and disgust at what he
found here, and thenceforward. Europe
viewed the Capital of the United States
through the eyes OF Mr.. Dickens.
Here is Washington wrote Dickens.
| in part. after he had returned to his ma
tive land. fresh in my mind and under
my eye.
Description of Capital.
Take the worst parts OF the City Road
| and PentonviIle, or the struggling out
skirts of Paris, where the houses are
smallest preserving all their oddities. put
! especially their small chops and dwellings.
occupied in Pentonville Out not in Wash
ington) by furniture brokers, keepers OF
poor eating houses. and fanciers of birds.
Burn the whole down; build II up again in
wood and plaster: widen 1t a little; throw
in part OF ST. Johns Wood; put green
blinds outside all the private houses, with
a red curtain and a white one in every
window: plow up all the roads: plant
great deal Of coarse turf In every place
where it ought not to be: erect three
handsome buildings of stone and marble
anywhere. but the more entirely out OF
everybody's way the better; call one the
Post-office, one the Patent Office, and
one the Treasury leave q brick
field without bricks in all central places
where a street may naturally be expected
and that's Washington.
1T is sometimes called the City OF Mag |
niiCent Distances. but IL might with |
greater propriety he termed the City of
Magnificent Infections. for it Is only |
on taking bird's-eye view from the top !
Of the Capitol that one can at all COM |
prchend the vast designs OF its protector, |
an aspiring Frenchman. Spacious ave- |
nues that begin in nothing and lead no. |
where; streets mile long that only want |!
buildings that need but a public to be |
complete, and ornaments OF great thor
oughfares that only lack the great thor /
oughfares to ornament, are its leading !!
features.
"The Barmecide Feast
ITO the admirers of cities. it is the
Barrrecide Feast: pleasant field for
the imagination to rove in: monument
raised to a deceased project, with not
even a legible inscription to record its
arted-greatness.
Such as it is. it is likely to remain.
1t was originally chosen for the seat of |
government as a means Of averting the
conflicting jealousies and interests Of the
different States: and very probably, too.
as being remote from mobs. a considera-
ton not be to slighted, even in Amer
lea. 1t has no trade or commerce OF its
own. having little or no population be-
yond the President and his establish
ment; the members of the legislature
who reside there during the session. the
government clerks and officers employed
in the various departments. the keepers
of hotels and boarding houses, and the
tradesrnen who supply their tables. It
is very unhealthy. Few people would
live in Washington, ] take II, who were
not obliged to reside there. and the tides
Of emigration and speculation, those
RAPID ana regardless currents, are little
likely to flow at any time toward such
dull and sluggish streams"
This is only a mild censure on condi-
tions as they then existed. The deep
these conditions made upon
the distinguished traveller is best shown
by the laudatory remarks found In his
american Notes" upon other American
cities through which he travelled. l
In correcting these conditions In a
National Capital the Board OF Public
Works, appointed by national govern
ment contracted unauthorized in
debtedness. The Indebtedness was as
sumed by the government thirty-four
years ago. And now the nation Is told
that 1t had no business to assume such
an Indebtedness at that time; that, there
fore, the contract to pay this indebted
ness. in so far as it attaches to the gov
ernment, is null and void. and that as
the national honor demands that the
debt be paid. II is the duty Of another
OF residents of the Capital
10 pay 1t.