Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-23
Act Ceding Large Tract of Dis
trict to Virginia
Attacked.
TAYLOR AND EDISON
CITE NEED OF ACTION
other Business and Professional
Men at White House-Request
Starting of Suit.

committee OF prominent residents of
washington and Of Alexandria county
Nd-' was received by President Wilson at
'he =" mite House executive Offices this
afternoon at 2:3o O'Clock for the purpose
Vi informing him Of the efforts that were
hiaoe during former President Tafts ad-
iiiIisuation TO get back for the District
VI Noiuhola from the state of Virginia
the land which was formerly a part OF
ahe Distrlct, but which was ceded by the
United States to Virginia in 1916.
ne lahd In dispute. about two or three
miles square, lies in Alexandria county
and the committee. which was headed by
Hannis Taylor former minister tn Sna;n
as attorney for about 100 property own
ers and residents Of that county. urged
upon PRESIDENT wilson the necessity for
MN MN TO instruct the Attorney General to
orihs suit In the Supreme Court to test
me constitutionality of the act which
ceded the land to Virginia.
Business Affected, Is Claim.
AIR. Taylor and John Joy Edison adj
dressed the President. the latter CON
hning himself to extemporaneous re-
marks upon the subject of how th..
non settlement Of the question OF the
real ownership of the land is affecting
business and property interests in the
District and in Alexandria county. Mr.
Iaylor presented a written argument
preceded by an oral address In addi-
ton to these two members of the com
mlttee present at the hearing the fol-
lowing business and professional men
urged that the test suit be brought by
appearing at the White House i'm it's
behalf:
l
OF Trade; d. J. Callahan. president OF
the Chamber of Commerce: d. j. Kauf-
| man. vice president. Chamber Of Com
merce; Dr. r. NJ Rixey. DR.. Jos. Tabor
Johnson. DIR. Charles +. Barker U l.,
| Cockrell. David n. Rust. jr. James r.
Clements, w. s. Hoge. jr. ]. Benjamin.
Mattinsiy. Walter T. Weaver. A ID
Torrison. Charles V. Grunwen. DR..
ley, William c. Weibert A. C. Yates.
George E. Truitt and George n. Saeg-
muller.
Plea of Mr.. Taylor.
MIR. Taylor said. in part:
| Mr. President, historian as Won are
you know that under our first Federal
| Constitution the capital of the nation
wandered at the will of Congress. until
| its wanderings became the subject of
slbes and newspaper squibs. Beginning
at Philadelphia it moved to Baltimore.
and then back to Philadelphia thence to
Lancaster. Pa. and then to York then
back to Philadelphia, where it remained
until handful OF drunken soldiers drove
1t to Princeton Thence il removed to
Annapolis, and then to Trenton. and
| finally to New York, where it was sue
ceeded by the First Congress under the
new Constitution. With such a hurnili-
ating history behind them, is il strange
that the members of the federal conven-
ton who met at Philadelphia i'm 1857
should have resolved TO make the seat
of government under the new Constitu-
ton permanent?
With that end i'm view they lifted
the matter. by an express constitution
al provision. out Of the hands of Con-
| gress. So perfectly did the First Con-
! gresS understand that when the seat
| of government should be fixed under
| that special provision 1T would be fixed
| forever. they deliberated for nearly
two years before settling on the pres
| ent site.
Work of Washington.
"All the world knows that the fixing
Of the federal city on the banks of
| the Potomac was in a peculiar sense
the work Of President Washington.
| who clearly understood that every
great city situated upon river must
| occupy site on both sides of that
| river. Familiar illustrations are to be
| found in London. Paris, Rome st
| Petersburg and Madrid.
1T is about unpracticable to try to
dam up a great city on one side of river
| as it would be to try to dam up the river
| itself.
'It is not. therefore, strange that Plesi-
dent Lincoln should have said in his
| first annual message that the present in
surrection shows. / think, that the eX-
tension of this District across the Poto-
mas river at the time of establishing the
capital here was eminently wise, and
consequently that the REIMBURSEMENT Of
that portion of 1t which lies within the
state of Virginia was unwise and danger
ouS.'
Matter Before Taft.
ION January 1e President Taft gave a
patient hearing to a committee represent
ing l. 100 petitioners, who own about n,
per cent of the property within the limits
of the so-called county of Alexandria, out
side of the city OF Alexandria. In their
petition these petitioners requested Presi-
dent Taft to direct the Attorney General
to bring suit in the Supreme Court in the
name of the United States against the
state of Virginia in order to test the co.,
stitutionality of the act of retrocession Oh OF
July g. 1916. attempting To retrocede to