Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-21

into the view something upon which thu
eye gladly rests. In other words, It II
unreasonable for us to quarrel with
those who have q different opinion a. tc
the wisdom of spending freely from the
national Treasury for the purpose OF
making Washington more beautiful thar
1t Is and creating here not only a mode
city, but city beautiful.
Thing to Be Deprecated.
What I would deprecate beyond every
thing Is the creation Of parties in Con-
gress with a cleavage between them
against and in favor of the development
OF Washington.
Nothing is to be more deplored than
the melting to a personal hostility
against the whole body Of Washington
mans of those charged with the respon-
sibility of furnishing the funds for its
government, its maintenance and its ex-
pansiOn.
We can only avoid such a result by
restraining our criticisms of those who
take what we the friends of Washington
regard as the narrower view by stating
our difference without clothing it in
language calculated to incite bitterness
and to question the motives and the
breadth of view of those who differ with
us
1 am glad to feel that this dinner to-
night is an expression by men whose lot
is cast in Washington and whose whole
city and residential life is bound up in
the welfare of Washington Of good will
toward me, because 1 have always been a
pro- Washingtoniap and as deeply inter-
ested as any one can be who has no
financial interest here in making this the
most delightful place to live ON God S
footstool.
Can Express Gratitude.
L am deeply sensible of the honor you
do me. We pride ourselves on our nation
and our country, although We know and
are familiar with the fact that We are not
the only people in the world, and that
other countries have advantages over us
in one way and another. Nevertheless.
1 believe that, without being provincial,
we can express soberly our gratitude for
being Americans and enjoying benefits Of
the greatest and most successful popular
government that the world has ever seen.
With that pride in our government,
whose jurisdiction reaches from the
Arctic ocean to the Gulf and Porto Rico,
and from Maine, through Honolulu to
the Philippines. is it not natural that we
should wish the city of Washington
where is the capital. the official home Of
Congress and the legislative branch Of
the government as we'll as of the Su-
preme Court, the judicial branch Of the
government, and where is the White
House, which is the official home OF the
chief eXecutive-to express in its archi-
lecture. in its beauty Of landscape ar
rangement, in it's peacefulness and quiet
as a city, in it's municipal arrangements
for popular comfort, and generally as a
place Of human happiness-the highest
ideal.
Charges of Muckrakers.
1t has been intimated, in these days of
that Washington is more or
less under the control of a set of men who
govern the tendencies and trend of values
and who manage financial matters in the
city in such a way as to inure to their
own benefit, and. therefore, to the detri-
ment of the public
I have been here for the last nine years
1 believe I have been In
due gain at the expense of the public were
rife or had any substantial existence. 1
do not mean to say that every man In
Washington. in business or in banking. Is
as pure and as diSinterested as II he were
a saint but I do mean to say that, as
cities go, there is no city in the country
where there Is less graft. where there is
less food for scandal, where there Is less
for the private exploitation
Of individuals at the expense of the pub
lie, than in Washington, and that among
the citizens of Washington there Is a
great deal Of earnest. elf-sacrificing de-
sire to promote the interests of the city
at large and of the people of the city
Law Enforcement.
I do not know any better policed city
than the city of Washington. I do not
know any city in which there has been
less vice and in which the Sunday laws
and the liquor laws are better observed
than they are here.
OF course there is not a city in the
world where, if a man has got nose for
something nasty, he cannot find 1t. What
mean by this is that Washington Is as
pure and as moral as any city in the
world Washingtonians are human be-
ings. and human beings have their. de-
fects and you cannot exclude them from
any community; but a muckraker has a
mighty hard time in Washington. ! mean
with reference to local matters.
Work of Congress.
Congress has on it's hands a great deal
of national responsibility, and the time
given to the District seems small and
the progress that might be made, If all
of Congress- time were devoted to the
District, would be very much greater.
doubtless: but, on the whole. in the his
tory of the last two decades, Con-
gress has ultimately responded to the
municipal needs, and while those of us
who can see in our minds eye the mag
nificent city that this can be made are
impatient that the money Is not imme
diately appropriated for that purpose and
that the present generation is not given
the opportunity to enjoy what our chill
dren or children's children will enjoy in
their pride and pleasure in Washington.
we must nevertheless admit that We are
doing very well and that things might
be a great deal worse and still be better
than they are in a great many cities.
Would Not Be Kicker.
Therefore, while 1 would not evade in
the slightest degree the pressure upon
Congress to make it's appropriations as
large as you can induce Congress to
make them for the District and its i'm
provement, I would not put myself In the
attitude Of pessimist or a kicker be-
cause the ideas Of some others whose
views are just as much entitled to con-
sideration as our own are slower in their
enthusiasm and less impatient to do the
needed things for the perfection of our
great city.
have spoken so often to you of Wash
ington and have gone over the subject
so frequently that it is a little difficult