Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-03-16
ROBERT MORRIS, THE MAN
 WHO CAUSED A PANIC
FLOODED THE COUNTRY WITH NOTES AND THEN FAILED
 TO REDEEM THEM
SpecuIated Widely When Site For National Capitol Was
 Being Discusser
(By JONATHAN WINFIELD)

'IpY oOtNA l Ilti\ w IA\T T<lLDJ Washington, March 15-Washington is full of real estate spectators. A line about the founder of their dynasty is in order thereof.
 Lisping school children of the lower grades are taught about one Robert Morris and forget what they are taught shortly there ofter The rest of the population of the United States knows little about this man. this Robert Morris, who iuggled finances II Revolutionary days in a manner tc make some of our modern Croesuses When the time comes round for the meeting of the national Republican md Democratic committees, the principal purpose of these meet inSs being to determine upon a city in which to hold the great nation Il conventions. there is considerable excitement in the air as to which will be the most favored municipality Money is put up by boards of trade and chambers of commerce and othe, business mems organizations in ef. forts to attract within certain mum icipal walls the national nominating councils. and to reap the harvest )f largesse which is inevitably in- eident to the incursion of great mum. )ers into any locality.
 Conceive then what the compeAitio. 1 md excitement would be in the case ot choosing, not a city for convention l lasting possibly a week, but site for ] capitol city. designed to endure l until all our institutions crubmle ana )ur government falls.
 Such was the duty of the member: 1 of the early constitutional congresses New York. Philadelphia Annapolis Trenton. Harrisburgs, Boston. Rich mond. Williamsburg and half dozer other cities made strong advances to the congress to receive favor But congress decided that the capital should be built upon practically virgin ground and should not be sci up in some already established city The reason given for this was that it desired that the capitol of tn 1 nation should be center of conner cial activity. All cities which advanc. ] ed claims were already well started l Then various cities were proposed most of them in New Jersey. Della ware, and PennsyN Nania. In fact it I was almost decided at one time that l that a bare waste in Deleware should ! De selected, Robert Morris, was one l of the first Senators from Pennsyl-
 tania and was aware of this decision l He went to the spot selected and bousht it up. built village and nam- l ed il MorlistoWn. His disappointment 1 and financial loss were about equal
 when it was decided not to locate the ! N'Phioi tllN oi lutt HdtlOu lutlC.
 General George Washington had for
 ] long time been advocating the loca l ton of the capitol city at the Falls
 If the Patomac" near Georgetown.
 ,ieorsetoNn was a large city, being
 port of entry and the shipping point 1 of tremendous amount of Maryland ] and Virginia tobacco but is fifteen 1 miles below the falls of the Potomac. so Washington thought that there 1 would be no objection to choosing the | falls as acite for a city, as it was l sufficiently removed from any settled 1 place. So he went up the river and purchased extensive tracts of land l and buita mill at the Falls. Also he
 acquired Arlington, later the seat ot
 of the great rebel general, Robert E. Lee. opposite Georgetown o on the 1 Nirginian shore.
 In this manner he considered he
 was covering the ground so that he
 could not gossibly lose But some
 body was a little more on the inside than Washington. A district>"not eN- ceeding ten miles square" which in-
 cluded Georgetown and Arlington was
 chosen by the Congress, but the city
 was not laid out on the Virginiar
 shore. where Washingtons property
 lay, as he expected. Instead the
 streets and avenues were laid out or the Maryland side. It is we'll known , that Mayland and Virginia ceded tht , territory for the District. Of course