Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-29

Buenos Aires or in Rio for like purposes
| 1t is unbelievable that in national pride
and a capital builder the great repub-
lie will, when the situation Is appreciated.
| continue to lag behind Argentina and
Brazil.
Fine Architecture and Tax Re-
mission.
| The municipal authorities of Buenos
Aires have commission for the encour-
agement Of architecture in the city and
a prize, a gold medal together with a
diploma, is offered yearly for the most
attractively designed structure erected.
| In addition to this reward for the archi-
tect the owner Of the building is excused
from payment OF the taxes that would le-
gally be imposed upon the premises Here
in Washington the attractively des gned
| structure. instead Of being rewarded as
| a demonstration Of public spirit by re-
mission OF taxes. Is the SPECIAL object OF
| the attentions of the tax assessor, prod
ded into excessive activity by the agita-
| ton Of a few members of Congress, who
| treat a new and beautiful building in
Washington as the ostentatious display
wealth, to be punished by taxation to the
| limit.
This treatment of the wealthy Ameri-
cans who have been lured into adjoining
the city with attractive buildings Is in
line with the unfair policy pursued by
the nation from the beginning to 1878, and
not in line with the wise policy of the
organic act and the philosophical states
men who are building up the capital on
broad lines today. The nation secured
donations Of four-ffths Of the site of
Washington to build up here permanent
cap. tai. to be crea.ed and maintained by
the donated lots. The nation lured to
Washington from Europe as well as this
continent purchasers from it Of the do
mated lots on the same express and i'm
piled consideration. The nation accepted
the lots and pocketed the money for
which they were sold. and then through
Congress it raised year after year the
question Of the permanency Of this capital,
be permanent. At one time the House. in
committee Of the whole, actually voted
to remove the capital, thus repudtating its
obligation and threatening to destroy
pate in maintenance Of the city, using
part of the proceeds Of sales Of donated
lots for this purpose, was practically
ignored.
to original owners Of the soil. to purchas-
ers of government lots and to all resi-
dents and taxpayers Of the nations city
up to 1878 has been in evidence In the
treatment Of every class Of Washihstor
mans The nation could hardly have pro-
ceeded differently II It had determined to
! make the National Capital uninhabitable
and to depopulate 1t. On the prete0t OF
| making 1t an ideal residential city tho
commerce and manufactures Of the pros
porous. self-sustaining. Industrial city
have been denied it. The nation has. in
effect, and as far as It was able. dis
couraged all local industries except Its
own. Then. having approximately barred
| those furnished by the government de-
partments or workshops. 1t shut out the
! Washingtonian from many OF the only
| local industries which It permitted to
which distributes the positions IN the
classified service. like pirates plumber,
| among the states according to their
strength as shown by the census This
Gripping Of Washington as q deld OF
labor was for the alleged purpose of pro
tecting 1t as an attractive residence city
from smoke and din and tumuH OF an
| Industrial center. Now, having lured men
of wealth here to build houses, to adorn
our ideal residence city. We are about to
them new special taxes by berating them
as e1ponents Of vulgar. ostentatious
wealth and as taxdodgers. Washington Is
| to retain as taxpayers neither r1ch nor
poor, neither capital nor labor.
From the beginning the advantages OF
| Washington as an educational center
| have been proclaimed. and Its develop
ment along this line predicted and e1-
peoted. George washington pointed out out
\ site Of the national university and oy
his will endowed this prospective uni
versity. President Grant followed Wash.
| ington's lead In approving the project OK
q national university In the nations city;
But in actual practice and in practical
results the nation has withheld IN the
District the extensive land grants or
money in lieu Of land which have been
bestowed upon tina states and territories
!. and dependencies beyond the seas for the
encouragement Of public education. Con-
| gress hesitates even today to extend 70
| the District the benefits OF the morrill,
| act, and representatives OF the Carnegie
and Rockefeller education trusts decree
| that there Is no need Of institutions OF
/ higher education IN the capital OF the ma
| ton. and that Johns Hopkins and the
| University Of Virginia shall meet all the
| capitals requirements in. this respect:
Thus Washington and Grant are arTayeo
against Carnegie and Rockefeller. The
| latter, however. are alive and have power
to cripple and destroy.
In both Buenos Aires and Rio the ma
ton has systematically developed inous-
/
capital, Increasing its wealth and taxa
Bile resources. Docks to develop the city
commercially have been built at immense
| cost. largely Nn BraziD or wholly I'm
Argentina) at national expense. In ootn
cities the nation has shown patriotic Inter-
est and pride in capital upbuilding, and
has spent lavishly, though wisely. from
national funds to develop them IN at
Effectiveness Of appearance, In health. In
wealth and in business prosperity. In
this policy there has been no stinginess,
no scrimping.
In Rio the nation. controlling its ma
tional capital much as washington is
controlled, deliberately undertook to
make it not merely a beautiful, but a
great and prosperous city worthy to be
the capital of the vast Brazilian repub-
lie. The building Of dockage system.
| the construction of the Avenida Central
| from sea to sea and the improvement OF
the city in general is said to be directly
| and consciously part Of deliberate
plan formed by the Brazilian government
| to develop Rios resources and COM
| MERGE Rio, they announce. Is to be the
show place of the western hemisphere
a great permanent advertisement Of Bra
ziTs resources and commercial possible
| ties.
| Shall Washington, on the other hand,
be a standing advertisement. of the great
northern republics innate unrepublican-
| ism, unpatriot'c inefficiency and in a
pacity in capital building? In the BEGIN
ming the nation undertook, for a valua-
BILE consideration. the responsibility of
capital upbuilding and maintenance. 1t
has shirked that obligation wholly or in
part ever since. 1t obtained money from
| subsequent purchasers OF government lots
nv a species of false pretenseS. For sew