The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-04-23
THE HAsKIN LETTER
Washington--A Municipal Model

w a.s'hl|:,iill:lg ton--A
ID By Frederic
tits coming 10 pass more and more
THAT the cities or the nation are
looking to Washington for pointers
lin municipal administration. 1t IS
tbut natural that this should be true,
for the national capital centers the
attention Of men IN public life and
these are largely charged with the
building OF cities. And 1t is also true
that many American cities are great
.ly in need OF suggestion and direction
for their own Improvement
The chaotic absence of plan IN the
average city, the streets that have
loriginated as cowpaths. the absence
OF breathing spaces, the necessities
for condemnation and remodelinE.
are@but proofs that these communt-
tics have sprung up OF themselves
and that no thought has been
taken of the future.
But one city, the nations capital,
has been free from these handicaps.
| 1t has naturally found itself in q POI
sition to receive ideas from many
sources. 1t was created with the
distant future III mind, and upon a
! preconceived plan Its administers
4 ton is aim ost free Of politics. 1t has
mot faced the need of undue economy
1t has developed in many ways as
+ has no other city. Ii has made ex-
| periments from which many cities
= NAV learn.
! It is only IN the last two decades
| that cities have been taking thought
OF the manner in which they are de-
vsloping. and have been making some
Eattempt to guide that growth and to
I guide their methods of government
I into proved channels. 1t was ten
years ago that the commission form
of government began to be adopted
by many cities throughout the coun-
try. That idea was largely founded
upon the administration of the ma
tional capital. which is governed by
! three commissioners. The three
commissioners IN Washington are. APP
pointed by the president. AMI one IS
ian army engineer. The people of
Washington have no vote, it is there
fore not necessary to make undeslr-
liable compromises to meet their abb
iproval There is almost no opportu-
nifty for the local administration to
play politics: therefore there is little
treason why the advisable thing
should not always be done.
Washington started out as a model
when Its ground plan was laid down
! by the first president and his en-
tgineer friend. IL 'Enfant. At the Cap
i itoi great thoroughfares crossed at
fright angles and true to the points
of the compass This divided the
city into four partsnorthWest,
| northeast. southwest and southeast.
The streets running in one direction
were named for the letters of the al
iphabet, and those running in the
other direction were mum bered. The
Adesignation as to section of the city
always appeared after an address:
This made 1t possible to put the i'm
ger on any street number almost a "
dramatically
Yet for a hundred years after this
city plan was laid down, there va
4 no other community. that followed It.
1t was not until the first decade CT
the twentieth century that it Was
used as model When the reclama-
ton service came to lay down new
towns In the deserts OF the West, It
studied long for an ideal ground
plan. It found the best in the World
in thatgof the nations capital. which
had been waiting a century for iml a.
tors. Today there are a. score Of lit
tie Washingtons on the western
! plains.
In government. Washington Is
unique. The president Is the head,
and delegates his authority to three
commissioners. These commlssio on
ers are dependent pom Congress only
money. they spend it as seems advis-
able.
Washington Is far famed for tho
excellence or its streets. It has hun
,dreds Of miles Of f1awless pavement.
lit might be supposed that it would
thus offer model In street paving to
other cities. But this is true In but
one sense The model that it Woulu
offer would be but aboratory nj od-
\ el. It would show how ideal pave
ments might be laid and maintaines.
| Those pavements might not fit into
4 the Requirements OF a commercial
Ito fit into the political atmosphere
Ecf a city council chamber. Pave
ilnents may be laid much cheaper
shan these. Less base, a thinner top
:tdressing. might appear to be as goou
land would cost vastly less money.
.i8But the city Of Washington lays
down what the experts pronounce the
best possible pavement. egardless Of
5Gcost. It's probably the right way.
tibut ~ ould be a hard program for the
political city government TO fol-
low.
The water system or the city Of
washington appears in a different
tight. The great majority OF house
holders in Washington pay but 81 y.
cents per mont b for their water. The
ii,,ayerage consumer in the average city
5kpays three or four times that
amount. Yet there are few cities
4 where the individual uses. much
water22 gallons a day. he
small fee of $3.50 a year to the
thouseholder maintains the water&sy
item. pays for the water that is used
In unusually large amounts on the
wide streets in sprinkling, that is
needed in the numerous parks. thai
an