Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-20

CudEdcIeTlZeQ as QlSSTdCeIul ny ScudlOlS
and representatives who have visited it,
| and ever since 1902. when a suitable and
healthy site for the proposed municipal
| hospital was purchased on Georgia ave-
, nue. at a bargain and plans obtained
under authority from Congress for such
| a hospital, the need for it has been steadi-
| ly increasing. 1t has been repeatedly stated
sioners that the buildings in the heart of
the city of Washington. including all the
structures of the national government.
should be protected from the dangers OF
| fire by the construction of special water
mains, at an initial cost of about $4,000,
| which, under the high gravity pressure
| from the Fort Reno reservoir, would FUR
nish the water and power necessary to
drive the water to the tops of the high
| est buildings. 1t has been shown repeat
| eddy in official reports of the fire depart
! ment that it is inadequate to deal with
more than two large fires at once. If 1t
should be engaged in the southern por
| ton of the city and in the northern por-
| ton at the same time with large fires. the
| government structures and Offices and
other business buildings, hotels and apart
ment houses in the center of the city of
Washington would be in danger of possible
destruction by fire. The burning Of a
| portion of the patent Office. involving the
! destruction of valuable records and mod
i els, is still remembered. There is no
| fireproof building for the protection of
| the priceless governmental records. The
lives of the members Of the national gov
eminent, occupying or resident in the
buildings in the heart of the city, are also
at risk. The proper development. of the
park system requires additional parks and
park connections, which Congress has in
part authorized, but which should be more
rapidly provided. Additional bridges are
needed, especially one in place of the
Calvert street bridge over Rock Creek.
These are examples only of physical i'm
provements which. by general agreement,
are necessary for the proper upbuildng of
| the National Capital
Funds for "Moral Progress"
| For what is sometimes called the
moral progress" of the capital, large
additional appropriations should be
made. Under the head of public edu-
cation come well as buildings, items
such as larger playground provision,
larger utilization of the public school
buildings, adult day schools for the
! characterization of immigrants en-
ployed at night, longer terms for night
| schools, which have had to be closed in
sixty days for the lack of appropria-
TONS although they ministered to the
most needy and eager class of pupils.
! Under the same head comes additional
provision. urgently needed in the pub
| lie interest, Tor the suitable main
tenance and development of the public
| library. Under the head of public
health come such items the proper
| equipment, with men and means, of the
health department. so that there may
be complete scientific inspection of the
milk and water supplies and of food
| products: an adequate enforcement of
the poison and drug law; thorough
sanitary inspection service of private
markets. provision stores. private lodg-
| ing houses, and Sums, alleys, and other
| insanitary portions of the city; the
proper care of the health of the chill
| dren of those parents who are too
poor to afford it. The reports of the
| health officer and of the District Com
| missioners abound in facts showing
| the necessity for far larger appropri-
| atoms for these and other similar pur-
poses. Under the head of child-caring
service come items for a proper Juve-
| nile Court building. proper place of
detention for children accused of de-
| linquency and crime (and incidentally
| for women first accused of crime); an
adequate probation system for chill
| dren accused of delinquency; the pro-
vision for a sufficient number of addi-
, tional inspectors to insure the neces-
sary supervision of the homes in
| which over S22 children and wards of
| the board of children guardians have
| been placed, and which 1t Is Impossible
, for the Inadequate number of over
| worked inspectors now provided to
visit at proper intervals of time, scat
tered, as these homes are. not only
| 'HTOuRn the biStTlCI OIL COlUmD1a
| through the adjacent states of Vir-
ginfa and Maryland. Under the head
of public philanthropy also come items
for system of dealing with the fee
BILE minded and with other similar de-
| fectives, for. which there is now no
provision in the District of Columbia
| Related to this is the proper. care of
confirmed inebriates. These are exam
pies only of important things which
are necessary, not to make this a model
| city In its municipal services, but to
| bring it up to the standard OF other cities
| in the United States which are better
| equipped in respect to these things. We
| are speaking now not of the luxuries
but Of the necessities of municipal house
keeping according TO the twentieth CEN
| fury standards. We are speaking of
| things which have been urgently recon-
! mended by the District Commissioners
during the past fifteen years.
J What Other Nations Do for Their
Capitals.
| Official reports in possession of our
committee show that all of the more
important nations contribute largely to
the development and maintenance of
their national capitals. The methods
!are as various as the amounts. The
/ methods and the amounts are deter
mined by conditions historical. political
lard industrial, varying with the differ
| ent countries. There. is no other ma
tional capital except the District of