Pueblo chieftain., 1921-06-14
By Frederick ]. Hasktn

Washington. n. C.. June l5.-1s the
city OF Washington to become tangled
range of skyscrapcrs. like lower Ne.-
thing of balanc I'd architectural beauty
as Its founders planned
Now that the war emergency, with
its Justification for housing the gov
ernmcnt anywhere, is over, this lue5-
ton Is receiving u good deal of dis
cussion Some think that the old h-.iid-
mgs and the temporary buildings
should be replaced by typical mod
ern office structures. so that the great
est possible amount OF space may nc
had for the money eSpcn nded. Others
contend that the capital OF the nation
should be thing OF beauty. and thI:
each building snould be unit in
carefully considered artistic scheme.
Meantime, what actually exists Is a
curious mixture. -he old government
buildings, OF which the state, War and
Navy building Is the best example. are
curious survivais OF an old type OF ar
chitecture. They are picturesque, un-
comfortable and inconvcnicnt. Most
Of the more recent permanent build
inEs. like the Acw Interior Buildin~.
are exactly like the office structures
found In every American city. And all
about and between these representa-
tivcs of the old America and the new
the ACRES anu pI NNplfh
shacks. built during the war and still
occupied because there is nowhere e,ss
for their occupants TO go.
LEnfant. IN. man who planned thiJ
city. seems to he forgotten. and with
his Influence is going some OF the
made Washington n sightseers' para
disc Not even the most amateur'sn
traveller would stop to cape at any Of
the new rcd tape factories. or describe
one of them in letters home.
II is true that some OF the never
buildings are strictly temporary in
character. Thus. the Department #
Justice, a tall white stone Office build
.rg IL merely rented by the govern
mcnt. Some day-perhaps when the
present comnodious quarters are ont
grown-there will be a specially built
Department Of Justice.
Temporary building.
The huge munitions and navy build
ings in Potomac Park where Washing
tons war shackS were thrown up. are
temporary. substantial as they look
But until the War and Navy depart
msnts hnd enough room somewhere
else. the distractions to the view of
the Potomac river obviously cannot s'e
removed.
The war risk skyscsapcr IL also re-
Eardcd as temporary affair. so far
as the government II concerned Ice
site had been dug for a private oftic.
building when the government bought
it to put up shop large enough 20
house the war Insurance operations
Tho result is honeycomh OF office
rooms fitted together with tho one idea
of getting as many rooms as possibln
into given space. II will remain
government property. no doubt. 50
long the war risk regiment is in
service.
The gentlemen Of is72. who protest
cd at the State. War and Navy build.
ing being four stories high. with \
mansars attic as an additional raunt
at tradition. should be here to look
up the war risk buildings eleven
closely packed stories.
In IsT2 two stories was the proper
height for a government office struc'-
ure. and the White House. Capitol
Tressury and Patent ONice. were all
not more than three stories above
ground This gave uniformity of style
to the government architecture, and
variety was achieved by using differ
cnt kinds of columns and porticos
after Greek and Roman examples.
The buildings then were planned 70
| allow for n setting of grass and flower
beds Now. the war risk and other
new buildings have tiny grass plots
less than the width Of city street 1t
! LIS all enough to make L'Enfant and