Evening star., 1921-03-03
BY CHESTER C. MAYO.

| Washington can be made far more
| magnificent, and with this thought in
! view the following plan is proposed
| in order that it may receive the
attention and consideration of think
| ing men and women all over the
country.
| Ehat each state in our Union erect
! in the city of WaShingto home
| for each of its two senators. These
are not to he homes to be built and
| presented to Senator Jim Watson of
/ Indiana and Senator New of Indiana.
i but a home erected for each of the
| two senators from Indiana. which
, will always remain the property OF
the state and be occupied by the men
honored by election to this great office
from the state.
Its business Aspect.
Now there are two aspects OF the
lsituation. one of which may be
termed the business aspect and the
lother the esthetic. I will speak OF
1.-THE business aspect first. for. in my
Iopinion. any real thinking man can
ieaSiIy be convinced of the justice OF
1.-THE following statements:
In any republican form of govern
iment only the personal fitness of any
ca anddste for office should be consid-
Tered. BY personal fitness" ! mean.
iof course his or her education, eN-
iperience ability and character. In
itheepast (although l am happy to say
THAT this condition is disappearing)
lit has very frequently been the GUS
tom. and has been necessary, to elect
"a wealthy man as a senator. whereas
1.-THE consideration of wealth should
never enter into the election of a
Representative of the people.
| 1t is matter of cold fact that 1T
4 I. - en- a n
of the United States to live in Wash
Iington and properly represent his
| state on the present salary.
! Many senators have private incomes
and this is desirable under the present
conditions. Many who do not have pri-
| vate incomes add to their salaries by
their literary endeavors. by lecturing
and sometimes by keeping IN touch with
| their former business. But again. this
should not be necessary. Provided a
senator lives up to the moral obliga-
tionS to his state and to the nation, his
| entire time must be given up to his du-
| ties-while Congress is in session by
the hard. unremitting work demanded
| Of a senator. and during the recess of
Congress by the study and the contact
necessary to keep in constant and
| thorough touch with his constituents. in
order that the needs of the nation and
state which he represents may be most
carefully conserved.
Payment of Fixed Charges.
These senatorial homes should not be
! monumental, extravagantly and gor-
geously built palaces. nor should one
state try to outdo another in the size of
the appropriation for this purpose. nor
should these homes be other than that
of man with salary such as is now
| given-or may be given-to a senator OF
the United States could maintain. But
in addition to building the residence, it
should be furnished-and ! shall speak
Of this later in this article-and the
state should assume certain fixed
charges in connection with the upkeep.
These charges should. think. be limited
to taxes, repairs. cost of heating. light
! ing and care of the grounds. All other
expenses should be assumed by the
senator himself.
Exthetic Viewpoint.
Leaving the business side of the
proposition and turning to what
have termed the esthetic viewpoint
ask you to visualize what it would
mean to erect ninety-six beautiful
homes in your own city and then trans
your vision to the wonderful city OF
Washington with its handsome wide
avenues. its monumental and splen-
did public and semi-public buildings.
it's circles historic in their beauty.
a city wherein even the naming Of
the streets lends itself to the plan
proposed. 1t is almost possible to
locate all Of these senatorial homes
on streets named after the states
thems elves. In that portion of the
beautiful northwest section of Wash
ington. which constitutes at present
the best residential part Of Wash
! ingtcn. are the following avenues and
streets named after states: Vermont.
Massachusetts. Connecticut. Rhode
Island, Florida, Georgia. Wyoming. Ore
| gon. New Hampshire and California; in
f.f he ion
which includes old Georgetown runs
| Wisconsin avenue. near the beautiful
! United States Naval Observatory Circle.
The removal Of certain temporary
buildings would give an attractive
location on Virginia avenue for
homes that would be adjacent to the
charming Potomac: a portion of New
York avenue runs directly down to
| the Naval Hospital grounds and the
outlook from this portion of the ave-
| nue. would be directly facing the ex-
| Quisite and wonderful Lincoln Memo
rial; portion of Indiana avenue faces
! the old part of Washington bounding
Judiciary square: in the northwest sec
ton also are New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania avenues. and in that portion of
the city lying in the Mall directly to the
south of Pennsylvania avenue now oc-
cupied by various buildings are Ohio
avenue. facing the executive grounds,
and the grounds Of the Agricultural De-
partmrnt. Louisiana avenue, facing the
grounds of the new United States Ma
! tional Museum. and Maine. avenue fac
ing the Botanical Gardens.
The southwest section contains Della =
ware and Maine avenues and in the
southeast section You will find Ten
nessce, North Carolina. Maryland and
West Virginia avenues.
Other Ways of Choosing Sites.
But whether or not the visitors from
Missouri. Georgia, California or
Maine find the beautiful homes of their
! senator's on the street named after their
| own states does not enter into the gen.
! eral discussion Of the case, it is a
| pleasant thought and could be easily
carried out. But it is only a thought,
and many other considerations entering
| into the selection of a site for such a
building would. of course. develop. To
be sure. the senior senator from Yer
mont, William +. Dillingham;, lives on
Vermont avenue, and the senior senator
from Massachusetts, Henry Cabot
Lodge, lives on Massachusetts avenue.
AS those in each state become in
terested in this plan. take hold of the
| idea and develop it to it's logical con-
clusion. it will mean the addition of
ninety-six homes to our Capitol. which
! will represent more than simply so
much money invested by the state in
homes for its senator's. more than smp-
| ly lending helping hand to man of
| mediocre governmental salary; it will
to properly represent his state on his
mediocre governmental salary; it will
! reflect in each home the history, the
! memories, the traditions and even the
. faith Of each state. These residences
| will be more than piles of marble brick
! or wood. They should embody all that
| represents the best in a state, whether
| this is taken from the historic past or
| TeDrPSnntS q