Evening star., 1922-10-22

continent contains as large a per cent Of faces
marked with the native trade mark as Washington.
II we include the negro, who Is surely Of our
breed II not Of our blood. Yet in the mass of
native faces and figures in Washington the bizarre
contrast Of an occasional face from the far east
or the far west from the antipodes the wilds
OF nowhere b!azes out like a Joyous fame Of human
color and gives the streets of Washington a glow
and warmth and life that one finds in no other
American community
Legations Add Cay Color.
The legations add probably less than 5000 to
the towns population. But they change almost
completely the aspect of the town. giving 1t
something fine and romantic In its outward phase
that makes 1t seem like a magic city. Anything
might happen there. The man with fez. the
woman swathed in Chinese Silks the Filipino
soldier the French captain in scarlet trousers the
orown-ciad American soldier, the diplomats wife
In clothes of European cut and quality, the whole
spicebox of humanity sprinkled over drab streets
OF most American city in some queer way con-
jure up the magic ring, the mystic candlesticks,
the ridiculous fiddlesticks.
They are all hidden behind the doors and win
dows that let into the devious ways Of Washing
ton. Crooked streets, triangular orners. circles
and crescents and irregular openings and cross
sections OF traffic add to this air of unreaity Of
the place. And because all of this hodge -podge
Of angling streets making their diagonal ways
from nowhere to anywhere. one soon realizes that
the architecture OF Washington has developed into
something rich and strange 1t. too, Is pro-
foundly American. and yet, unlike anything typi-
caly American The American type of house has
been transplanted into this Washington atmos-
phere and has grown more beautiful than its an
cestor. Here the colonial of New England be-
comes more colonial than ever the colonies build
ed The old Dutch house Of the Hudson river
colony becomes more Dutch than it In Hol-
land. The French of New Orleans, the manor
house Of Maryland and the gardened villa Of
Charleston when they take root in Washington,
exhale a new and vital beauty that they did not
know In their original habitat Washington
the genii. who make things into something
else. Washington Is In some way the subcon.
scious ego Of our American life rich. inexplica-
Bile and irresistible-the imperial city OF our i'm.
than our past a dream that has not yet come
true. but ono that haunts US with its strange
reality.
Two Kinds Of Government,
SO have in Washington two kinds of gov
ernment-an orderly, constitutional government,
which seems to function. which seems to be the
real government and which seems to be the only
government. 1t IL the government to which
simple minded men and women turn for relief
In times OF stress. Then it does rise and does
assert its reality. its eminence. But when the
stress subsidies. the formal government dsap-
pears. becomes a shell which holds only the sub.
stance Of political power. while real power dwels
elsewhere.
Chiefly. real power In our Washington gov
ernment dull days dwelis among the soviets Of
after their Russian namesakes as Anglo Saxon
Institutes can be modelled after Slavic counter
parts. They are organizations OF citizens along
trade lines. The soldiers and sailors have their
sovets-the Security League and the Navy
League and the Defense League The merchants
and business men have their soviet In a great
building at 17th street and Pennsylvania avenue.
called the Chamber Of Commerce OF the United
States. The women have their soviet-the Ma.
tional League Of Women Voters, just across the
street from TIE State Department. There Is the
League to Reduce Armaments and the Child We'll
faro and Hygiene League and a number Of other
altruistic organizations. powerful but most GEN.
trifuSal In their tendency. emanating sacrifice
and service radlantly that the whole region
where these societies are housed seems to be a
great fleetwood forest nlled with nuts. The
laboring man has his soviet, the we'll known
American Federation Of Labor. and the prohibi-
tionists have their famous Anti-Saloon League.
and the brewers and distillers have theirs The
lawyers and doctors have their national asso-
Citations and the farmers have their national
lobby
All Activities Represented.
Every American vocation. business and way
Of life or thought or aspiration IL represented in
these great national leagues, societies. associa.
tions. bands and groupa They generally main.
tain elaborate ofices. The National Chamber Of