Evening star., 1925-11-08
School System Factor in D. G.. Growth

But, again, the course of events was
to force the hand of Congress in
manner extraordinarily like the di-
lemnla an injudicious parent some
times finds himself in.
THE years Immediately following
the war began a period of great
industrial expansion and prosperity.
A grateful Nation presented a house
to Gen. Grant. Up to this time few
Of the congressional or official people
owned houses in the Capital. But now
the demand began to grow. What had
been the outlying parts Of the city
We're cleared and built upon.
However determined TO hold the res
idents accountable for every defect
Congress might be. it could not well
evade the fact that L'Enfant's plan
for the city, the separation by mile
and a half of the two centerS of gov
ernment, the Capitol and the White
House, together with the unusual
wedge of branching avenues and the
recurrence of circles, made a street
surface of such unusual extent that a
community of the size of Washington
could hardly be expected to finance
the grading and resurfacing that We're
absolutely necessary.
BY this time there were ~ infiu-
entail citizens of more than local i'm
portance interested in improving the
deplorable street conditions. Thus 1t
happened that the strongest part of
the city organization, territorial for
that brief period, was the Board of
Public Works, and of that board, vice
president and executive officer, was d
contractor and builder named Shep-
herd-"Boss" Shepherd, as he after
ward became known.
Shepherd dominated not only the
board, but the whole local government.
on speed that he accomplished
miracles-even though details some
times got away from him; thinking
in sums SO huge that the little men
almost died of fear just to hear the fig
ures; Shepherd hurled the tfmid Dis
trict into deeds so vast that the rash
est might we'll have trembled. All Of
the central portion of the city, between
the Mall and P street and New Jer-
sey and New Hampshire avenues. was
on the firing line; 11S miles of city
streets were being dug up and paved
with asphalt or wooden blocks, and
80 miles of country road improved;
uniform street levels established; sew
erage and drainage installed. Digni-
fed lady pedestrians with long and
voluminous skirts had desperate times
descending into gullies and climbing
banks. No such operations have ever
been undertaken at one time in any
city of the known world with the
possible exception Of Paris in the Sec
ond Empire. And the whole campaign
was practically carried through in Is
months.
Not in the least did Shepherd ex-
pect that residents Of the District
could, without bankruptcy, pay the
$8.500.000, which was the cost Of the
enterprise. Not at a time when a
million was about the largest unit
in which men thought! He was a
modern business man in that he be-
lieved fervently in debt. He expected
Congress to assume the debt. And
Congress now assumed the huge obi.
cation with practically no opposition.
1t is possible that the abolishment of
the territorial government in 1874 and
the substitution of the present gov
ernment by commission of three mem
bers appointed by the President and
confirmed by the Senate, may have
been as salve to the senatorial feel
ings, as also an increase in the tax
rate from two to three dollars a hun
dred.
Thus was the principle Of Federal
sharing of the expenses of Washing
ton established. While, at the mo-
ment, no definite proportion was fixed