Evening star., 1926-11-09

mont does not spend more than ST.
0o0. 900 a year on any one building.
The principle that. as the Capitol
should be surrounded by buildings
devoted to Legislative functions. SO
the White House should he surrounded
by the executive departments needs
no argument Congress recognized
this principle in the location OF the
Treasury and the State. War and
Navy Buildings. In modified fashion
the principle was applied also in the
purchase in 1910 Of the squares south
of Pennsylvania avenue between
Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets "a
sites for the Depa of Justice.
of Commerce and Labor then united)
and Of State. Lack Of space in the
purchased area forced the Depart
ment Of State south Of p street into
the Monument grounds. a location al
most unanimously condemned on
grounds of Inconvenience to all con-
cerned.
THE public buildings act recently
passed by Congress limits the takinss
Of land to the south side OF Pennsyi-
vanis avenue: but the action Of one
Congress does not bind the acts OF
future CongreAses and the plan OF
1901 il so Logical and 40 convincing
! that ultimately 1t in almost certain 10
he carried out. Indeed. the very limi-
tation tends to hasten the time OF ac
complishment by It's tendency TO re-
duce the area surrounding Lafayette
i Square to a condition similar to that
to which Pennsylvania avenue has
| now heen reduced and which Congress
| Is striving to remedy"
Declaring that the apitol should ne
| surrounded by buildings rela ed 70 the
| legislative work Of the Government,
the commission says the Supreme
| Court. having been lodged in the Capi-
rol from the beginning. should con
tinue to he associated with the le1is-
| lative group.
Supreme Courts Need.
construction Of a building for the
, Supreme Court has become a need 80
| presNing that action must take place
| in the immediate future. The sug-
| gested site is the square facing the
Capitol Grounds north Of the square
| occupied by the Library Of Congress"
the report declares.
For a decade the entrance to the
ca pitol has been an eyesore. the re-
port asserts, while the present Con
! gress has taken up the matter Of ac-
duirinE the other half of the Ia nds
needed to carry out the Original pla
and completion of the acquisition il
a foreEone conclusion"
with regard To an additional ONCE
building for the House of Representa-
| tives, the commission Saws it should
! he constructed with a view to future
needs and care should he taken not
to block or impair the vista Of the
dome along South Ca pitol street"
The report goes at length into develop
ment Of the Mall plan. and says that
hereafter all new work done In the
Mall area should he done only In ac-
cordance with the Mall plan. The
commission has already announced op
position to placing OF a building for
an executive department on the Mall
Turning to additional space for the
Presidents ofhces. the commission
points out that twice since 1902 need
ed storAge space has been added to
the executive Offices. although the Add
ed space has not kept pace with the
volume of business.
Buildings for District.
While buildings erected by the Dis
trict OF Columbia, on the design OF
which the commission Ia consulted,
have resulted satisfactorily in appear
ance, "unfortuna tely.' the com omission
says. there In a point beyond WHICH
economy becomes positive waste.
This point has been psssed in the
construction Of schools generally.
Owing to scrimpins in the details Of
the buildings, the cost Of repairs In
excessive: and az result deteriors-
tion and bad IA nitsry conditions pre-
vail.
Moreover school Fairgrounds have
| 10 he restricted and there il almost
no opportunity for Landscape treat
ment. AS rule modern factories are
more attractive than public schools.
because manufacturers have discov-
cred the commercial value Of beauty.
The time to buy adequate school
sites In the outlying portions of the
District il now, while still the land is
not unreasonably expensive and some
trees remain.
| This particular phase came up In
discussing the extension to the West
ern High school. whore the question
presented to the Com mmissioners was
a. 10 whether the new building should
he built in front Of or behind the old
one. The commission thought that
rhe existing fine open space was need
ed by both the school and the public.
especjallv in that crowded area. So II
was decided, and the decision IN now
seen TO have been q wiae one. This
school needs an adequate athletic
field.
| Advice on School Plans.
The commission has given advice
a. to plans for the following school
! buildings:
Extension to the John Eaton School.
Cleveland Park. Buchanan School.
Mott School addition to Deanwood
School, Wheatley School, Bell School.
proposed eleme ntary school. Lincoln
Park; Smothers School. approach Of
Eastern High School. including de-
sign for hagpole: the Langtev and the
Macfarland Junior High Scseels. the
John DurrouGhs School at Brookland,