Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-23
By REX COLLIER.

T TROUGH the smoke of a not
too esthetic industrial develop
ment, nearby Virginia is be
l. ginning to peer into a future
which holds forth for it a role
more promising than that of mere
neighbor to one of the worlds great
capitals.
Arlington County. somewhat back
ward child though she may have been
in the past, is experiencing the thrills
of growing pains" No longer is she
content to hang onto the apron
strings of the Capital C1ty-to look to
others for protection and succor.
Awakened to q new realization of
the responsibility devolving upon her
with the formulation by Uncle Sam of
important plans for her Identification
and development, the adolescent child
is demonstrating that she has plenty
of genuine, if somewhat latent, pride
in her own future well-being.
Some Groups Skeptical.
There are those, of course, who will
be skeptical as to these things. the
doubters will find it difficult to recon
ciIe the past with what lies just ahead.
They cannot see beyond the haze that
watts itself from Virginia's shores to-
ward Washington's stately skyline.
1t Is a maze ldI1lIldI W manly HhO
wend their way to Arlington, Mount
Vernon and other sacred and historic
points of Old Virginny-the haze of
old shoes, rags and paper in process
of cremation.
Nor can they easily blot from their
minds the composite picture or oil
tanks, brick yards, freight yards.
abattoirs and signboards which i'm
questionable ones find difficult to dis
sociate from Arlington County's roll
ing landscape.
Yet there stands out in bold an
tithesis to all of this a number OF
most unmistakable signs of better
things to come for nearby Virginia.
County Senses Growth.
Arlington County is beginning TO
sense that it is really growing up;
that it has a duty to perform for its
own citizens, responsibilities to Shout
der for the National Capital, obliga-
tons to fulfill with respect to the
Nation which so long has manifested
a certain guardian interest in her
welfare.
Her Uncle Sam has taken pencil
and paper and has shown her just
how he would like to see her progress.
He has vested in her marked conf
dences by building to her shores a
magnificent memorial bridge and by
mapping out for her a wonderful pro-
gram of park and boulevard develop
ment. He has indicated a willing
ness-yea, a, desire-to welcome her
to his arms as a part of his greater
metropolitan family.
But he can't, alone, shape Airing
ton County's future for her The
county must take a hand in her own
advancement. She must take an ac-
tive interest in her own destiny.
Arlington County is giving evidence
of just such activity at the present.
ZOning Law Results.
The latest and, perhaps, the most
far-reaching movement in this direc-
ton is the rising agitation for a zOn-
ing law for Arlington County. Such
law, officials of the National
Capital Park and Planning Commits
sion say, is the county's paramount
need, if plans of the park experts
are to be carried to fruition. Lack
of such regulations to govern the
use of privately owned land in the
county, 1t Is declared, threatens to
imperil the Federal development pro-
gram worked out for the areas ad-
jacent to the three public bridges
now connecting the county with the
National Capital Further delay IN
adopting a systematic, business-like
municipal like policy, restricting the
uses to which property holders may
nut their land, may prove fataI, the
commission believes.
The Federal Government is plan