Evening star., 1927-05-15

| United States and in increasing num-
| bers great national and international
| organizations are bringing more an
more people to cooperative gather
| ings here.
| AS Illustrations. Week before last
we had here the business leaders
| from every state in the Union. and
some foreign countries. at the
| fifteenth annual national convention
| Of the Chamber of Commerce of the
| United States. At the same time in
\ co,ordinated assemblage were the
/ leaders from 20 Latin American
countries at the Third Pan-Amer.can
/ Commercial Conference-thus bring
ing business leaders from the entire
Western hemisphere together for
common council.
Every Phase Covered.
| Last week we had the leading men
and women in city planning and
regional development here from all
, over the United States, with a world
view, considering municipal growth
and guidance in their nineteenth ses-
sion under the auspices of the Amer
| ican Civic Association. In a closely
| related convention was the sixteenth
session of the American Institute or
! Architects There i'm two weeks were
the men who build trade and who
| build cities
The largest national and even inter
| national organizations are establish
ing headquarters here. covering every
nbase Of human activity and social
ercourse-political. humanitarian,
sociological, educational, commercial,
scientific, agricultural, financial re-
ligious. patriotic and philanthroplc'
This makes the National Capital
,~1a for n
tions of every kind.
As the real convention city-the
place of common council-this Capitai
| CITY is living up TO the spirit or our
flag and the Government it represents
-I-nion--"Not for ourselves alone,
but for common-Weal.
Why is Washington in class all
is own as a convention city:
Appeal Is Broad.
First-There is allurement in the
very name. Here we have FederaI
CITY. built to order as the seat OF
government of the greatest natlon
that ever existed: city of matchless
charm laid out in an orderly manner
bv the genius of Maj. L'Enfant. with
beautiful buildings designed by the
greatest architects in the world after
careful study of the best types OF
architecture in all countries. with
broad vistas, with monuments that
call TO mind the greatest statesmen
and heroes. with landscapinS such as
no other city has ever visioned and
wealth OF more than 500 parks. ana
with an environment rich in historic
anpeal. 1t is a city whose name and
fame call men from the far corners
of the earth. 1t is home city 10 the
| On 00o am raoole in all the 4S States
in the Union.
Second-It is neutral ground, where
industrial rivalry, where local prelu'
dice, where fayorite sons, where de-
nominational differences, where po-
liticaI and religious antithesis do not
| operate. Here any organizations
either of the two great political par
ties-any one of several score of re-
ligious creeds-capital and labor
can all meet on common ground. each
certain of unprejudiced, fair-minded,
free-for-all common council. As proof
of this we need but recall recent spec
tacies on Pennsylvania avenue. when
the Catholic Holy Name Society. the
Ku Klux Klan and the Mobiles OF the
Mystic Shrine (Masonic) all were
given acclaim and no interference as
they did their steps on this historic
parade ground of the Nation.
Third-It is accessible. Washington
is the hub of the convention wheel
| When we say that 1t is l hour from
Baltimore with a population OF 1885,
S26, 8 hours from Philadelphia with
population of 1,S23.779. hours from
New York--the great port of entry
and American metropolis-with its
population Of 5,620,04S; 19 hours from
Chicago and "a hours from st. Louis,
/ tIzH l1iY faR
is fairly near.leighbor to all the big
gest cities in the United States. Eight
great railroads use the Union Station
here. which is the model for spacious
facility and effective grandeur for all
railroad stations in America. There
are scheduled for daily arrival and
departure over these lines $50 trains
each way.
But even then you do not get the
full picture of Washington'S accessl-
bility-by steam and electric railways,
| by water routes and by airships-
superior to that of any other munich
pality attractive for conventions.
| Within a radius of $50 miles are 22 of
the largest cities of the country. from
New York and Boston TO Detroit. Gin
| cinnati and Cleveland; from Portland,
| Me-, to Atlanta, Ga; from Benning-
ton, VT, and Manchester. \. H., to
| Charleston, S. c., and Wilmington,
n c. These % cities have a COM
bined population of more than IA
| 600 900, besides twice as many in
suburban and intercity territory. so
that within this radius of ESQ miles
| from Washington we find more than
one-fifth of all the people in the
United States.
Government Agencies Helpful.
/ Fourth-We have here the Govern
ment establishment: Congress that
| makes the laws, the Federal depart
ments that carry out the adminlstra-
| ton of the laws under the general SUI
pervision of the President through his
cabinet and the Supreme Court that
| interprets the laws and is the balance
| wheel of government. Every organl-
zation of men and wonderland stop
| to think that we are today more or
ganized than ever before, doing prac-
| tically everything through organiZa-
| tions that men previously did as indi-
| viduals-has some contact with the
Government.
| In matters of taxation, in rivers
and harbors and road development, In
| irrigation, reclamation, soldier relief,
postal service. administration OF JUS
| tice, advancement of social welfare,
! humane working conditions, in ac-
| quiring patents or copyrights or
| trademarks, in standards of materials
or merchandise--in literally thousands
of ways, all of the people of the coun-
| try are dealing with their Govern
ment through organizations. and
what more natural than that the
| leaders in council should meet here
| for ready approach to those In au-
| thority in the Government service!
Speakers Are Available.
Fifth-At every convention those
arranging the program seek speakers
whose names mean much. Here In