Evening star., 1928-10-19

! with the smoke and the noise of the
campaign at their height. Secretary
| Mellon goes to Pittsburgh and, care
fully avoiding even brief reference to
the political struggle, delivers an ad-
dress upon the Identification of the Ma
t1onal Capital, His description of what
has been done and what remains to be-
, done to give Washington that beauty
! and dignity to which it is entitled" is
devoid of partisanship He approaches
. the subject as an American statesman.
not as Republican Secretary of the
Treasury, and he conceives of the task
| confronting those Secretaries of the
Treasury who will succeed him as pa
triotic duty and not as a source of
political capital.
His picture of Washington stands be-
fore the country in comforting contrast
to some OF the smears and daubs with
which we, in Washington. have grown
familiar. He emphasizes the position of
the Capital City as the common prop
erty of every American citizen. I"
Washington has many advantages in
SO far as its future development is con-
cerned," he says. Its life centels
around the Government, as those who
planned the city intended it should do.
There is no manufacturing, and the en-
gineering and industrial problems,
which have to be met at such expense
and effort in great industrial centers
like Pittsburgh and Chicago, are en-
tirely absent. Washington is still city
of moderate size, Notwithstanding the
fact that its population has grown from
Seventy-five thousand at the time of the
Civil War to about half million today.
But so long as it remains chiefly seat
of Government it will retain its unique
character among the cities of the coun-
try. More and more it will be visited
by people who will go to Washington
because of its beauty and their feeling
of pride and ownership in the Nations
Capital. AS it becomes more
beautiful, and its fame grows, people
will visit it from all parts of the world,
and Washington will find, as Paris has
done, that architectural and landscape
beauty can be a source of profit, as well
as pride and satisfaction, to city.
We should remember that
Washington, as President Coolidge has
said, should express the soul of Amer
iea. We do we'll, therefore, to give it
that beauty and dignity to which it is
entitled. In doing SO we are not only
carrying out those plans which Wash
ington made so long ago for the city he
founded, but at the same time, we are
justifying that faith which he had from
the beginning in the future greatness
of America"
This is spoken by friend of Wash
ington, and reflects view of the Ma
tons Capital that is gaining ground
steadily Washington can never be
compared with other cities of the Ma
ton, unless there is considered, in this
comparison. its unique position as the
Federal City, the common property of
every American, the seat of the National
Government. When this conception
takes firm root, and becomes the uni
versal conception, many of the prob
lens which have retarded the develop
ment of the peoples Capital will have
been solved many of those wrongs
which those who live in Washington
have come TO know will have been
righted. Those advantages Of which
Mr.. Mellon speaks will be realized.
In choosing and developing this SUBJ
ject for discussion the distinguished
Secretary Of the Treasury, who enjoys
the confidence and the respect of the
Nation, has imrneasurably aided the
cause Of the Capital City.