Henderson daily dispatch., 1938-03-19
W@'k1'qt9&E&2,a By Saq
- Ce"tIe lconocLasna ,vith Politics E.cho,,..;
BY DR.. JAMES E. POPE
= =. In. JAMES E. POPE
ecldl Washington Corresnon,,,,,

washington, March 19.-The peonle
of Washington have never felt II.
denrassion as you have felt it. On,v
briefly, during the closing months OF
= foemer administration did the Capt
+aI City experience anything even re-
senbIing recession-and this did not
assume perilous proportions. Compar-
able 70 what has happened, and still
bappens. to the rest of the country
during these lean years, the good old
Potomac and its suburban tributaries
nave been flush, and still flow with
milk and honey. Relatively, the DAYS
in Washington are days of plenty.
reople. in their very faces and b.
the;. exuberant attitudes, r fleet the
elories of regular pay days and unin-
tsrrupted eating schedules.
With WashinGton's 1899 Federal
nav-rollers receiving U. S. Treasury
checks. tho 10 Il tradesman or bust
nessnlan docs not worry about nav
roll fluctuatlons. He knows that na u
roll income is steady and dependable.
and knows just how much he can
couA, on each month. If fluctuations
comes the trend is usually upward
Washington Builds Apace.
For a concrete example of business
activity. take the local housing situa-
ton l will not dish up a lot of irk-
some figures, but just you try to rem
house, one of the average ham-and-
eggs or moderate living class, in
Washington or vicinity. From the ex
perience you will learn moro than I
could tell you during the entire life
time of one typewriter. There are no.
many rental vacancies in, the wholt
metropolitan area, and out of the full
list not 4 dozen houses can be found
that are comparable with recent living
conditions. Since the recent upward
swing in apartment house construc-
ton you can get an apartment-pro-
vided you are easily accommodated as
to space, or lack of it, and provided
further that such trivial matters as
rental costs and extras are not i'm
no.tant in your scheme of existence
Eactually and literally, the con-
struction of new homes has extended
to almost all available ground n the
District Of COLUMBIA proper BEt
greater home building activity can b..
found in adjacent Maryland and VII
ginia where, for several miles be
vond the District line, homes are ua-
der construction, not only by lozens,
but literally by hundreds. SubstantiG!
proof of this is available to anyone
who VIII drive out over this charm
ing countryside.
To Illustrate the rapid, if not few
erish growth of Washington and
suburbs-in 1885 a certain scribe
sought quiet retreat n the purchas,
of home some ten miles due north
Of Capitol Hill-out among the birds
and squirrels in nearby Maryland.
There in 1885 he found conditions fer
peaceful and quiet repose ideal-bLt
they did not remain ideal. For now,
just three years later his retreat is
hemmed with new homes. Identic1 il
activity prevails both east and wes'.
and south into Virginia. In compari
son with other sections of the country.
Washington is busy. In relative terms,
there is no depression = there he's
never been a real depression here.
WorshipPers of the Great
God Privilege.
Ans rose Bierce, in his Devils Die
tionary, defined a Washingtonian =:
a Potomac tribesman Who exchang-
ed the privilege of governing himself
for the advantage of good govern
nent' The people in Washington do
not have voting rights, but that s tha
oniy humanity obta:nahle privilege
they nave not taken unto III aE5clves
They are not ourdere1 with local il
come axes, Ike the people III he
States are bur lend. And because so
many of +1cin wnrn fol Uncle sam
and are therefore, exempt fro;r. Fed
etal income tax levies, nobody worries
about high taxes. The real estate tax
rate is only $1.75, a ID this is the whole
hog for them, representing VIVA. else
where would he state, county and nlu-
nicipal property taxes. Congress re-