Evening star., 1941-08-06
From Arlington House

When, in 1887, the editors of
washington: City and Capital
one of the volumes of the American
Guide Series compiled by the Fed
eral Writers Project, came to speak
of historic Arlington House, they
said: From the front of the mansion
the view of the Potomac, the Lincoln
Memorial, the Washington Monu-
ment, the Capitol and surrounding
buildings is exceptionally fine" But
they we're not content with that
purely factual reference to one Of
the vantage points from which a
visitor may look out over the Federal
City. The strategic and symbolic
Importance of the spot seemed to
them to require to be stressed So,
at the end of their account of the
fine old mansion built by George
Washington Parke Gusts, only
grandson of Martha Washington,
and inhabited prior to 1861 by his
daughter, the wife of General Robert
E. Lee, they declared: From the
western terrace the great pillars Of
the portico can be seen in unusual
perspective. From here also, spread
ing beyond the river, the sweeping
vista of Washington is regained-
the Capital of united Nation"
Surely, it was not by accident that
the Guide Book editors twice should
call attention to a single picture of
the seat of the government of the
United States. 1t happened that
they were referring to a place made
sacred by the burial of the remains
of the original designer of the City
Of Washington. To rest in the quiet
earth in the shadow of Arlington
House all that was mortal of Major
Pierre Charles L'Enfant was brought
to lie on April %, 1909, eighty-three
years after his death. President Taft,
Vice President James S. Sherman, J.
j. Jusserand, the Ambassador of
France, and many other famous
characters took part in the cere-
monies. The monument raised over
the grave is adorned by a reproduc-
tion of the great engineers acknowl-
edged master-work-his plan for the
Capital. Hundreds of pilgrims seek
the honored tomb in an average day.
Men, women and little children who
are proud to confess the debt they
owe to L'Enfant stand by his sepul-
chre to gaze upon his achievement.
Thousands of photographs have been
made from the hillside. The scene
has been universally publicized on
the face of the dollar currency of
1895, still in circulation.
But Washington has grown in
beauty since the last-named date.
After the Writers Project Guide
Book was completed, the lovely JEFF
ferson Memorial, the Supreme Court
Building, the annex to the Library
of Congress, the National Gallery
of Art and many other majestic
pOA hSVA1So WClC w
grandeur of the picture. From no
superior height is the result more
impressive.
1t is with knowledge of that truth
that the Fine Arts Commission dis
approves the suggestion to introduce
the new War Department Building
into the neighborhood of the Ma
tional Cemetery With it's thirty
five acres of ugly fiat roofs" the
proposed ediflce would be an eyesore
tntolerable to contemplate. No
reasonable or sensitive person jour-
neying to Arlington House and seeing
the valley from its lawn would wish
to agree to the intrusion. Perhaps
1t would not be an act of sacrilege,
but it certainly would be an act of
vandalism. AS the Commission of
Fine Arts has pointed out, it is al
most inconceivable that it should be
pern1itted in this dav and 400