Evening star., 1950-08-06
Census Boom for DC?
By RondoIph Leigh

There is a singular naivete in
the apprenhensiveneSs with which
certain crystal gazers compare the
census returns for Washington
with those for other American
cities, or even foreign capitals.
: Actually, once a nation is CEN
tralized, there is nothing that pays
better, year in, and year out, than
minding other peoples business.
particularly if it can be done
with a gesture of resigned un-
selfishness. Politics is the quln-
tessence of that art.
Similarly there is nothing that
assures the future of city better
than to be the capital of coun-
try-any kind of country provided
1t is vigorously governed. On the
other hand, a poor but honest
capital, that is to say one which
leaves the rest of the country to
stumble along as it pleases with
little direction, never gets any
where.
Up to World War I, Washing
ton was poor but honest capital,
and amounted to little. nationally
or internationally. Since then il
has had three gulps of the heady
wine of power and has learned to
like it. Furthermore, having be-
come powerful, it is making the
rest of the country like it, whether
1t wants to or not.
Two "Shots in the Arm
The first big shot in the arm
was, of course. World War 1, in
which European pure h a sing
agents came in and showed the
American amateurs how to be
lavish in purchasing and plan
ming for a war. There had been
q few efforts in this general di-
rection in our Civil War, but they
had lacked the imagination and
larger sweep which come from
centuries of experience in mill
tary politics, that is, in politics
based on an urge to survive rather
than an urge to save costs. After
the war the European experts re-
turned to the more congenial at
mosphere of Paris or London, and
their American proteges returned
to New York. Washington simply
had not arrived in the sense
that Rome, Berlin or London had.
because the United States re-
manned federated Republic,
fearful of centralized government.
This was reflected in the income
tax. which was light and touched
only small part of the popula-
ton.
Next came the second shot in
the arm-the depression. Only
then did Americans begin to grasp
the exploitative possibilities in CEN
tralized government and to think
in terms of a national capital.
The tax rate rose and the Gov
eminent reached out in all direc-
tions. Men flocked to Washing
ton as jobseekers or, more signifi-
cant, as lobbyists hired to protect
private enterprise from it's new
rival, the Government.
The third big shot in the arm
was World War II, which put the
Government in such dire need of
funds that it had to force it's way
into everybody's business and
take huge slice of all gains.
Now comes World War III. or it's
shadow, which is almost as signifi-
cant tax-WiSe. It is this present
crisis which, whether it lasts 10
months or 10 years, will make the
executive branch of the Govern
ment permanently all-powerful
and mark the end of the Ameri-
can Revolution. The 1850 crisis
found the executive power so
strongly intrenched that it could
make war without asking Con-
gress to declare war, and would
not be criticized for so doing. In
deed, technically the executive no
longer needed a war declaration.