A ROUND-THE-WORLD TRIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 62

A ROUND-THE-WORLD TRIP.

THE. UNITED STATES.

No. VIII. WASHINGTON-ITS NEGRO INHABITANTS— THE CAPITOL -THE SENATE AND THE TARIFF BILL-WASHING-TONfS MONUMENT — THE WHITE HOUSE — THE STATE, WAR, AND NAVY BUILDING. • Of Washington— among the cleanest, and brightest., and mo?fc beautiful of American cities so far as I hare seen them — it is impossible to. •peak bat in terms of admiration. To me it had an air o£- restf ulness which was refreshing in the extreme after the long trAin journey' and the strenuous activity and noise of tha gre»fe business ciliss I had visited. It is a pleasant sensation io stand on the sidewalk of Pennsylvania avenue, Washington's principal thoroughfate — a splendid broad streets-asphalted from kerb to kerb, — and watch ths electric tramcars a3 they, pass -with their. Loads of prosperous---, looking psople, the well-appointed private carriages, aud. the public couuea with their negro driver*. ' Beautiful building* rear their heads „ , on every Side, aud notably "to; the taetfthe hold doqte 'of the Capitol, while near the shora' of the Potomac is the striking column of the Washington nionUtuenfc in the ' distance. 'The iilaes along tho streets 'afford grateful shelter from the powerful rays of the summer aun, for at this season the streets are not "leaf-strewn from the bordering colonnades of trees," as Bellamy puts it in hi* recant powerfully-argued work on the economic-struggles of au effete past as viewed from the light ■ of the - brighter and happier condition! that Julian West fiadn in the New World iuto which he has strangely found his way. To the visitor whose stay in this charming city, with all its deeply iuteresting historical assooiat|on), must be limitecUto a few daya, and who may not be fortunate enough to have as guida some citizjn able to point' out the buildings and places of historic interest, there is no better plan than to hire for two or three hoars a coupe whose driver has plied his calling in the city for some ye*arf. I did so, • picking a -vehicle whose driver was an intelligent negro well acquainted with the qjty'and its buildings. Our routs commenced near, the Pennsylvania railroad sfciliori, and took in ttfc White* Home, the State, War, and Navy Building, the Treasury, the Tension Office, the Legation Houses, Washington Heights, and som« streets where are situated scores of beautiful and costly - private residences, nuni^r* of them doubly interesting as the scenes of historic events and the torma- abodes of men with many of whose name* the world is funiliar. The drive was a highly interesting one. My old negro driver w*s intelligent and communicative; 'but not too loquacious. He was a slave before emancipation days, .and wheu he wan -not irri■partiug information about the. buildings .and their former and present occupants we spoke of the negro race — their present life as compared with their pact, '&<?. I gathered that,' very much as it is tvith his white fellow*, the ' negro's success in life depends very largely oa . his own character and exertion*. Those iv Washington get their fair shara of work in various " occupations, and if they choose to be steady their lives can be' made 'comfortable and happy.*' But there are many who do not choo-.e this as their goal, aud lead idle and profligate lives. - At the close of a threa hours' drive I had become fairly converaaut with Washington topography, and therafter, as occasion served, visited the principal building* and sbow places •6f the city — the Capitol, the Whiba House, 'the new Congressional Library Building, the Wa»hingtcn Monument, &o. Congress was in session, and a vieit to the Capitol, therefore, meant something more than an inspection of the building. The Capitol has bean so often described and pictonally reproduced that any account in these notes of this striking and historical building would be superfluous. Needless to say that, to one whose familiarity with a country's legislative halls had been confined to the House 3of Parliament at Wellington, the" solidity of the great Capitol building and the sp'cudour of its interior made a strpng impression, only to be equalled in interest by a subsequent acquaintance with the imposing range of buildings in which the British Parliament holds its sevsions. Tho Senate was sitting on the afternoon of my visit, and aided by the directions of various doorkeepers and pages in smart liveries, I fouud my way to the chamber. The subject ■ under discussion was< not particularly interest- ' ing, and I regretted I had not been fortunate enough to choose a day when Senators were at work on the Dingley Tariff Bill, in which the ■ majority crowned themselves with disgrace by flagrantly playing into the hands of the Sugar Trust, and deliberately cistihg into the pockets of that monoply' about 16,000,000d01, in opan defHnee of -aa attempt on the part of soma hooest-miuded -Senators to save the Chamber from this disgrace. Never in the history of American politics, probably— corrupt as that history has been,~has a more scandalou? job than this been perpetrated. Bat I must not be led into a digression on the iniquities of the political life of the State?. The subject is too vast for adequate treatment in these sketchy notes. • \ - ■ Leaving the Capitol, 1 took an electric tramcar in the direction of "the Washington ' monument. This splendid column, risiug to a height of 555 ft, is a striking feature in the many striking and bsauli r ul views to be obtained in and around ' Washington. Its great height arrests attention, and its noble proportions are ' enhanced by its very simplicity. It is a monu- • menfc worthy of (he great man whose name will . live throughout the ages that are to come as' it his during the generations that have passed ' away since he rendered such signal service to - ' the young colony which has grown to the gieat nation/of to-day. -. • ' v An elevator takes visitors to -the top-of the monument, and with such a crowd at presented themselves on the day I was there the negotiation of the 500 ft before we were landed on the outlook platform at the top was anything but pleasant. Forty people were packed into the elevator — squeezed like sardines in a box— and we were 10 minutes making the ascent.. We were, however, rewarded with a magnificent view of Washington and the \ surrounding country, with the glistening waters of the Potomac stretching away to. the south f Having enjoyed- the prospect for a. few minutes we were again - packed into the elevator, and safely landed'at the foot of tha monument after another 10 minutas occupied, in the descent. I afterwards visited the White House, a chaste and unpretentious building viewed from the outside, but with an 'attractive interior, and with beautifully-kept grounds. Visitors were plentiful, and eojoyed a leisurely stroll through some of the beautiful rooms under the guidance of attendants specially set apart for this duty. The building is of Virginia sandstone, audi

his an interesting history. The foundation stone was laid in 1792, George Washington - being present on the occasion. It baa a length of 170 ft and is 86ft wide, and has cost . 1,500,000d01. The British set fire to the building in 1814, but a heavy rain came on and extinguished the flames, the walls being left standing. It was afterwards restored and painted white to obliterate the marks of tbe fire, and the colour has been retained ever since, and it will doubtless remain" the White House so long as the building lasts- and the Presidents make it their home. The State recep'ion room is known as the ' East Room. It is 80ft by 40ft, and£2ft high. .It is profusely gilded and mirrored, and is the scene of many brilliant assemblages. There are full-length portraits of Washington and his wife, and of Thomas. Jtffersoa and Abraham Lincoln, on its wall*. Of the painting of Washington visit on are told that Mrs Maddi«on cut the portrait oat of its frame with a pair of shears to save it from the enemy in 1814 ; bub, it is recorded that Mrs Maddisoo, in her own letters describing the hasty Sight, say* that Mr Curtis, the nephew of Washington, hastened over from Arlington to save the precious portrait, and Ihtt a servant cut the cuter frame with: an- mx*, so- that the canvas could .be removed, stretched on fh« inner frame. This room is open to the public every day for fouror five hours. ' __ -."-.. Adjomfng "the JEaafc Roam is the Green Room) • the whole co!ou*u»g"T>F'the-roonran-l furniturebeing'of a pale, aesthetic green. The per 'raits are nearly all of womeb, among the most notable being that of Mrs Benjamin Harrison -(full length), presented by the Daughters of t.he American Revolution, of which body she was president. The other most notable painting is that of Mrs Rutherford B. Hayes, prelected by the Women's Christian Teinj erance Union, in admiring testimony of Mrs Hayes's courage in not permitting the use of intoxicants iff the White House during her husband's Pretidpncy. The other principal rroms are the Blue Room, with its decoration* and- furnishings ia pale b'ua mnd gold, in which- trie President hold* his ' receptions ; the Red Boom, a comfortable room i n Fompeiian red, used as a reception room and. private sitting room by the ladies of the house. 3£fc has a Urge- number of portraits of the P/eiident* of earlier and later diys. The State Dining-Room is 40ffc by 30f*\ The colour is a dull yellow, but at night assumes a warmer tone under the gaslight. Brilliant Stats diirners are given once or twice a week during the winter! The splendid conservatories contribute largely of their plants and flowers for decorative purposes, and the table set vice is of a very beautiful character. The cub glusa was specially made to tbe order of the Government and cost 6000dol. On each' piece of the ■ret, from the great centrepiece to tie tiuy saltcellar?, ie engraved the cost-of-ftrras of th« United States. The President sits in -the middle of the table, with his wife opposite, and th«>gufsbß are arranged without any recogaised rul« of official preepdeuce. Qu the second floor are situated the rooms of the President's private secretary and bi» assistants, tbe President's own room, aud the Cabinet ream. la* these apartraentr.it may well be imagined that an immense mass of business is' transacted. ' Cabinet meetings' are held each Tuesday and Friday.. ■ Other days are set apart for receiring senators and represent »tives, and tb« general. public who have no particular business can piy their reapeot* at' a certain hour on three days in Ihe week. Mr E. V. Smaller, in an interesting art'ele ia Ihe "Ceutury Magazine,". explained that "it ■was no part of the plan of the White House ... that it should Be a public c ff.ee, but with the growth of the country and of the political patronage system the proper use of tbe building , as a t dwelling for ,the chief uiajitbrate bai been more subordinated to its cfficial use as a bureau of appointments and a redt zvous for the acheming,politicians of the two Houses of Congress, who claim the Government < fficre in their States as their personal property, to be parcelled out by th« President in accordance ' with their wishes. It will doubtless surprise many people to leara that hospitality, save in the restricted sense of givipg dinners, is almost an impossibility to the President of the United States, for the reason that he has no beds for guests. There are only seven sleeping rooms in the mansion, besides those of the servants on the batement floor. If a President hag a moderately numerous household ... he can hardly spare for gueits more than the big state bedroom. A President, may wish to invite an ambassador and his family, or a, p«ty of 'distinguished travellers from abroad, to spend a few days at the White House, but he ciunofc do so without finding lodgings elsewhere for the members of his own household. It hts been said over and -over again in the pr.ess that Coagr«ss should either, provide offices for the President or should build for him a new^ dwelling and devote the mansion exclusively to mansion purposes ; but Congress is in no hurry to do eith< r. . , A large force of watchmen is stationed throughout the mansion,, and the local police continuously patrol -the- grounds night and day, to secure as far a« possible immunity from tbe obtiuuon of persons with sinister designs. . A noble building to the west of the White HouVe is the State, War, and Navy Building. It is a -massive pile, constuueted of granite from Virginia, aad B^airie, aud covers an a>-ea of ground 471 ft long by 253 ft wide. Here are located the civil servants who carry on the business affairs of the nation. Any description of this great edifice and the enormous volume of work which ie transacted in tbe various departments hsuted within its walls would be quite impossible in these short notes. But it will be interesting if I qiiote from "A Handy Guide to Washington" (published by Kind, M'Nally, and Co., of Chicago, and to which I am indebted for jsome of the information in this chapter) the following short reference to the general impression 'that nearly all the civil servants of the United Stites are changed at each Presidential election :—": — " The departments are the business offices of the Government, and 'politics' has much less to do with their practical conduct than the popular clamour would lead oue to suppose. The occasional shirk or blatherskite makes himself noticed, but the average employee, from head to foot of the list, faithfully attends to his business and does his work. . This must be so, or the business of the nation could not be carried on ; and otherwise, men and women would not grow, grey in its service, as they are doing, because their fidelity and skill cannot be spared so long as their strength holds out-. Year by year, with the growth of intelligence and the extension of the civil service idea arul practice, 'politics' has less and less to do with the practical administration of the business of the nation at its capital ; and year by year better and more economical methods and results are achiered. Mo civil pensions have yet been established as the further reward of long and faithful service." An interesting room in the buildings is the liibrwry. Here may be sten the sword worn by Washington in camp and c&mp&igo, Jefferson's writing desk, Jackson's sword, Jefferson's stuff •nd buttons from his court dress, and other interesting relic*. The precious original drafts cf the Declaration of Independence and of Ul©

Constitution were disintegrating and fading under exposure to the light, and have btcn shut up in • a steel safe, after having been hermetically sealed between plates of glass, which arrangement it is believed nill atop their decay. /

The library itself includes about 60,000 volumes, and its purpose is bo- serve as a reference library for the"Department of State.