Behind the scenes in Washington

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Chapter I. How Washington Came To Be The Capital

Reasons for selecting Washington — History of the location of the Capitai at Washington — The insult to Congress — First propositions — Disputes as to the location — Quarrel between the States — Offers of Maryland and Virginia — The Compromise — The Capital located on the banks of the Potomac — The Act of Congress incorporating the District — Proclamation of President Washington — The District named in honor of Colupabus.

It puzzles many good people to understand the reason of the selection of Washington City as the Capital of the Nation. There were so many sites, so many thriving towns and fine cities offered to the choice of the wise Fathers of the Republic, which presented superior advantages and attractions to the one actually chosen, that some persons find it diflScult to comprehend why they were passed by, and a wilderness selected as the " heart of the nation." The truth is that Washington City, like most of the " features " of our Governmental system, is the result of a compromise. Its story is both instructive and interesting.

The long agony was over. The War of the Revolution had ended in the triumph of the American cause, and the new Republic had taken its place among the nations of the world. It was the youngest and weakest of all the members of the great family, and its future was shrouded in doubt. The seven years war had greatly exhausted it, its treasury was empty, and its credit was not worth mentioning. Its currency had become so much depreciated that even its own citizens counted their treasury notes by the bushel. Freedom and independence had indeed been won, but a still greater task demaijded the energies of the men who had carried the country through the Revolution — the laying of the foundations of the Republic in a manner which should assure the permanence of the edifice to be erected upon them. First of all, the credit of the Republic was to be improved. Money was the prime necessity for carrying on the Government, and it was very scarce ; so scarce indeed, that the army which had won the independence of America, could not be paid the beggarly wages due it. It required all the influence Washington possessed to induce the troops to disband peacefully, without their pay, and in spite of his exertions several outbreaks did occur to the annoyance of the Government. One of these was the cause of one of the most important of all the acts of the Federal Congress at this period.

During the war the Government of the Confederation had led a sort of vagabond existence, moving from place to place at the approach of the Royal army. The close of the war found the Federal Congress sitting at Annapolis, in Maryland. From this place it passed to Philadelphia, thence to Trenton, New Jersey, and, finally, the seat of Government was removed to New York. It was during the continuance of the sessions at Philadelphia that the incident to which we have alluded, occurred.

In June, 1783, a band of mutinous soldiers broke into the hall in which Congress was in session, and in a grossly insulting manner demanded of that body the back pay due them for their services during the war, which amounted to a considerable sum. The soldiers were with difficulty expelled from the hall, and the Representatives turned to the consideration of the affront to which they had been subjected, and which they felt deeply. Some of the members had, previous to this, been of the opinion that it would be better to locate the seat of the General Government at some place removed from the corrupting influences of a large city, and this affair did much to bring the entire body to an acceptance of their views. The question was earnestly discussed in private, and was at length formally introduced into Congress by Elbridge Gerry, of Connecticut, in a resolution authorizing the building of a Federal City on the banks of the Delaware or the Potomac, provided a good location and the requisite amount of land could be obtained on either of those rivers. On the 7th of October, 1783, Mr. Gerry's resolution was adopted, with an amendment making provision for buildings on both the rivers named. On the

26th of April, 1784, the resolution was repealed, it being impossible to carry it out in that form. In October, 1784, Congress met at Trenton, New Jersey, and one of its earliest acts was the appointment of three commissioners with authority to lay out a district between two and three miles square, for a Federal City, the said district to be located on the banks of the Delaware. Nothing was done by the commissioners, and the next January Congress met in New York, when efforts were made to locate the district on the Potomac, but without success.

In September, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was adopted, which provides that Congress shall have power " to exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases, whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the United States."

This clause of the Constitution fixed definitely the size of the Federal district, and was the first real step toward its acquisition. Efforts were at once made to fix the location with equal exactness. The State of Maryland, thinking it an advantage to have the Capital of the nation within its limits, made the first offer. On the 23rd of December, 1788, the Legislature of that State tendered to Congress " any district (not exceeding ten miles square), which Congress may fix upon and accept for the seat of Government of the United States." The offer was discussed at a considerable length in Congress in 1789.

It was admitted by all parties that the district ought to be located in a section of the country which should be easy of access from all parts of the Union, and that it ought to be as central as should be consistent with the wealth and population of the section chosen. The North and the South — for the sectional division of the country had appeared even at that early day — each desired to secure the location of the new city within its own limits. The former insisted that the Capital should be built on the banks of the Susquehanna, while the South declared in favor of a site on the Delaware or Potomac. New York, Philadelphia, Germantown, Havre de Grace, Wright's Ferry, Baltimore, and Conococheague (now Washington City), each had its partisans. The South Carolina delegates bitterly opposed the selection of Philadelphia, because Philadelphia was a Quaker City, and the Quakers were hostile to negro slavery. Some of the delegates opposed the selection of a large city on the ground that undue influence would be brought to bear upon the Government; while others ridiculed the idea of building a city of palaces in the backwoods, and cited the example of the European States whose capitals were their largest cities. The controversy grew warm and bitter, and came near resulting in a serious misunderstanding between the States. On the 5th of September, 1789, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution declaring that, " The permanent seat of Government of the United States ought to be at some convenient place on the banks of the Susquehanna, in the State of Pennsylvania." This resolution gave great offence to the Southern members, and even Mr. Madison went so far as to declare that, had such an action on the part of Congress been foreseen, Virginia would not have ratified the Constitution. The matter was made worse by the immediate passage of a bill by the House for the purpose of carrying the resolution into effect. The vote stood thirty-one to nineteen. The Senate amended the bill by inserting Germantown, Pennsylvania, instead of the location on the Susquehanna, which amendment was accepted by the House. The House further amended the Act by providing that the laws of Pennsylvania should continue in force in the new district until Congress should order otherwise. The Senate decided to postpone the consideration of this amendment until the next session, and the matter went over. Germantown was thus actually chosen as the Federal City, and it needed only the consent of the Senate to the last mentioned amendment to make the transaction complete.

Thus far none of the States but Maryland had taken any official action in this matter. The South was very greatly excited over the course of Congress, some of the Northern States were dissatisfied with the selection, and it was felt that the danger to the harmony of the new Confederation was very serious.

On the 3rd of December, 1789, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an Act ceding to Congress a district on the banks of the Potomac. The cooperation of Maryland was asked in inducing Congress to accept the grant, and a sum not exceeding $120,000, was pledged by Virginia for the erection of the necessary public buildings, on condition that Maryland, on her part, would contribute a sum not less than two-fifths of that amount for the same purpose. Maryland at once agreed to the request of Virginia, and pledged herself for her share of the money. Other States now made offers of territory to Congress, but no immediate action upon the subject was taken by that body.

The great question which at that time occupied the attention of the country, was the funding of the public debt. Congress was divided upon the subject. An amendment had been presented to the House, but had been rejected, providing that the General Government should assume the State debts to the amount of twenty-one millions of dollars. This question had become very closely interwoven with that of selecting a Federal district. The Northern members were in favor of the assumption, but were opposed to the location of the district in the South, and the Southern members, while divided upon the financial question, were unanimously in favor of accepting the offers of Virginia and Maryland.

Jefferson was at this time Secretary of State, and Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury. Both were anxious to avert the danger which the vexed questions threatened, and after discussing the matter confidentially, they came to the conclusion that a compromise was the only possible settlement. Hamilton urged that the Southern members should consent to the assumption of the State debts by the Government, and declared that he felt sure, if they would do this, the Northern members would consent to locate the Capital on the banks of the Potomac. It was agreed that Jefferson should ask the Southern members who were hostile to the financial scheme, to dine with him the next day, and that he should lay the matter before them, and endeavor by such arguments as he was master of, to win their consent to the proposed compromise. The dinner was given, the plan proposed by Hamilton was discussed, and a sufficient number of votes pledged for the assumption bill. Hamilton, on his part, undertook to win over the Northern members to the Capital scheme, and succeeded. The assumption bill became a law, and Congress, in the following Act, definitely accepted the ofier of Virginia and Maryland.

"An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States.

" Sec. I. Be it enacted, hy the Senate and House of Representatives of tlie United States of America in Congress assembled, That a district of territory, not exceeding ten miles square, to be located as hereafter directed, on the river Potomac, at some space between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and Conococheague, be, and the same is hereby, accepted for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States. Provided, nevertheless, That the operation of the laws of the State within such district shall not be afiected by this acceptance until the time fixed for the removal of the Government thereto, and until Congress shall otherwise by law provide.

"Sec. II. And he it further enacted. That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint, and by supplying vacancies happening from refusals to act, or other causes, to keep in appointment as long as may be necessary, three Commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall, under the direction of the President, survey, and by proper metes and bounds define and limit a district of territory, under the limitations above mentioned; and the district so defined, limited and located, shall be deemed the district accepted by this Act for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States.

" Sec. III. And he it enacted, That the said Commissioners, or any two of them, shall have power to purchase or accept such quantity of land on the eastern side of the said river, within the said district, as the President shall deem proper for the use of the United States : and, according to such plans as the President shall approve, the said Commissioners, or any two of them, shall, prior to the first Monday in December, in the year One thousand eight hundred, provide suitable buildings for the accomodation of Congress, and of the President, and for the public offices of the Government of the United States.

" Sec. IV. And be it enacted, That, for defraying the expense of such purchases and buildings, the President of the United States be authorized and requested to accept grants of money.

" Sec. Y. And he it enacted, That, prior to the first Monday in December next, all officers attached to the seat of Government of the United States, shall be removed to, and, until the first Monday in December, in the year One thousand eight hundred, shall remain at the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, at which place the session of Congress next ensuing the present shall be held.

" Sec. YI. And he it enacted, That, on the said first Monday in December, in the year One thousand eight hundred, the seat of Government of the United States shall, by virtue of this Act, be transferred to the district and place aforesaid. And all the offices attached to the seat of Government shall accordingly be removed thereto by their respective holders, and shall, after the said day, cease to be exercised elsewhere ; and that the necessary expense of such removal shall be defrayed out of the duties on imposts and tonnage, of which a sufficient sum is hereby appropriated.

"Approved, July 16, 1790.

George "Washington, President of the United States^

On the 19th of December, 1791, the Legislature of Maryland passed the following Act ratifying and confirming the cession of the District of Columbia.

"5e it enacted hy the General Assembly of Maryland, That all that part of the said territory, called Columbia, which lies within the limits of this State, shall be, and the same is hereby acknowledged to be, forever ceded and relinquished to the Congress and Government of the United States, in full and absolute right and exclusive jurisdiction; as well of soil as of persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor and effect of the eighth Section of the first Article of the Constitution of Government of the United States : Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed to vest in the United States any right of property in the soil, as to affect the rights of individuals therein, otherwise than as the same shall or may be transferred by such individuals to the United States : And provided, also, That the jurisdiction of the laws of this State over the persons and property of individuals residing within the limits of the cession aforesaid shall not cease or determine until Congress shall by law provide for the government thereof, under their jurisdiction, in manner provided by the Article of the Constitution before recited."

On the 3rd of March, 1791, Congress adopted an amendment repealing so much of the Act already given as required the district to be located above the Eastern Branch, and authorizing the President to include as much of the Eastern Branch and the land below, above the mouth of Hunting Creek, as should be deemed desirable. By this same amendment, the town of Alexandria was made a part of the District of Columbia, and it was provided that none of the public buildings should be located on the Virginia side of the Potomac. President Washington thereupon issued the following proclamation fixing the boundaries of the District:

" Whereas, By a proclamation, bearing date the 14th of January of this present year, and in pursuance of certain Acts of the States of Maryland and Virginia, and of the Congress of the United States, therein mentioned, certain lines of experiment were directed to be run in the neighborhood of Georgetown, in Maryland, for the purpose of determining the location of a part of the territory of ten miles square, for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States ; and a certain part was directed to be located within the said lines of experiment, on both sides of the Potomac, and above the limits of the Eastern Branch, prescribed hy the said Act of Congress.

" And Congress, by an amendatory Act, passed on the 3d day of this present month of March, have given further authority to the President of the United States to make any part of the said territory, below the said limit, and above the mouth of Hunting Creek, a part of the said District, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch ; of the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the town of Alexandria ;

" Now, therefore, for the purpose of amending and completing the location of the whole of the said territory of ten miles square, in conformity with the said amendatory Act of Congress, I do hereby declare and make known that the whole of the said territory shall be located and included within the four lines following, that is to say, —

" Beginning at Jones' Point, being the upper cape of Hunting Creek, in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of forty-five degrees of west of north, and running in a direct line ten miles, for the first line ; then beginning again at the same Jones' Point, and running another direct line at a right angle with the first, across the Potomac, ten miles, for the second line ; then from the terminations of the said first and second lines, running two other direct lines of ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch aforesaid, and the other the Potomac, and meeting each other in a point.

"And I do accordingly direct the Commissioners named under the authority of the said first mentioned Act of Congress to proceed forthwith to have the said lines run, and by proper metes and bounds defined and limited, and thereof to make due report under their hands and seals ; and the territory so to be located, defined, and limited, shall be the whole territory accepted by the said Act of Congress as the District for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States.

" In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be afiixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done at Georgetown aforesaid, the 30th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1791, and of the Independence of the United States, the fifteenth. George Washington."

The District was laid out, in conformity with the instructions of the President, by three Commissioners,, appointed under the Act of Congress, in January, 1791. They were Thomas Johnson, David Stuart, and Daniel Carroll. On the 15th of April, 1791, they superintended the laying of the corner stone of the District, at Jones' Point, near Alexandria. This act was performed with the ceremonies prescribed by the Masonic ritual. The District was called Columbia, in honor of the great discoverer of the Continent. The District remained unchanged until the year 1844, when Congress retroceded to the State of Virginia that portion lying south of the Potomac, including the town of Alexandria. 3

Chapter II. The Federal City

The Federal City definitely located — It is named after George Washiuglon — Prediction of Thomas Lee, Esq. — The boundaries of Washington City defined— Sale of the land— The City laid off by Major Ellicott— The original plan — Real estate speculations — How Washington became a citj' — The Primitive Capital — Slow growth of the city — The War of 1812-15 — The Battle of Bladensburg — Capture of Washington by the British — The Public Buildings burned by the British Army — The return of the Government — A blessing in disguise — Rapid growth of the Citj^ — Opening of the Baltimore Railway — The First Telegraph — The Routine of Washington life — The Rebellion — Changes in the City — Washington during the Civil War — Effects of the War.

Haying thus acquired a Federal District, and having definitely located its boundaries, the next step was to lay off the new city which was to be the Capital of the nation. This task was entrusted to Major L'Enfant, a distinguished engineer, M^ho was informed by the Commissioners that the new city would bear the name of " Washington."

Long before the Revolution, Thomas Lee, the grandson of the distinguished founder of the Virginian family of that name, declared that the Colonies would one day become independent of the mother country, and that the seat of Government, under the new order of affairs, would be located near the falls of the Potomac — a remarkable prediction, which was literally fulfilled. Impressed with this belief he acquired large estates in

Virginia near the head of tidewater on the Potomac. Washington, when a poor surveyor, was struck with the advantages of the location for a similar purpose, and when President, expressed himself warmly in favor of its selection. His wishes are believed to have had great weight in determining the final action of Congress.

The boundaries of the city are thus stated by the Legislature of Maryland :

" The President of the United States directed a city to be laid out, comprehending all the lands beginning on the east side of Rock Creek, at a stone standing in the middle of the road leading from Georgetown to Bladensburg ; thence along the middle of said road, to a stone standing on the east side of the reedy branch of Goose Creek ; thence south-easterly, making an angle of sixty-one degrees and twenty minutes with the meridian, to a stone standing in the road leading from Bladensburg to the Eastern Branch Ferry ; then south to a stone eighty poles north of the east and west line, already drawn from the mouth of Goose Creek to the Eastern Branch ; then east parallel to the said east and west line, to the Eastern Branch ; then with the waters of the Eastern Branch, Potomac River, and Rock Creek, to the beginning — which has since been called the City of Washington."

The land on which the city now stands belonged to Daniel Carroll, Notley Young, David Burns, and Samuel Davidson. These gentlemen deeded the land embraced within the limits specified above, to Thomas Beall and John Mackall Grant, trustees, who conveyed the same to the Commissioners and their successors in office, for the United States, forever. The following are the terms of the sale as mentioned by General Washington in a letter to the Secretary of State, dated March 31st, 1791 :

" The terms entered into by me, on the part of the United States, with the landholders of Georgetown and Carrollsburgh, are, that all the land from Rock Creek, along the river to the Eastern Branch, and so upwards to or above the Ferry, including a breadth of about a mile and a half, the whole containing from three to five thousand acres, is ceded to the public, on condition that, when they shall be surveyed and laid off as a city (which Major L'Enfant is now directed to do), the present proprietors shall retain every other lot ; and for such part of the land as may be taken for public use, for squares, walks, etc., they shall be allowed at the rate of twenty-five dollars per acre, — the public having the right to reserve such parts of the wood on the land as may be thought necessary to be preserved for ornament. The landholders to have the use and profit of the grounds until the city is laid off into lots, and sale is made of those lots, which, by this agreement, become public property. Nothing is to be allowed for the ground which may become streets and alleys."

The task of laying off the city was confided to Major L'Enfant, who began his labors under the supervision of the President. He proved stubborn and hard to manage, however, and Washington removed him, and appointed Mr. Andrew Ellicott in his stead.

Mr. Ellicott at once proceeded to lay ofi" the plan of the city. After drawing a meridional line, by astro nomical observation, through the site selected for the

BEHIND THE SCENES IN WASHINGTON. S7

Capitol, he designed two sets of streets crossing each other at right angles. Those running north and south he distinguished by means of numbers ; those running east and west by means of letters, taking the Capitol as a starting point. Avenues were then run boldly across the city, at various distances from each other. Connecting the most prominent points. They were named after the States.

Congress amended the original plan of the city by including in it a series of magnificent improvements, not one of which has ever been carried out, with the exception of the equestrian statue of Washington.

When the plan was completed, an Act was passed, allowing aliens to hold lots in the city ; and copies of the plan were sent to Europe. Extensive investments were made by foreign capitalists, but they did not prove renumerative. It was believed that the best quarter of the city would be the immediate neighborhood of the Capitol, and the principal investments were made in that section ; but the result proved the neighborhood of the President's house the most attractive, and the Capitol Hill lots entailed serious losses upon their purchasers.

Meanwhile the work of creating a city had been begun. The law authorizing the removal of the Government to Washington City, required that the public buildings should be ready for occupancy before the first Monday in December, in the year 1800. The task before the Commissioners was not a slight one. The new buildings had to be erected in what was almost a forest. President Washington exerted himself to have the work finished by the appointed time, but he labored under many disadvantages in his efibrts, not the least of which was a lack of funds. The money advanced by Virginia and Maryland was insufficient, and was soon exhausted, and though Congress authorized loans for the purpose of completing the work, money was scarce and hard to obtain. Washington made a personal application to the Legislature of Maryland for a loan of $150,000, and that body on the 22d of December, 1796, granted a loan of $100,000, on condition of the individual responsibility of the Commissioners. The money was procured on these terms, and the work pushed forward with such energy that on the 15th of June, 1800, the Commissioners reported the buildings ready for the use of the Government, though much remained to do before they were completed. The public offices were at once removed from Philadelphia to Washington City, and on the 3d of November of that year, Congress assembled in the Capitol.

It was but a miserable, straggling village, this Capital of the Republic, in the days of its infancy. It had all the inconveniences and annoyances of a new settlement, and was utterly destitute of the comforts and pleasures of Philadelphia. Those who had opposed its selection ridiculed it unmercifully as " The city of magnificent distances." They did not even do it the poor justice it was entitled to. Yet there were some who had faith in the destiny of the new city, and who could look beyond the present and enjoy the promise of the future. The Honorable John Cotton Smith, of Connecticut, thus describes the appearance of Washington City, at the meeting of Congress in November, 1800:

"Our approach to the city was accompanied with sensations not easily described. One wing of the Capitol only had been erected, which, with the President's house, a mile distant from it, both constructed with white sandstone, were shining objects in dismal contrast with the scene around them. Instead of recognizing the avenues and streets portrayed on the plan, not one was visible, unless we except a road with two buildings on each side of it, called the New Jersey Avenue. The Pennsylvania Avenue, leading, as laid down on paper, from the Capitol to the Presidential mansion, was then nearly the whole distance a deep morass covered with alder bushes, which were cut through the width of the intended avenue during the then ensuing winter. Between the President's house and Georgetown a block of houses had been erected, which then bore, and may still bear, the name of the six buildings. There were also two other blocks, consisting of two or three dwelling-houses, in different directions, and now and then an insulated wooden habitation,— the intervening spaces, and indeed the surface of the city generally, being covered with shrub oak bushes on the higher grounds, and on the marshy soil either trees or some sort of shrubbery. Nor was the desolate aspect of the place a little augmented by a number of unfinished edifices at Greenleaf's Point, and on an eminence a short distance from it, commenced by an individual whose name they bore, but the state of whose funds compelled him to abandon them, not only unfinished, but in a ruinous condition.