OCR Text |
Show ' WASHINGTON, D. C9 GETTING BACK TO PEA CE BASIS AGAIN By KOIiERT T. HARRY Wa-sliiugton. T' 1112 well-known "dogs o war" have luvu nvhained and the "barkers" on tin' sight -seeing buses have been released in the national capital, for, regardless of what Paris may think, , -V:ishin Jtt on considers the war at an fiul ami is proceeding accordingly. Trobahly the surest indication of tfcjs fart is the activity of liie so-called j ,.MHr barons," who, restrained during me period of actual hostilities by pure : patriotism and special anti-profiteering ' statutes enacted by Congress, now fin-':' fin-':' per their calendars in anticipation of the day when those impediments will ' he swept aside and they will be free to 50 as far as they like. ' The passing of Messrs. Hoover and - Garfield from the lists of prominent ; residents of the capital "Blue Lists" , indeed now for some has been the im-'' im-'' mediate cause of a slight rift in the ' clouds for the oppressed landlords, hotel ': managers, butchers and bakers; but not until the odisus Saulsbury act, which - denied the right of a patriotic property ? owner to raise rents more than 10 per cent, has been invalidated will joy reign nnconfined. Landlords Still on the Job i Of all the signs and omens that point .', the way for the passing 'of Washington r from a war to a peace basis, none is so ' potent, none so significant nor expressive, ex-pressive, as the smile which spreads itself across the faces of landlords whose profiteering proclivities were so ruth- lessly checked by the Saulsbury anti-eviction anti-eviction act, which congressmen found necessary in order that they might abide bereduring the war on the pittance of $7000 which they receive for their statesmanlike endeavors. "Ah," says Mr. Landlord, "peace ' will snon be here. Thank God for - peace!" Which means that just as soon as the Saulsbury act is invalidated by the formal for-mal conclusion of peace, rents will be ' increased according to the whims of the property owners, to some of whom tlie sapphire blue overhead will be the ; limit, while others, who insist there - . should be patriotism in peace as well - v as in war, will not take advantage of ; SIMM- "A suitcase or grip which appears ap-pears unduly burdened has no chance" - i, :' people whom necessity requires to re-" re-" main in "Washington, and will be con-,':! con-,':! tent with increases of 50 per cent over "j existing rentals. Naturally, no fair-minded fair-minded person can complain over a little matter like that. Other signs abound that Washington ' considers peace at hand. The Senate " " may dispute that as much as the lungs r of its long-distanced orators permit, ': i but the weight o evidence is against it. Government clerks who -worked "long and hard" during the war are looking forward again to salary in-iff in-iff creases, shorter hours and more holi-j holi-j days. i'. Men and women whose chief aim in ' ,'' life seems to be to have Pennsylvania I1 avenue roped off for parades are plao-' plao-' if Ding pageants w ithout end or purpose. ' " It is possible now to obtain admittance admit-tance to public buildings without a rass bearing a photograph which ve-tetanies ve-tetanies your Darwinian ancestors and I' telling your grandfather's politics and ' ynur official business to a stupid and impertinent fourth assistant to the Chief IS1 clerk of the private secretary of the man Jou desire to see. t Home Sigijs of Tranou'l1'11'' 5 Tourist parties throng the corridors of I Ike Capitol, the Smithsonian Institution, 1 and the cheaper hotels of Pennsylvania ' avenue, and the "barkers' " old Moke i about the Washington Monument being v the tallest one -story building in the world gets new laughs. ji. The .Tune bride is permitted to ad- mire (be expensive mosaic tiles of the ! Senate corridors, and is privileged to inform the vice president of tuencw ':' domestic corporation that she j"1 ;. : must have a floor like this for her : J Htclien." : Hotel clerks may be interviewed witn-''':) witn-''':) out letters patent, of introduction and or . credit. .V room may he obtained that ; ' in ilsi'lf is something without mort-':' mort-':' ! gagiiiB all visible and prospective assets. ''' Tables arc procurable iu restaurants , n-l cafes (or do they call them cafes ;'; In "hone-dry" areas, despite the ob-;. ob-;. 1 vios derivation of the word?) without contributing a month's upkeep for bead-Ji. bead-Ji. waiters' limousines. -( i Dollar-a-year men are going back to V more productive though perhaps less ' distinctive work, and the "swivel-. "swivel-. chair" brigade, with its dazzling array t silver chevrous, diminishes a little ; lo make room for civilians in the tca-; tca-; rrms and Peacock alley. ' H is becoming possible for a soldier :'r i to walk along F street with his girl and ,' devote some attention to the sparkle of : i k conversation instead of saluting : i ev"y ten paces. The sight of a moving van in front of 1 house or apartment building, once a 'v rity and the immediate cause of not at a real estate office, becomes almost al-most commonplace. It is even possible, occasionally, to find a seat in a street car and there, la repose, to recall the days when the supplementary sup-plementary war tax on admittance to a car was that at least five pompous old Indies might park thcir French heel3 on your feet. ; Discussions as to whether the tax apportionment ap-portionment of the District of Columbia should continue on the existing half-and-half plan with the federal government, govern-ment, the extension of the Capitol grounds over to Union Station and the razing of all buildings on the south side of the avenue to afford one continuous con-tinuous sweep of parkway from the White House to the Capitol again occupy prominent places iu the local newspapers. Representative Claude Kitchin and Senator Boies Penrose renew their old discussion as to the relative merits of the protective tariff and "tariff for revenue only," ani members of Congress Con-gress from Maine to California, from the headwaters of the Mississippi river to its delta, become aware of the pressing press-ing need for millions of dollars of new postoffices in their respective districts and of the necessity, as part of any program of transportation development, for the improvement of "great arteries" of water traffic in their states Senator "Larry" Sherman's pro-nounced pro-nounced antagonism to the practices of Washington merchants, if not actually all things Washingtonian, resounds again in the Senate chamber, this time with the added flavor of a threat to urge legislation to remove the national capital capi-tal to St. Louis. Washington papers replying specifically to the senator from Illinois, but throwing a broad hint to all prospective critics of charter residents, resi-dents, announce they will not stultify themselves by publishing such statements. state-ments. Conditions are becoming so thoroughly enjoyable that even though it is true there are almost as many clerks alias war workers in Washington today as there were when the armistice "was signed last November, and that many federal departments are adding to their forces day by day, a spirit of optimism is manifested by those who either are not rich enough to live where they please or are too poor to remove from Washington. Night Kidea in Vogue Again There is an abundant confidence in the promise of the Republican leaders to curtail expenditures by reducing the number of Clerks. Hope, scarred and wounded by war experiences but' still coming up smiliug, encourages the belief be-lief that the federal departments will be forced to reorganize on such a basis that instead of having' five stenographers on the payroll, each of whom writes three letters a day, there will be one to write those full fifteen letters. Of course, it is realized by the most rabid of the economy experts that it would "uot be fair to impose such a heavy burden bur-den on the clerks over night, and it is intended that only by gradual stages the fifteen-letters-a-day schedule will be reached, so that the entire machinery of the government may not be halted by mutinies and physical breakdowns in the working force. Staid senators find time to return to their established custom of night rides in victorias, which still haunt some quarters of Washington with memories of other days and administrations, drawn by antiquated aud spavined horses and "chauffeured" by still more ancient negroes. The hurried airings in ta.ticabs at. $4 and $.j an hour, which some of the especially serious-minded senators felt essential to their official dignity during the rush hours of the war and the visits of constituents, have been abandoned and the "cruising" and "jockeying" for fares by the auto hackers around the leading hotels returns re-turns as one of the amusemAts of the pedestriau and the terrors of the man driving his first car. And servants! v What of them? Well, it is something to be able to say there is such a- thing as a servant. Not many, it is true, but now and then one is found. Frowns which darkened the brows of Washington Washing-ton housewives aud threatened to become be-come chronic under the title of wrinkles are abating somewhat, even though many of the negroes seem to believe that wages and privileges are to bo Copyright. 1019. by Public Ledc?r Co. ' "Peace will soon be here Thank God for peace!" maintained at wartime levels by the league of nations. They fail to see how there is to be any permanent peace without such guarantees. Negroes who inserted offers of services serv-ices in the "Situations Wanted" columns col-umns "just to see how many of you white women would come here to seek a colored lady's services" (they do not use negro dialect, you know) now are devoting a little more attention to the "Help Wanted Female" ads, but they have lost none of their impudence or avarice. Once More the Silver Lining! The housemaid who refused to work in any Home where children abided, through no fault of thcir own, because she could obtain higher pay for a few hours' work as a charwoman, beginning at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when tbe clerks left the government department); who scorned domestic service with arched eyebrows and reference to wages "paid in these enlightened days," learns with dismay that many departments depart-ments are nearing the close of their extravagant ex-travagant days and that no further appointments ap-pointments of charwomen are to be made. These are the happy cigns appearing in the residential firmament of Washington Wash-ington "after the war." The dawn of peace is the silvery lining in the clouds of discouragement which hung over the capital for almost two years. Kvery day new aspects of a changed Washington are encountered iu the places which formerly reeked, more or less, of the atmosphere of war. It now is possible, for instance, to waik past the Wbite House without encountering the glare of an armed sentry, whose bayonet seemed to be an accusing finger and you a German agent. Potomac Park" speedway is free from the guards, who looked upon every motorist as a potential poten-tial bomb -thrower, eager to wreck one of the hundreds of troop trains which passed through the capital en route to ports of embarkation. "Contract brokers," bro-kers," who incurred the displeasure of the Department of Justice by their efforts to get war orders and the accompanying ac-companying fees, have stepped aside to make room for attorneys seeking to effect some sort of terms with the government gov-ernment on those identical contracts. Elbow Room Once More A certain type of young r:an, which brought every influence to bea-r to get a commission in one of the bureaus here, now is resorting to the same means to get out, while others, who Nought to do as little work'as possible, now are making a great show of being busy, in order to hold their places. Persons to whom the thought of going to France was thoroughly repulsive during the innings when submarines, i Big Berthas and Zeppelins were at bat now are besieging the State Department Depart-ment for passports for sightseeing trips disguised as "important and pressiug business." Some semblance of order is being brought about in the distribution of office space to the various departments, which were forced to pursue a sort of catch -as -catch -can policy when space was at a premium ; but the commission on fine arts and other agencies interested inter-ested in. the maintenance of the scenic features of the capital are beginning to cfespair of ever getting rid of the unattractive, unat-tractive, dumpy and dirty "temporary" wood and stucco structures which were erected "for the war emergency." As fast as one war bureau closes its books and dismisses the working forces a new one is created to absorb the space and the workers. We are told by the seemingly endless string of spokesmen and press agents of tbe Chamber of Commerce that there never is to be a return to the Washington Washing-ton of before-the-war ; that it is to remain a world center of political activity and the commercial axis of the United States. They urge us to rush down to the nearest real estate agent and pay $12,000 or .$15,000 for a bungalow bun-galow which used to sell for $4000 or $5000 because, as their glib press ' agents insist, property values in the District of Columbia never are going to decline and the only way to escape high rents for the rest of our lives is to buy now at the "low .prevailing price." Sherman for Change of Venue They insist, and not without some justice in view of the apparent determination deter-mination of federal departments constantly con-stantly to increase their staffs, that housing conditions must continue congested con-gested for many years or at least until additional building construction shall have made some strides to overtake the mushroom growth in the city's population. popula-tion. Then they proceed to explain why that 50 per cent increase in rents is necessary on houses and apartments crectod when the kaiser still had some social standing among self-respecting aud peace-loving people. Some increases in-creases undoubtedly are necessary on certain properties, but salaried residents resi-dents of Washington fail to see why there should be no limit to the maximum. maxi-mum. It is just this sort of thing which vexes members of Congress and antagonizes antag-onizes them in their dealings with the District of Columbia, to which, by the nature of things, they occupy the same relative position as do city councilman in other places. It is because of this attitude On the part of a strong element of real estate operators, who fifM liberal support in those agencies which are the best adapted to reaching the public, that Senator Sherman and others in Congress Con-gress lose patience and say a lot of unkiud things about Washington merchants mer-chants and people. It is because of the belief of many people here that conditions con-ditions would be worse were not the government of the city vested in Congress Con-gress and congressmen exposed to the same price as the low-salaried clerk, that the right of the District to local self-government suffers from prejudice. The announced decision of real estate es-tate interests to raise rents upon the expiration of the Saulsbury act has stirred new fires of hatred in the breast of Seniitor Sherman, and he now comes forward with the statement that he will urge legislation to remove the capital. His suggestion cannot be taken seriously, because it appears safe to say that any community that might be the seat of the national government would very soon come to regard the institution and people of the government as their natural nat-ural prey in the matter of profits. "After peace has been proclaimed," says the senator from Illinois, "I do not see how it will be possible to enact en-act a law which will limit a landlord in the amount of rent he may charge, any more than it would be possible to pass a law saying how much a man may charge for wheat or any other commodity. com-modity. It has been reported to me that there will be a general and very heavy increase in rents. If that happens, hap-pens, I shall immediately introduce a measure transferring the capital of the nation to some other place, possibly St. Louis. "I do not think that many persons in Washington realize the extent of the feeling which has been aroused among the members of Congress by the exorbitant exor-bitant charges for rents and food and clothing they have been compelled to pay in Washington. A bill of the kind I have mentioned would have strong support. "From a military point of view, Washington is about the poorest place that could be selected for a capital of, the nation. It was burned once by an enemy army, in the war of 1S12. It is not located in the center of a big producing pro-ducing area and food and other materials ma-terials have to be shipped here from considerable distances. "Five hundred million dollars will pay for all the government buildings in Washington. They could be erected in some more central city for that cost. That is a small sum today, comparatively compara-tively speaking." Senator Sherman is the new chairman chair-man of the Senate committee on the District of Columbia, which will have control over legislation for the capital, a fact which augurs ill for the interests which have incurred his displeasure. Industrial Boomers Busy The senator undoubtedly is sincere in his statement, but the time hardly seems ripe for concerted campaigns by the commercial clubs and boards of trade of every enterprising community to have their "ideal location" selected for "the seat of government. In a further effort to make things unpleasant un-pleasant for that element of tbe population popula-tion which derives some pleasure -from tbe scenic beauties of Washington and its cleanliness, some of the' local enthusiasts en-thusiasts now propose that the capital shall become an industrial center. Strenuous efforts are being made to induce in-duce manufacturers to move their plants and their workers to Washington. It cannot be denied that the capital offers many inducements beyond even the imagination im-agination of the averugo commercial club press agent of other cities. There still is some attraction to people of provincial pro-vincial rearing to see the President of the United States aud the Washington Monument and, besides, no theatrical manager ever has devised such a "per- 'Staid senators find time to return to their estab- ffj 5 : lished custom of night rides in victorias" ' .. .r ennial all-star attraction" as Congress in action, producers of "Ben-IIur" and "Upcle Tom's Cabin" not excepted. On the subject of government employes em-ployes in Washington, much could aud has been written. One correspondent recently ventured the inquiry : "Where do they come from and what do they do?" He referred to the clerks who still are pouring into the capital aud he suggested that had the war continued another year, "we would have had 4.000.000 doughboys in France and 4,000,000 stenographers in Washington." Washing-ton." From the depths of his soul came the cry : "Praised be the armistice!" If the Republicans fulfill their promises prom-ises and curtail expenditures, which is another way of saying that bureau chiefs will be denied appropriations for more clerks than are absolutely essential essen-tial to the prompt and efficient transaction transac-tion of the public business, almost every one in Washington who is not a merchant or a property owner will praise the achievement, regardless of political views and affiliations. There has been a material reduction in the number of army officers in Wash ington even though the life of the enlisted en-listed men still is far from pleasant . in the matter of "elbow bending," but the cold fact remains that, whereas there were about 25,000 employes in the War Department on November 11, there are approximately 27,000 now, and recent reports indicated the number is growing. grow-ing. The Treasury Department force is growing steadily, but there appears some excuse for that when consideration considera-tion is given to the additional burdens imposed on the bureau oi internal revenue rev-enue under the new tax laws and upon the bureau of war risk insurance through the Closing of allotment cases and the maintenance of the world's largest larg-est insurance company. A few nights ago the war risk bureau deluged the telegraph tele-graph offices with thousands of messages to men on the civil service lists in every section of tbe country urging them to come to Washington at beginners' salaries of $1100 a year. Busy Little Bureaucrats The navy, the postofhee, the labor and other departments, it would appear ap-pear to the casual though, perhaps, uninformed observer, would begin to disband dis-band some of the purely war bureaus and either transfer clerks to other departments de-partments whose post-war activities have not abated or send them home. To indicate the speed with which some of the navy bureaus are returning to a peace basis it is necessary to refer only to the fact that a bureau in which work ceased automatically months ago now has an elaborate plan to reduce its forces by discharging fifteen girls every month. If such a speed were maintained by Other departments and organizations whose work did not end with the war continued on the current schedule of hiringnew employes, Washington would have a population of a million when the census takers call next year. 1 As proof of the statement that there ia no real work being done in many of the departments, depart-ments, one of the newspapermen here was asked recently to use his influence with members of Congress to obtain "copying work" which stenographers in a downtown branch of the government might do to "pass away the time." And yet it is not far from- the truth to say that for every clerk leaving Washington two others pass through Union Station to accept positions here. In the midst of these conditions public-spirited residents of the District of Columbia are appealing to Congress to adopt proposing statehood for this voteless community. There is miuh o( real merit in the demand that the people peo-ple of the nation;tl capital be enfranchised, enfran-chised, despite the old, moss -covered argument that the people now bore know they would not have i right of suffrage suf-frage when they came here and accurd-iuiy accurd-iuiy ihiy have no ca'bo tor com -plaint. It is the belief of persons wrm are unprejudiced in the matnv mat n. w jrse ti:ne could have been .-rle. i hq than the uresent, when more than the ' necessary one-third of Congress required re-quired to defeat such a resolution are fretting under grievances over ihe cost of living in Washington. Sahara Ju-f in Si-zht! To many of the residents in Washington Wash-ington life was fairly enjoyable so long as there were no restrictions upon the importation of alcoholic liquors from Baltimore. Since the capital has been made "bone dry" by a rider on t tie revenue bill, bootleggers' prices have mounted to such figures that none but the man who could afford to serve the government at one dollar per annum can meet them, and the police have developed de-veloped a mdst disagreeable and unpopular un-popular habit of stopping automobiles on all roads leading into the capital. A man entering Union Station with a suitcase or grip which appears unduly burdened has no chance. This condition, viewed In the further fur-ther unpleasant light that aiter j'uly 1 even Baltimore would be "dry," was responsible for the decision, arrived at about four mouths ago, of a large number of government employes to cast longing glances toward Brazil and other points south. A group of them decided to favor Rio de Janeiro with their talents and presence, and in order to know how to order their favorite refreshments re-freshments they began the study of Spanish at one of the local night schools. When they . had completed about four months of the course, and appeared to believe they could talk intimately in-timately with native Brazilians, their teacher happened to ask them, in a purely casual manner, to what use they intended putting their knowledge of Spanish. TJiey confessed their anticipated antici-pated expatriation from the U. S. A. j x ! "Tourist parties again throng 1 the city" The linguist smiled, aud almost Itu-modintely Itu-modintely Bin2il lost close to forty prospective pros-pective citizeue. He told them Spanish yas uot the language of Brazil, that they must know Portuguese if they expected ex-pected to go there. Now, they feel very much as do many others who criticize Wcshiugtoa, hut who would not live anywhere else, to wit: Washington is about the best old capital the United States has ia this country. ' |