F 
 
 ^^^^^0'^^'^^t' 
 
 LETTER 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE MAYOR OF WASHINOTOJV 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 IN REFERENCE TO 
 
 THE RELATIONS OF THE GENERAL G0YF:KNMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CITY OF WASHINGTON 
 
 ORDERED TO BE PRINTED. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 <T < » V K R N M E N T PRINTING O F F I ( K 
 
 1865. 
 
 -tl M ^ M^ *llll^l « II ^J ^fc^^^»^M»^ 
 
Class. 
 Book 
 
 
LETTER 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE MAYOR OF WASHINGTON 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 IN REFERENCE TO 
 
 THE RELATIONS OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CITY OF WASHINaTON 
 
 ^^^^'"Q 
 
 •-^^■r'" 
 
 ORDERED TO BE PRINTED. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1865. 
 

L B T T E 11 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE MAYOR OF WASHIIGTOI 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SECIIETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 
 
 IN REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 RELATIONS OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT TO TOE CITY OF WASHINGTON, 
 
 EMBRACED IX 
 
 THE SECRETARY'S REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
 
 OUDERED TO BE PRIxVTEI). 
 
 Mayor's Office, 
 Washington City, D. C, Kovemher, 1SG5. 
 Sir : Presuming upon your weH-kuown interest in whatever concerns this 
 city, as well as your often-expressed wish to give your aid in making it worthy 
 of "being the metropolis of this great nation, and in the expectation that the 
 several subjects herein alluded to, or such thereof as may meet your approval, 
 may be by you communicated to Congress, I venture to suggest wherein I 
 think its action is needed. In doing so. I deem it proper thai; such of the sev- 
 eral members who are not familiar with it should be informed first as to 
 
 THE RELATIONS OF THE tiENERAL GOVER.XMENT TO THE CITY OF WASH- 
 INGTON. 
 
 In the year 1789 the locality of the city of Washington Avas, through the 
 influence of General Washington, and after much difficulty in Congress, 
 selected as that of the national metropolis, and in the year 1800 the archives 
 of the government were removed here from Philadelphia : 
 
 1st. Because of its geographical position between the nortli and :he south. 
 
 2d. The access to it from the ocean. 
 
 3d. Its distance in the interior and towards the west. 
 
 The object of having a permanent seat of government is indicated in the 
 Constitution, which provides that Congress shaH " 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 Lhiited States." 
 
 To accomplish this object the District was ceded by the States of Maryland 
 and Virginia, possession taken by Congress, and commissioners were appointed 
 in 1790 by the then President, General Washington, under authority of Con- 
 
■to 
 
 gress, .'ind empowered to " survey and, by proper metes and bounds, define 
 this territor}', and to purchase or accept such quantity of land on the eastern 
 side of the Potomac river, within such District, as the President shall deem 
 proper for the nse of the United States, and, according to such plans as the 
 President shall approve, provide suitable buildings and accommodations for 
 Congress, the President, and for the public officers of the government." 
 
 While a succession of hills and valleys, the site of this city was selected as 
 the permanent scat of the government of the United States from that portion of 
 the District of ten miles square ceded by the State of Maryland. It is the 
 creature of Congress and the general government, for their own purposes and 
 where they have unlimited control, can regulate and govern without the inter- 
 ference of the States, and is not dependent upon the will or resources of any 
 particular portion of the Union, and can never be the subject of local interest. 
 It is the nation's city, common to the whole country ; and as a State capital is 
 to its State, so the metropolis of the nation should be to all the States and every 
 American a subject of pride and interest. 
 
 No policy can be more correct than that of making the metropolis of this vast 
 republic worthy of the powerful and extended nation of which it is the focus. 
 The economy or parsimony which would cripple its growth will be anti-national. 
 Much has been done by previous Congresses and administrations for its im- 
 provement ; much more remains to be done ; and while this city has expended 
 out of the taxes paid by its citizens large sums in opening, making, and repair- 
 ing streets and sidewalks required by a sparse population scattered over a 
 large area, and has opened and improved indiscriminately those leading to and 
 around the public reservations and buildings belonging to the general govern- 
 ment, enhancing the value of the nation's property, the government has spent 
 upon streets and avenues laid out inordinately wide and to suit its own purposes 
 and convenience, and over part of which they exercise exclusive control, com- 
 paratively little, and that little on Pennsylvania avenue and those streets and 
 avenues around the Capitol, President's House, executive departments, and other 
 of its own exclusive property, the improvement of which was indispensable to 
 its convenience and promotive of its interest. 
 
 The obligation of the general government to do much towards the improve- 
 ment of this city cannot be doubt'jd. There was, if not expressed, certainly an 
 implied contract to do so, and for which the general government received a 
 valuable consideration. 
 
 When the city was laid out, the owners of the soil gave to the general gov- 
 ernment not only enough for the streets and avenues of such unparalleled width, 
 but likewise every alternate building lot, and nominally sold to the government 
 at the minimum price of d£25 an acre, or $36,099, all the large reservations on 
 which its public buildings stand. Of the 7,134 acres of land comprising the 
 whole area of this city, the government obtained as a free gift and without the 
 vost of a dollar — 
 
 Acres- 
 
 For streets and avenues 3, 606 
 
 10,136 building lots 1,508 
 
 And nominally purchased 512 
 
 5,626 
 Leaving to the proprietor of the soil every alternate lot 1, 508 
 
 5,626 
 1,508 
 
 7, 134 
 
3 
 
 The whole area of the city, exclusive of all east of Twenty-fifth street east, 
 and of the basin at the west end of the canal, is 6,110.91 acres, or 200,192,564 
 square feet, divided as follows : 
 
 Square feet. 
 
 Public reservations 25, 189, 402 
 
 Building lots 121, 095, 214 
 
 Alleys 7, 141, 105 
 
 Avenues, streets, and open spaces 112, 707, 225 
 
 Total 220, 192, 540 
 
 Feet. 
 
 The total length of the streets is 1, 119, 003 
 
 The total length of the avenues is 183, 797 
 
 Aggregate 1, 303, 400 
 
 or 227j^jj\ miles. 
 
 Of the 227y^jj^^ miles of streets, nearly all have been opened and graded ; and 
 to pave them, with their unusual widths, especially the avenues, and keep them 
 in repair, suggests the necessity of doing something to relieve this corporation 
 and property owners from the very heavy tax on their resources that would be 
 necessary. 
 
 The adoption of the plan of wide streets and avenues was by General Wash- 
 ington, for some practical utility, though it may not as yet have been developed, 
 and if a way of obviating the difficulty could be found without ultimately and 
 permanently destroying that plan, it would be a temporary relief, and, until the 
 utility of wide streets should be developed, it would be well to avail ourselves of it. 
 The streets running from north to south, designated by numbers, and from east 
 to west, designated by letters, crossing each other at right angles, are cut diag- 
 onally by twenty-one avenues, bearing the names of that number of States, fif- 
 teen of which point towards the States after which they are respectively 
 named. These avenues, leading to and from every particular place or building, 
 connecting every part of the city, and serving as main arteries, form at their 
 junction with the streets five circles, fourteen triangles, twelve reservations, and 
 eleven thousand and seventy squares, the circles and triangles being intended 
 for ornamentation with fountains and statuary, the reservations for the public 
 buildings, and the squares for individual purposes of stores and residences. It 
 was the conception of a grand plan of a model city, worthy of the name of its 
 illustrious founder. 
 
 The general government and the proprietors of the soil were joint owners of 
 all the property (land) on which the federal city is built, in the proportion of 
 5,026 to 1,508 acres, 5,114 acres of the government's portion having been ob- 
 tained without cost, and 512 acres, though nominally purchased, were really 
 paid for out of the moneys arising from the sale of the very alternate lots so 
 generously given by the proprietors of the soil, with the understanding that 
 they were given for the improvement of their joint property, and, as was the 
 expectation of all persons, that the property so acquired by the government 
 would, under its management, be immensely productive, enabling it to spend 
 large sums in the improvement of the city. The government is, therefore, 
 bound by every principle of justice to pay a portion of the expense of improving 
 the federal city, equal to the extent of its interest, greatly more than one-half, 
 and which was to be increased in value and be benefited by such improve- 
 ments. 
 
 Of the 10,130 lots given by the proprietors for the purpose of improving the 
 federal city, 6,411 were sold previously to the year 1802, at a time Avhen not in 
 
4 
 
 demand and there were but few bidders for them, and of the proceeds of the 
 sale— 8042,082 02—6330,508 08 was applied towards building the Capitol, 
 and .s'240,G32 87 towards the erection of a mansion for its Chief Magistrate. 
 
 The remainder of these lots, a free gift to the general government, and, as was well 
 understood at the time " that whatever moneys were realized therefrom would 
 at least be expended for the benefit of that city," of the soil of which the donors 
 and the general government were joint owners, were, with the exception of 
 $25,000 worth each given to Columbia and Georgetown colleges, $10,000 each 
 to the Washington and St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, from time to time sold and 
 the money expended in improving the property reserved for the use of the gen- 
 eral government, the salaries and office expenses of its own officers, the 
 Commissioners and Superintendent of Public Buildings, and President's gar- 
 dener and for manure and utensils for his garden. 
 
 Neither the donors, the original proprietors, nor the donees (the general 
 government) at that time contemplated that the large sums of money arising 
 therefrom should be spent other^^ise than in the improvement of their joint 
 property, and certainly no one supposed that the whole or even an equal portion 
 of the burden of opening and keeping in repair streets, laying sidewalks, build- 
 ing bridges, and doing whatever might be necessary to a new and large city 
 intended for the capital of a great nation, or indeed of subsequently maintaining 
 and supporting it, should be borne by the citizens of Washington alone. 
 
 L'poii the property reserved for the use and purposes of the nation the 
 general government has expended in buildings and other improvements for its 
 own exclusive use the sum of SI 4,709,338 G7, partly taken from the public 
 treasury, and partly from the sale of the lots donated from private individuals, 
 while the reservations themselves are valued at $13,412,293 36, making the 
 aggregate value of the nation's real property in this city at the time of the 
 assessment, now some years since, to be -$28,121, 631 45, nearly equal in value 
 to all individual property, and which, if liable to the same burden, would yield 
 by way of taxation a revenue to this city of 1^210,912 23 annually. 
 
 This immense property of the government has at all times been free from 
 taxation, while property of individuals has been subject to it. 
 
 Holding here more property than elsewhere in the Union, assessments upon 
 Avhich alike to private property have from time to time been made, the 
 government has been subject to no imposition of the kind, and taxes collected 
 only from individuals. 
 
 The avenues vary from one liundred and t\\enty to one^hundred and sixty 
 feet in width, and the streets from eighty to one hundred and forty feet, the 
 average being ninety feet, costing more than double the amount of streets of 
 the same length and more moderate dimensions, and as it has not grown in the 
 usual manner, but has necessarily been created in a short time, the pressure for 
 improvement has been burdensome to its citizens. 
 
 If, therefore, Congress would allow — and I see no reason why it should not — the 
 property of the general government in this city to bear its equal proportion of 
 the burden of maintaining and supporting the municipal government, of improv- 
 ing their own and the citizen's joint property, of supporting the great number of 
 indigent persons attracted to ihe seat of government, and of educating the chil-. 
 dren of the thousands flocking here from all sections of the country, no more 
 could or would be asked. 
 
 Charge tlie general government with the money realized from the sale of the 
 lots, and which should have inured to the benefit of the city, the interest thereon, 
 and with a rate of taxation on its vast property here as is paid by individuals, 
 and credit it with every dollar spent and properly chargeable to the improve- 
 ment of the city, it will be found that the general government is greatly debtor 
 to the city. 
 
I.XDEBTEDNESS OF THE (JE.XEKAL GOVERNMENT TO THE CITY. 
 
 It was not, however, until the citizens of Washington liad borne so unequal a 
 burden for a long time, that Congress, admitting the propriety of at least spend- 
 ing in the improvement of the city what was realized from the sale of the 
 lots given by the original proprietors of the soil, on the loth day of May, 1S20, 
 by the 15th section of an act of that date, directed '^that the Commissioner of 
 Public l^uildings, or other person appointed to superintend the United States 
 disbursements in the city of Washington, shall reimburse to the corporation a 
 just proportion of any expense which may hereafter be incurred in laying open, 
 paving, or otherwise improving any of the streets or avenues in front of, or ad- 
 joining to, or which may pass through or between any of the public squares or 
 reservations, which proportion shall be determined by the comparison of the 
 length of the fronts of the said squares or reservations of the United States on 
 any such street or avenue with the whole extent of the two sides thereof.'' 
 
 At this time. May 15, 1820, there remained of the lots so given by the orig- 
 inal proprietors 3,725, all of which have been sold at greatly enhanced prices, 
 and the money paid into the treasury, and this corporation has since then, from 
 time to time, advanced sums of money to the general government which it is 
 entitled under this act to have refunded, and which yet remain unpaid, as 
 follows : 
 
 March 23, 1855. Sewer in Four-and-a-half street, in front of res- 
 ervation between Missouri avenue and the canal si, 000 00 
 
 September 17, 1855. Grading and gravelling Seventeenth street, 
 
 in front of President's grounds down to the canal 1. 000 00 
 
 August 26, 1856. Paving carriage-way of Ninth street west, from 
 
 B street to Pennsylvania avenue 2, 582 16 
 
 ]\Iay 27, 1857. Advanced by the corporation of Washington for 
 
 the repair of the Long bridge 5, OOO 00 
 
 May 12, 1860. Trimming and gravelling I street north, from 
 
 Sixth to Seventh street west 206 50 
 
 September 14, 1860. Enclosing Judiciary square, (nnder act of 
 
 Congress approved ^[arch 3, 1857.) . . /. 2, 500 00 
 
 October 20, 1860. Repairing Missouri avenue, from Four-and-a- 
 half to Sixth street west 200 00 
 
 April 27, 1861. Grading and gravelling G street north, from 
 
 Fourth to Fifth street west 1 l.S 63 
 
 November 2, 1861. Sewer in Thirteenth street, in front of gov- 
 ernment space between Pennsylvania avenue and E street 1, 500 00 
 
 April 17, 1862. Improvement of Four-and-a-half street, from Mis- 
 souri avenue to Maine avenue 244 00 
 
 May 20, 1862. Loaned to Commissioner of Public Buildings for 
 
 cleaning Pennsylvania avenue 1, 500 00 
 
 September 6, 1862. Sewer in Seventh street, in front of Northern 
 
 market-house 1, 7')0 00 
 
 January 1, 1863. Sewer in front of space on 'J'enth street, between 
 
 I and New York avenue 800 00 
 
 March 23, 1863. Grading Twentieth street Avest, from Pennsyl- 
 vania avenue to I street north 500 00 
 
 May 23, 1863. Sewer on Ninth, between I and K streets, public 
 
 space 1, 750 00 
 
 May 29, 1863. Sewer in Sixth street, in front of public space 
 
 between I and K streets 1^ 500 00 
 
 July 27, 1863. Grading and gravelling I street north, from 
 
 Eleventh to Twelfth street west 500 00 
 
July 27, 1S63. Grading and gravelling Eleventli street west, 
 
 from I to K street north $500 00 
 
 August 1, 1S63. Paving carriage-way of B street nortli, between 
 
 Seventh and Ninth streets west o, 135 94 
 
 September 7, 1863. Relaying gutters on Eighth street west, be- 
 tween I and K streets north 1,211 50 
 
 October 31, 1863. Repairing F street north, from Seventh to 
 
 Eighth street west '. 138 00 
 
 February 12, 1864. Improving reservation at Fifth and Sixth 
 
 streets and I street and Massachusetts avenue 880 40 
 
 February 12, 1864. Enclosing public reservation between Eighth 
 
 and Ninth, and K street and Massachusetts avenue 929 20 
 
 April 29, 1864. Relaying gutters in Fifth street west, between 
 
 E and G street north, (Judiciary square) 691 53 
 
 May 24, 1864. Improving and enclosing reservation at intersec- 
 tion of Massachusetts avenue and Tenth and Eleventh streets, 1, 129 67 
 
 July 29, 1864. Sewer in front of public space between Eighth 
 
 and Ninth streets, on K street 750 00 
 
 October 24, 1864. Grading and gravelling B street north, from 
 Fifteenth to Seventeenth street west, in front of reservation 
 south of President's House 2, 000 00 
 
 October 24, 1864. Paving carriage-way of K street north, from 
 
 Seventh to Eighth street west 888 08 
 
 May 22, 1865. Cleaning Pennsylvania avenue May 22 and 23, 
 
 1865 510 00 
 
 37,410 61 
 
 In addition to these, this corporation has spent thousands of dollars in im- 
 proving from time to time the several avenues and laying flag footways across 
 the same, which they would in equity be entitled to have again from the general 
 government, though no special claim is made herein therefor. 
 
 Congress, by the third section of an act of May 5, 1864, entitled "An act to 
 amend an act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, passed 
 May 15, 1820," directed that in all cases in which the streets, avenues, or alleys 
 of the said city pass through or by any of the property of the United States, the 
 Commissioner of Public Buildings shall pay to the duly authorized officer of the 
 corporation the just proportion of the expense incurred in improving such ave- 
 nue, street, or alley which said property bears to the whole cost thereof, to be 
 ascertained in the same manner as the same is apportioned among the individ- 
 ual proprietors of the property improved thereby. Under this section of this 
 act this corporation is entitled to have from the Commissioner of Public Build- 
 ings the following sums for the work done during the past summer and this 
 fall, and for which an immediate appropriation is asked : 
 
 Fourteenth street sewer across Ohio avenue, across Pennsylvania avenue, and 
 in front of the reservation south side of avenue in front of Franklin square, 
 and across Vermont and Massachusetts avenues, 1,145 feet. . . $9, 918 00 
 E street north. Paving carriage-way in front of reservation south 
 side of E street north, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth 
 
 streets west, half of the street, 553 feet 2, 637 00 
 
 Seventh street sewer in front of Patent and Post Offices, also in 
 front of government reservation and across Pennsylvania ave- 
 nue and Louisiana avenue, J ,364 feet sewer 12, 712 00 
 
 Four-and-a-half street. Paving of Four-and-a-half street from the 
 
 canal to Missouri avenue, also side footwalks, 400 feet 4, 910 00 
 
Fifth street. Paving half of carriage-way in front of government 
 reservation, also side tootwalks l3etween F and G streets, 1,330 
 feet 
 
 F street north. Paving the carriage-way of F street north, in 
 
 front of the Post and Patent Offices, 500 feet 3, SOS 00 
 
 $6,926 00 
 
 40,911 00 
 
 It is intended that much mon; shall be done during the approaching than 
 was during the Inst season, and it is important that provision should be made in 
 advance to have ready in the hands of the Commissioner of Public Buildings 
 sufficient funds to pay the general government's proportionate part ; unless this 
 is done, delays and difficulties will arise which will necessarily impede us in 
 improving the city. 
 
 It is impossible to approximate the sum that will be required, and I do not 
 think I will be far wide of the mark in asking for one hundred thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 SKWERAGK. 
 
 No subject in connexion with this city can better engage your own and the 
 attention of Congress than the matter of its proper drainage, so essential to the 
 health, comfort, and convenience of those, like yourself, connected with the 
 general government, having a protracted residence among us, and of individual 
 members of Congress, who are more or less here during their terms, as well as 
 to the permanent resident. 
 
 Upon this subject I had the honor to transmit to you, a short time since, a very 
 elaborate and able report of Messrs. Cluss and Kammerhueber, civil engineers, sug- 
 gesting a proper mode of sewerage, involving, however, an expense which this city 
 at present is unable to bear ; and as it is just and proper that the general govern- 
 ment should assist in accomplishing this much-desired and needed object, I 
 would therefore ask the co-operation of the general government, and would 
 suggest, if none better is offered, that the mode and means of efficient drainage 
 proposed by those gentlemen be adopted, the cost to be borne equally by the 
 "•eneral and municipal governments, and the work to be done under the super- 
 vision of a board of scientific and practical gentlemen of this city. This would 
 effectually abate what for a long time past has been an insufferable nuisance, the 
 filth in the canal. To this end the corporation should be empowered by Congress 
 to levy a special tax to meet its *hare of the expense. 
 
 Permit me here to commend to you, and through you to the consideration of 
 Congress, the Avork of draining the low grounds near the arsenal, now being 
 done? for the commandant of the post, under the supervision of Mr. William D. 
 Wise, and suggest that, in addition to the great improvement of the property of 
 the government in that neighborhood, it is all-important to the health of the 
 community of Washington. • i • 
 
 I would also su{?jvcst that the general government unite with tliat of the city 
 
 in adopting a general system of sewerage, and particularly that the act of 
 Con-ress of February 23, 1865, entitled " An act to amend an act to incorpo- 
 rate die inhabitants of the city of Washington, passed jMay 15, 1S20," approved 
 May 5, 1864, be amended so as to provide for laying the taxes therein pro- 
 vided for, for sewerage, upon the property benefited by the sewer, instead of, as 
 now, limiting it to the property bordering on the sewer ; as it now bears with 
 unusual hardship upon the property bordering upon the improvement, while 
 property equally benefited, though 'not bordering on it, escapes at compara- 
 tively small cost. 
 
STREETS AND AVENUES. 
 
 1 would direct your attention to tlie necessity of opening;- and otherwise im- 
 proving- tlie avenues of this city. These thoroughfares are the property of the 
 general j;overnmeut, exclusively under its control and jurisdiction, and should 
 be improved, at least that part of them already built upon, by paving the car- 
 riage-ways in the same way as that adopted by the city in paving the streets. 
 This could be done by the corporation availing itself of the power granted by 
 the act of Congress of February 25, 1865, and levying upon the property bor- 
 dering thereon a tax, as provided in that act. 
 
 To exercise this power, hoAvever, would prove exceedingly onerous to the indi- 
 vidual property owners, in consequence of the great width of those thoroughfares, 
 as well as to this corporation, Avhieh has to bear the expense of so improving all 
 the intersections. To obviate this difiicuity, I would suggest for your consid- 
 eration the lessening the width of such of the avenues as will admit of its 
 being done without injury to private property, by laying outside of the pave- 
 ment line, on each side, a sodded course, to be flanked with a line of curbing 
 and planted with ornamental shade trees, as is common in the cities of Buffalo 
 and Cleveland. 
 
 This would so lessen the width of the carriage-way of the avenues and contract 
 the space necessary to be paved as to render paving them, if not less, certainly 
 not more expensive to the property owners thereon than to those on the streets. 
 
 Again, if this be not done, I would suggest as an alternative that the general 
 government undertake and cause to be paved the carriage-way of all the avenues, 
 while the city undertakes and will pave the carriage-way of the streets, 
 paying therefor not as at present, by a tax on the property, but out of its general 
 fund. This, I think, would equalize the burden between the general and muni- 
 cipal governments, relieve the individual property owners from an extraordinarily 
 heavy burden of taxation, and greatly facilitate the paving of the whole city. 
 
 In this connexion, I would ask that Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, 
 New Jersey, and Virginia avenues be opened and improved ; that the carriage- 
 way of Pennsylvania avenue west of the Capitol be repaved Avith the Belgian 
 pavement, and that portion of it east of the Capitol be reduced to its proper 
 grade and the footwalks on both sides be laid down at least to Eleventh street 
 east, and the carriage-way of ^Maryland avenue west of the Capitol be paved 
 to the Potomac river. 
 
 iMARKET-HOl SE. 
 
 Some two years since, this corporation, deeming its right to do so indisputa- 
 ble, attempted to abate the nuisance created by the dilapidated and unsightly 
 buildings on Pennsylvania avenue known as the Centre market, by the erection 
 on the same site of a new and ornamental building; when, at the instance of 
 some persons, and with a view to prevent the occupancy of that reservation for 
 such purpose, the House of Representatives passed the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Committee for the District of Columbia be instructed to 
 inquire into and report what legislation is necessary, and what further public 
 (officers are needed, to prevent or abate the obstructions of the streets of the 
 city of Washington, as prescribed by the original plan ; and particularly by 
 what authority of law Eighth street west is obstructed so as to prevent sight 
 of the Smithsonian grounds, and proper ventilation of that street ; also, by what 
 authority of law North B street is used for building purposes; also, by what 
 law or regulation the streets leading toward the public mall are trenched upon 
 by any structures Avhatever, preventing an uninterrupted view of the grounds 
 and that ventilation Avhich is a necessity to the health of the city ; and also, 
 whether the rental of the public reservation between Tenth and Twelfth streets 
 west, near North 1) street, accrues to the government or to the corporation oi' 
 Washington." 
 
The object of this resolution was, plainly, to defeat the attempt of this corpo- 
 ration to replace by new, ornamental and sightly buildings the old and dilapi- 
 dated ones occupying the reservation on Pennsylvania avenue and used as a 
 market-house by this corporation. 
 
 The authority to occupy with a building of that character, and for the purpose 
 for which it has so long been used, the public space or reservation on which 
 the Centre Market now stands, is identical Avith and precisely the same as that 
 to occupy with the buildings and for the purposes fn- which they are used the 
 spaces or reservations on which now stand the Capitol, President's House, the 
 State, Treasury, AVar, and Navy Departments, and Patent Office ; and, further, 
 while the Capitol obstructs Pennsylvania, Maryland and Xew Jersey avenues. 
 North, South and East Capitol streets; the President's House Pennsylvania 
 and New York avenues, F and G streets; the City Hall Indiana and Louisiana 
 avenues, E and F streets, and the Patent Office this same Eighth street, neither 
 the old Centre market nor the contemplated new building obstructs any avenue 
 or street whatever. 
 
 This city was laid out under tin; authority of Congress and in compliance 
 with the orders and directions of General Washington, which are of record in 
 your office, wherein Thomas Beall and John M. Gant, the trustees to whom 
 the proprietors of the soil had conveyed their lands for the purpose of a federal 
 city, were ordered and directed to convey to the commissioners appointed under 
 the act of Congress of July 16,1790, entitled "An act to establish a temporary 
 and permanent seat of government of the United States and their successors. 
 for the use of the United States forever," all the streets and such of the land, 
 squares, parcels, or lots, as the President should deem proper for the use of the 
 United States. 
 
 Certain squares, parcels, and lots, containing in the aggregate 541 acres, 1 
 rood, and 2 perches, and numbered from 1 to 17, and marked and laid* down, 
 and as clearly and precisely delineated on the original plan of the city as any 
 private lot, were deemed proper for the use of the United States, and were set 
 apart and dedicated to public uses by General Washington, as follows : 
 
 
 Desio'iiatious, &c, 
 
 1 \ The President's square 
 
 2 \ The Capitol square and mall east of L5th street west 
 
 3 I The park south of Tiber creek and west of ]5th street west 
 
 4 I The Uuiversitj square, south of squares Xus. 33 and 34, to Potomac 
 i river 
 
 5 j The fort at Turkey Buzzard or Greenleaf 's Poiut 
 
 6 I The West luarket, on Potomac, (covered with water.) 
 
 7 The Centre market 
 
 8 I The National Church square 
 
 9 i The Judiciary square 
 
 10 j Nortli of Pennsylvania avenue, between 3d and il streets west 
 
 11 ; Between north B and C streets and 2d and 3d streets Avest 
 
 12 I North of Pennsylvania avenue, between "id and 3d streets west 
 
 13 j The Hospital square 
 
 14 I The Navy Yard square 
 
 15 I Eastern Branch Market squau' ... . 
 
 16 ! do do ;;;;;; 
 
 17 I The Town House square 
 
 O c 
 
 83 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 2-27 
 
 
 
 .^ 
 
 29 
 
 3 
 
 [) 
 
 19 , 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 28 
 
 2 
 
 31 
 
 2 ' 
 
 3 1 
 
 33 
 
 4 
 
 1) 
 
 25 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 27 
 
 <) 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 34 
 4 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 21 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 23 ! 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 Total . 
 
 541 
 
 29 
 
10 
 
 This orig-inal plan, with its seventeen appropriations or reservations dis- 
 tinctly marked out, laid down, and delineated, and the pnrpose tor which they 
 were severally intended and set apart publicly declared, was laid before the 
 proprietors before they agreed or did make to the "eneral government grants 
 of the soil on which this city stands, and the commissioners who sold, and the 
 parties who bought, did so under the full persuasion that these a])propriations 
 were permanent and unalterable. 
 
 The clause of these orders and directions of General Washington, assigning 
 appropriation (reservation) No. 7, ignores Sth street west, south of the north 
 line of Louisiana avenue, and gives for Ct;ntre market S(|uare the whole of the 
 area running west from 7th to 9th streets, and running north from Canal street 
 to Pennsylvania and Louisiana avenues, in these words : " The public appro- 
 priation beginning at the north side of Canal street and the east side of 9th 
 street west, thence north to the south side of an avenue (Louisiana) drawn in 
 front of square mimbered three hundred and eighty-two, (382,) thence north- 
 easterly Avith the south side of said avenue (Louisiana) until it hitersects Penn- 
 sylvania avenue, thence with the south side of said avenue (Pennsylvania) 
 until it intersects the west side ot 7th street west, thence with the west side of 
 said street until it intersects Canal street, thence with the north side of Canal 
 street to the beginning." 
 
 All these seventeen appropriations intended for public buildings and uses, 
 Avith few exceptions, intersect and obstruct streets, and are as minutely de- 
 scribed in the original plan of the city, indorsed by both Presidents Washing- 
 ton and Adams, as any private lot, the object being, I presume, to break the 
 monotony of streets miles in length by imposing public edifices at the most 
 important intersections. 
 
 Subsequently the House of Representatives, on the 2.3th day of June, 1864, 
 passed another resolution in these Avords following, and Avhich Avas commonly 
 understood to be intended to put an end to and prevent the erection of the 
 new market-house ; and at the instance of your predecessor, Avho so understood 
 it, the further prosecution of the Avork AA^as stopped : 
 
 ".JOINT RESOUJTIOX autboriziug the Secretary of the Interior to reclaim and preserve 
 certain property of the United States. 
 
 •' Resolrcd hy the Senate and House of RejJresentatives of the United States 
 of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and 
 is hereby, authorized and directed to prevent the improper appropriation or oc- 
 cupation of any of the public streets, aA^cnues, squares, or reservations in the 
 city of Washington belonghig to the United States, and to reclaim the same if 
 unlawfully appropriated, and particularly to prcA'cnt the erection of any perma- 
 nent building upon any property reserved to or for the use of the United 
 States, unless plainly authorized by act of Congress, and to report to the Con- 
 gress, at the commencement of its next session, his proceedings in the premises, 
 together Avith a full statement of all such property, and Iioav and by Avhat au- 
 thority the same is occupied or claimed. Nothing herein contained shall be 
 construed to interfere Avith the temporary and proper occupation of any portion 
 of Such property, by lawfnl authority, for the legitimate purposes of the United 
 States." 
 
 Though it jiiight haAc been the object and intention of the member avIio ot- 
 tered that "joint resolution" to prevent the erection, by this corporation, of a 
 ncjAv building on the site of the present Centre market, no particular mention or 
 allusion is made to it, and it is not reasonable to suppose that, if advised of 
 such object and intention, Congress Avould, in so hurried a manner, Avithout in- 
 formation on the subject, and Avithout providing something in lieu thereof, have 
 adopted a measure so materially affecting the comfort and convenience of the 
 
11 
 
 community of Wu^^llillgton and the intorost^ of thi;^ corporation, and bo detri- 
 mental to private rio-ht^. 
 
 The resolution is general in it?^ terms, authorizing and directing the Secretary 
 of the Interior "to prevent the improper appropriation or occupation of any of 
 the public streets, avenues, S(|uares, or reservations, in the city of Washington, 
 belonging to the United States, to reclaim the same if unlawfully appropriated, 
 and particularly to prevent the erection of any permanent building upon any 
 property reserved to or for the use of the United States, unless plainly au- 
 thorized by act of Congress," with a proviso that "nothing therein contained 
 shall be construed, hoAvever, to interfere with the temporary and proper occu- 
 pation of any portion of such property, by lawful authority, for the legitimate 
 purposes of the United States." 
 
 Taking this joint resolution as it is intended, the inquiry will be, by what 
 authority this corporation occupies and uses that space for market purposes ; 
 and though the right so to occupy it might be readily presumed from the length 
 of time it has been so used, the authority of this corporation will, T think, on 
 examination, be found to have emanated from Congress itself. 
 
 The act of Congress establishing a temporary and permanent seat of govern- 
 ment of the United States, (July 16, 1790,) and an act to amend the same, 
 (March 3, 1791,) authorized the President of the United States to appoint three 
 commissioners, any two of whom were empowered, under the direction of the 
 President, to survey and by proper metes and bounds to define and limit a dis- 
 trict of territory, and with power to purchase or accept such quantity of land 
 on the eastern side of the Potomac as the President should deem proper, for 
 the use of the United States and according to such plan as the President shall 
 approve, to provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress, for 
 the President, and the public officers of the government of the United States." 
 By authority of these acts of Congress, and imder the direction of the 'Presi- 
 dent and these commissioners. Major Charles Peter I'Enfant laid out a plan of 
 the seat of the federal government, and the proprietors of the soil, on the 29th 
 of June, 1791, executed a deed conveying all their lands to Thomas Beall, of 
 George, and John M. Gant, upon the special trusts to convey all the said lands, 
 or such part thereof as may be thought necessary and proper, to be laid out as 
 a federal city, with such streets, squares, parcels, and lots as the President of the 
 United States and the commissioners for the time being appointed by virtue 
 of the act of Congress entitled "An act for establishing a temporary and per- 
 manent seat of government of the United States," and their successors for the 
 use of the United States forever, all the said land, streets, and such of the 
 said squares, parcels and lots, as the President shall deem proper, for the use of 
 the United States; and that as to the residue of the said lots into which the 
 said lands shall have been laid off and divided, a fair and equal division of them 
 shall be made, one-half to the original proprietors, the other moiety "to be 
 sold at such times and on such terms and conditions as the President of the 
 United States shall direct, and the produce of the sales of said lots applied in 
 the first place to the payment in money for so much of the land as might be 
 appropriated to the use of the United States, at the rate of .£25 per acre, not 
 accounting streets as part thereof, this being so paid or in any other manner 
 satisfied ;" then the produce of the same sales, or what may remain thereof as 
 aforesaid in money or securities of any kind, shall be paid, assigned, transferred, 
 and delivered over to the President for th(> time being as a grant of money to 
 be applied for the purposes and according to the act of Congress aforesaid, and 
 intrust further that the j^ropr'utor of the soil, his heirs and assigns, shall and 
 may continue his occupation of the land sold at his and their ivill and pleasure 
 until the same shall be occupied under the said appropriations for the use of the 
 United, States as aforesaid or by purchasers. 
 On the 19th of December, 1791, the legislature of Maryland passed an act 
 
12 
 
 "concerning the Territory of Columbia and tlie city of Washington," subject- 
 ing the lands of all other persons in the city to the same terms and conditions as 
 those conveyed by Notley Young and others in trust to Beall and Gant. 
 
 These acts of Congress, the act of the legislature of Maryland, Avith the deeds 
 of trusts from the proprietors of the soil, are the sources of authority under 
 which the President and commissioners acted in laying out the city. 
 
 The plan of Major I'Enfont, with slight alterations made by Mr. Ellicott, 
 was approved by General Washington, and the division of lots between the 
 government and the proprietors of the soil as provided for in the deeds of trusts 
 made in accordance there w^ith. 
 
 In the original plan were many spaces reserved to and for the use of the 
 United States. The objects for which they were reserved and the purposes to 
 which they were to be devoted, with the exception of tlio?e for the Capitol and 
 President's House, were not at that time indicated by any official act, of either 
 the President or the commissioners. 
 
 The designation of the others was held under advisement; and on the 30th 
 of June, 1794, the commissioners directed their surveyor, Mr. Nicholas King, 
 **to lay out the market squares;" and on the 18th of October, in the same year, 
 in a letter addressed to Mr. David Burns, a proprietor of ground in that neigh- 
 borhood, they say, "The ground taken for public use about the market square is 
 not yet entirely ascertained. Mr. Johnson has directions to furnish you with the 
 quantity of your ground appropriated by the commissioners for the market and 
 about it." 
 
 Congress having authorized the commissioners to borrow a sum of money 
 not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars to provide suitable buildings for 
 its own, the accommodation of the President, and the public officers of the 
 government of the United States, and all the lots vested in the commissioners 
 or the trustees in any manner for the use of the United States then remaining 
 unsold, except those appropriated to public use, being made chargeable with the 
 repayment of this money, (act May 6, 1796,) rendered it necessary that such 
 of the spaces as were intended and reserved for public use should be designated 
 to except them from the terms of the act to prevent ilieir sale. 
 
 It was not till then that General Washington gave a definite shape to his 
 well-matured reflection on the destinations of the portions of ground in the 
 city of Washington reserved to and for the use of the United States. 
 
 On the 2d of March, 1797, just two days before he vacated the presidential 
 chair, by virtue of the authority vested in him and the commissioners by acts 
 of Congress and the deed of trust, in order to except them from the terms of 
 the act of May 6, 1796, and to prevent a sale of them under this act, adopting 
 the language of that act and defining them severally by metes and bounds, he 
 appropriated seventeen of those pieces or portions of ground so reserved to and 
 for the use of the United States, as before particularly enumerated and men- 
 tioned, for the uses, purposes and interests before stated, among which was this 
 appropriation for the Centre market. 
 
 These appropriations so made by General Washington, and the uses and pur- 
 poses to Avhicli they were dedicated, were subsequently, in 1798, recognized by 
 Congress when authorizing a loan of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to 
 the commissioners from the public treasury, and charging wnth its repayment 
 "all the lots vested in the commissioners or the trustees for the United States 
 and then remaining unsold, excepting those set aj>art for jmhl'ic uses. ^' (Act 
 April IS, 1798.) 
 
 And again, in 1800, when, "for the greater convenience of the members of 
 both houses of Congress in attending to their duty in the said city of Washing- 
 ton, and the greater facility of communication between the various offices and 
 departments of the government," the commissioners were authorized to borrow 
 money for the purpose of making footways in suitable places and directions, 
 
13 
 
 and all the lot;^ in the city of Washington vested in the commissioners or the 
 trustees in the city of Washington, in any manner, for the use of the United 
 States and then remaining unsold, exceiH those set ajmrt for iniUlc purposes, 
 made chargeable with its repayment. 
 
 The city councils deeming the appropriation of that piece or portion of the 
 property so reserved to and for the use of the United States by General Wash- 
 ington, and its recognition by President Adams and Congress, for the purpose 
 of a market, sufficient, subsequently, on the 6th of October, 1S02, passed an act 
 establishing a market on the space south of Pennsylvania avenue, between 
 Seventh and Ninth streets west, to be known by the name of the Centre market. 
 This act was approved by the then mayor, (Mr. Brent,) an appointee of the 
 President, and the corporation has continued in possession of that space and 
 used it as appropriated by General Washington, and with the consent and appro- 
 bation of every successive President of the United States, for a market and 
 market purposes from that time, a period of sixty-two years. 
 
 The official plat-book, showing the division of lots between the general go\-- 
 ernment and the proprietors of the soil, in accordance with the deeds of trust 
 and the appropriations of these several pieces or portions of the property so re- 
 served to and for the use of the United States to specific purposes, begun under 
 the direction of President Washington by Mr. Nicholas King, the city'^surveyor, 
 furnished in 1803 and approved by President Adams, and now in the office of 
 the Commissioner of Public Buildings, is the only official record in existence, 
 and transcripts from which, signed by the surveyor of the city of Washington! 
 were made evidence by act of Congress, (act January 12, 1809.) 
 
 Just after the first act of incorporation of the city of Washington (May 3, 
 1802,) and the passage of the act by its councils to establish a market on this 
 space, (October 6, 1802,) Mr. Nicholas King, who had been intrusted by Gen- 
 eral Washington with making the official plat-book, on the 25th September, 
 1803, in a letter to President Adams, in speaking of these appropriations and 
 the uses to which they were to be applied, says : " In the sales that had been 
 made, both by the commissioners and the original proprietors, the desio-nations 
 of these places have been spoken of as inducements to purchasers, many of 
 whom have selected their property accordingly. The extensive appropriation> 
 for the public buildings of the United States and for the city for public walks, 
 markets, and other important purposes, ought to be held agreeably to the inten- 
 tion of the donors, and the views with which they were selected, in order to 
 acquire and secure the public confidence so necessary to our growth and pros- 
 perity." 
 
 These views were approved by President Adams and his successors in office 
 to the present time, and Congress itself, in 1812, 1820, 1824, 1826, and 1848, 
 sanctioned them when it provided " that the corporation shall have power and 
 authority to occupy and improve for public purposes, by and with the consent 
 of the President of the United States, any part of the public and open spaces and 
 squares in said city not interfering with any private rights." And again, on the 
 31st of May, 1832, by section eleven of an act of that date was the right of this 
 corporation to occupy the particular reservation in question in the Wixy and for 
 the purposes proposed expressly recognized by Congress. Likewise Congress 
 (act May 9, 1860) recognized the claim of this corporation to use that s*pace 
 for the purpose of a market, and ceded to it that property for such purpose so 
 long as the market-house should be continued thereon, and authorized the city 
 of Washington to borrow a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, 
 at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent., coupled, however, with a con- 
 dition that a new market-house, according to a certain plan, should be built 
 thereon within the period of two years. 
 
 Thus it appears very clearly that up to a very recent period the executive 
 and legislative authority of the country has recognized the right of this city to 
 
14 
 
 occupy tins public space as a public market, and it lias so occupied it under a 
 claim of right for more than sixty years. Nor is there any act of the Executive 
 or any proceeding- in Congress to be found inconsistent with this lawful claim ; 
 for although at first the act of the 9th of May, 1860, may seem to be incon- 
 sistent with such a claim, on examination it will be found not to be so. 
 
 By the amended charter of 1848, section ten, the corporate authorities of this 
 city are expressly prohibited from increasing its funded debt, except in the 
 manner prescribed in that section. In the year 1860 they desired to erect a 
 new market-house on the site of the old Centre market, and to enable them to 
 do so applied to Congress for power to create a debt not exceeding two hundred 
 thousand dollars at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent. On this ap- 
 plication Congress passed the act in question. The first sentence of the first 
 section of this act recognizes the fact that this space has been heretofore and is 
 still occupied for the Centre market, and ceded it to the corporation on condi- 
 tion that they should, within two years thereafter, erect thereon a market-house. 
 The third sentence authorizes the corporation to create a debt not exceeding two 
 hundred thousand dollars to erect said market-house. And the third section 
 provides that in case it shall take effect it shall be construed to vest the title to 
 the property in the corporation, so long as the said market-house shall be con- 
 tinued thereon and used for the purposes aforesaid, and no longer. 
 
 We are to look for the meaning of the legislature to the common-sense con- 
 struction of the words employed, the remedy they intended to provide, and to 
 the external facts, to aid us in discovering the mischief intended to be remedied. 
 If, as has been shown, this plot of ground was originally set apart as a place 
 for a market-house by General Washington, under the powers vested in him 
 under the deeds of trust from the proprietors of the soil, the acts of Congress, 
 and the Maryland legislature, and has been uninterruptedly, for the space of 
 sixty years, used and occupied by the corporation of Washington, with full 
 knowledge of the executive and legislative authorities, although the title to the 
 land still remained in the United States, and this was no more than a permis 
 sive occupation at the will of the government, it cannot be doubted that until 
 Congress legislated on the subject the city was justified in treating the prop- 
 erty as rightfully devoted to their use. 
 
 They had not power under this charter to increase the funded debt, so as to 
 enable them to build such a market-house as would satisfy the public demand 
 and gratify the public taste, and claiming the right still to occupy the ground, 
 but desiring to remove all possible doubt as to the permanency of that right, 
 they applied for a cession of the ground, and for power to raise money for the 
 contemplated improvement. In this there was no abandonment of a right, any 
 more than a man who has an equitable estate, or an easement, abandons his 
 claim when he applies for and receives a quit-claim of the legal title outstanding 
 in another, nor does a just criticism of the words of the act lead to any other 
 conclusion. The extent to which they go is that Congress secures to the cor- 
 poration the use of the ground already occupied by the corporation, if the build- 
 ing contemplated in the act shall be constructed within the time limited therein, 
 so long as the building shall be used as a market-house. The failure of the 
 corporation to satisfy the condition, occasioned by the extraordinary condition 
 of the country and the extraordinary state of things, leaves the matter precisely 
 where it stood before, and the respective parties unaffected by it. 
 
 The resolution to which I have called your attention required your prede- 
 cessor ** to reclaim such public grounds as are unlawfully appropriated, and to 
 prevent the erection of any permanent building upon any property reserved to 
 the use of the United States unless plainly authorized by act of Congress." 
 Unless the word plainly in this resolution is to be read " expressly," or by 
 some equivalent term, 1 beg leave to say the resolution " plainly" did not pro- 
 hibit or authorize your predecessor to prevent the erection of the contemplated 
 
15 
 
 market-house. The covenant and agreement in the deeds of trusts from the 
 proprietors of the soil "■ that the grantor and his heirs and assigns i-hovld and. 
 might continue in Jiis possession and occupation of their lands at their will and 
 pleasure, untd they shall be occujned, binder the said a2)proj)riatio?is, fov ihe use 
 of the United States, or /jy purchasers ; and uhen a7iy lots or parcels shall be 
 occujiied by purchase or appropriation as aforesaid, then and not till then should 
 the grantor reVmquish his occupation thereof the early legislation on this sub- 
 ject, the distinct appropriation of this parcel of ground for a Centre market, and 
 the uninterrupted occupation of it by this corporation for so many years, all 
 show the understanding of the respective parties, that Avhen General Washing- 
 ton set it apart for a Centre market, it was intended that the corporate authori- 
 ties of the city, then in contemplation, when they should come into being, 
 should have the use of it for a Centre market. It is not possible to conceive 
 that either the President, or the trustees, or Congress, were to build and manage 
 a market-house, and it was then, as now, emphatically a part of the powers 
 held by municipal corporations. 
 
 That General Washington, under the express legislation of Congress already 
 referred to, had power so to set apart, designate, and appropriate this specific 
 reservation, can admit of no rational doubt. That he did so set it apart ir^ 
 equally certain. We have, then, the act of Congress which "plainly" author- 
 ized the President to set apart this reservation for the purposes of a market, 
 the act of the President executing the power so vested in him, and the acts of this 
 corporation from time to time improving the ground and erecting the buildings 
 thereon, and it can scarcely be contended that under this resolution you are re- 
 quired to prevent them from pulling down those old, unsightly, and dilapidated 
 buildings, thus abating a nuisance already borne too long b}^ this community, 
 and electing new and htting ones in their place. 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 'J'ho matter of public schools is one that reaches the v/hole community, and in 
 which the municipal authorities have manifested the greatest care and interest. 
 
 With the greatest liberality on the part of the city councils, and a willingness 
 on the part of the citizens to bear taxation for this purpose, it is impossible, as 
 yet, to provide for the wants of the community in this respect. Hundreds in 
 the employment of the general government who have no interest in the commu- 
 nity further than connected with the general government and as tempo- 
 rary residents, and Avho do not contribute a cent to their support, avail 
 themselves of the means of education afforded by the corporation for their 
 children ; many of this class would gladly contribute something towards the 
 fostering of this institution, and those who would not should be compelled. 
 The only way to reach them is for Congress to empower this corporation to 
 levy a special capitation tax on all male residents over twenty-one years, for 
 the purposes of public education. The grant of such power Avould, I am cer- 
 tain, be not abused by the corporation, and would not be objectionable. 
 
 In this connexion, I would point out, Avith a view of having it remedied, the 
 injustice done, doubtless hurriedly and without being advised, by the action of 
 Congress in altering the law in force in this District in relation to the edu- 
 cation of colored children. 
 
 Under former provisions of law, (act of May 20, 1SG2, section 1,) the pro- 
 priety of which is admitted by all, this corporation set apart from the taxes on 
 real and personal property owned by colored persons in this city, for the pur- 
 pose of educating colored children, the same proportionate part as was set 
 apart from the taxes paid by white persons for the purpose of educating white 
 children. Congress, however, at its last session (act of June 25, 1864, section 
 IS) repealed this equitable provision, and directed that ihe corporate authorities 
 
16 
 
 of the cities of Georgetown and Washington thereafter "set apart from the 
 whole fund received by them from all sources applicable under existing provi- 
 sions of law to purposes of public education, such a proportionate part thereof 
 for the education of colored children as the number of colored children in the 
 respective cities, between the ages of six and seventeen years, bears to the whole 
 number of children thereof." Under my construction of this section of this 
 last act of Congress, the trustees of colored schools of this city are entitled to 
 receive from this corporation for the purpose of educating colored children an 
 amount more than twice as much as the Avhole aggregate of taxes paid by all 
 the colored persons of this city ; while under the construction put upon it by 
 the trustees of colored schools, which they claim, they would be entitled to 
 receive an amount more than four times greater than the whole aggregate of 
 taxes paid by colored persons. Whilst the corporate authorities of Wash- 
 ington have been ever ready and willing to do all that can, with propriety and justice, 
 be required of them to meliorate and amend the condition of the colored population 
 of this city, and provide for their intellectual culture and improvement, it is 
 reluctant to do this at so inordinate a cost to the white taxpayer. 
 
 Whilst Congress has been liberal, and granted large sums and tracts of the 
 public lands to several of the States and Territories', for the purposes of public edu ■ 
 cation, it has not as yet given to this city, from which it obtained so much, a 
 dollar, and has given away, without consideration, valuable franchises — the in- 
 herent right and property of this city — which would have yielded sufficient to 
 support and maintain all its public schools. 
 
 In this connexion I would ask, that whenever, hereafter, any grant by way 
 of a franchise is made of any privilege in this city, it be conditioned on obtain- 
 ing the consent of the city authorities thereto. 
 
 In this way, would not only the city be protected, but a revenue legitimately 
 derived Avhicli would materially assist in fostering our .public schools. 
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The city has, at considerable expense, established a paid lire department with 
 the use of steam fire-engines, as well as erected a fire-alarm telegraph ; your prede- 
 cessor, at my request, granting the corporation for this department the use of 
 certain buildings, the property of the general governn~.ent, erected as engine- 
 houses. 
 
 These buildings are inadequate for the purposes of the fire department as at 
 present organized, and this corporation would, if the possession was guaranteed 
 for a length of time sufiicient to warrant the expense, tear them down and erect 
 on their sites structures better adapted to the purposes. I would therefore ask 
 of Congress to grant to this city, so long as they may be used for the purposes 
 of a fire department, the lots of ground on which stand the Columbia, Union 
 and Franklin engine-houses. 
 
 I must, in conclusion, apologize for the length of this communication, neces- 
 sary, however, on account of the importance to this community of obtaining the 
 early action of Congress, in some way or another, on every matter and thing 
 therein mentioned. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, 
 
 RICHARD WALLACH, Mayor. 
 
 Jlon. James Harlan, 
 
 Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 ir:i 28. 'M. 
 
1 ^ 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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