1 66 WRIGHT 



others were content to see the capital of the nation simply a 

 rendezvous for congressmen for the purpose of passing laws 

 and then adjourning. Very many of the most patriotic citizens 

 of the time hoped that the city of Washington would never be- 

 come a place of any considerable size. Mr. John Addison 

 Porter, in his interesting work on ' The City of Washington : 

 Its Origin and Administration,' in speaking of this condition of 

 affairs, uses the following language : 



After the first influx of speculators — among whom none 

 bought more largely or lost more heavily than Robert Morris, 

 ' The Superintendent of Finance,' and friend of the govern- 

 ment during the dark days of 1781 — the sale of real estate lan- 

 guished. Foreigners seemed to have more confidence than na- 

 tives in the success of the experiment. Engraved plans of the 

 city had been well distributed abroad ; Congress passed a law 

 allowing aliens to hold land in the city ; and for a long time lots 

 brought absurdedly high prices in London. But after 1794, the 

 home trade ceased almost entirely. There were some legal diffi- 

 culties in transferring real estate. One of the main reasons, 

 however, why the city did not grow fast, was that Congress 

 could not remove thither for a number of years. 



Washington, himself, proposed to stimulate the sale of lots in 

 the capital by establishing sale-agencies in the principal States 

 and cities of the Union. The plan was finally abandoned with 

 reluctance ; another, and at that time a favorite scheme for 

 raising money, viz., by lottery, was subsequently adopted by 

 the commissioners. The failure to dispose of the government 

 lots on advantageous terms was the more serious, as the plan 

 had been to pay for the first public buildings by the sale of these 

 lots. 



This statement illustrates thoroughly well the difficulties of 

 establishing the city. To be sure Virginia voted ^120,000 and 

 Maryland $72,000 for the purpose of beginning the government 

 buildings. These amounts were necessary, because Congress 

 failed to make the necessary appropriation of $100,000 for this 

 purpose. But later Congress appropriated $300,000, yet no one 

 was willing to advance the money. The capitalists of Europe 

 did not care to invest in Federal lands. So Washington invoked 

 again the friendly aid of Maryland in behalf of the District, 

 and that State very generously loaned $100,000, first obtaining 

 the personal security of the commissioners. 



