642 Presidential Addresses 



I again recommend to the favorable consideration 

 of the Congress the plans of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution for making the Museum under its charge 

 worthy of the Nation, and for preserving at the Na- 

 tional Capital not only records of the vanishing races 

 of men but of the animals of this continent which, 

 like the buffalo, will soon become extinct unless spec- 

 imens from which their representatives may be re- 

 newed are sought in their native regions and main- 

 tained there in safety. 



The District of Columbia is the only part of our 

 territory in which the National Government exer- 

 cises local or municipal functions, and where in 

 consequence the Government has a free hand in ref- 

 erence to certain types of social and economic legis- 

 lation which must be essentially local or municipal 

 in their character. The Government should see to 

 it, for instance, that the hygienic and sanitary legis- 

 lation affecting Washington is of a high character. 

 The evils of slum dwellings, whether in the shape 

 of crowded and congested tenement-house districts 

 or of the back-alley type, should never be permitted 

 to grow up in Washington. The city should be a 

 model in every respect for all the cities of the coun- 

 try. The charitable and correctional systems of the 

 District should receive consideration at the hands of 

 the Congress to the end that they may embody the 

 results of the most advanced thought in these fields. 

 Moreover, while Washington is not a great indus- 

 trial city, there is some industrialism here, and our 



