60 ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 



open approach to the Capitol, and is so shown on the original plan of 

 the city. (See Exhibits 30 and 31.) It was proposed at that time 

 that this area should be subject to ornamentation with memorials, 

 fountains, and the like, but not shut off by walls and fences. Locat- 

 ing the Botanic Garden in this area was one of those serious mistakes 

 made in the early part of the century whereby the great plan for the 

 Nation's Capitol suffered damage that has continued to this day. 

 The location of the Grant Memorial was the first step toward repair- 

 ing this damage. The subsequent location of the Meade Memorial 

 in the same area is a further advance in the restoration of the origi- 

 nal plan. 



In furtherance of its purpose to restore the Mall to its original 

 status as a park connection between the legislative and executive 

 departments, Congress paid the Pennsylvania Eailroad $1,500,000 

 to remove its tracks from the Mall. The public plaza or square on 

 the west front of the Capitol Grounds is a feature of this large plan. 

 The new National Museum Building, the Agricultural Department 

 buildings, and the gallery for the Freer collections all have been 

 located with reference to the general plan. Slowly but steadily 

 changes in conformity with that plan are now being carried out 

 throughout the entire 2-| miles from the Capitol Grounds even to the 

 Lincoln Memorial. The removal of the Botanic Garden is essential 

 to the development of the great composition. 



If Congress desires to continue a garden for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing flowers for its Members and for growing shrubs to disseminate 

 throughout the country, both of these purposes can be subserved quite 

 as well by glass houses and gardens in other accessible locations. 



The proposition to extend the present garden into the Mall to the 

 west of its present location would be the perpetuation of an unfor- 

 tunate condition of affairs which Congress has taken steps to end. 

 Such an extension means continued confusion. To-day in a fenced-in 

 area of less than 12 acres there are, first, the memorial to Gen. Grant, 

 the base of which is arranged as a reviewing stand, and therefore re- 

 quires an open space: seeoiul. the very large Bartholdi fountain; and, 

 third, large greenhouses with shining high glass roofs, dominating 

 and disturbing the appearance of both fountain and monument. In 

 addition a residence for the superintendent and other like buildings 

 are found in this inclosure. To all these will shortly be added the 

 large memorial to Gen. Meade, contributed by the State of Penn- 

 sylvania. This array of incongruous structures is absurd, confusing, 

 and wholly impossible for a permanent establishment. 



Congress may readily bring order out of the present chaos by the 

 removal of the iron fence and opening the entire area to the public; 

 by removing the glass houses and superintendent's quarters to a new 

 location and by transfering the fountain to another section of the 

 District. 



RRIEF HISTORY OF THE GARDEX. 



The establishment of the present Botanic Garden and its relation to 

 the Joint Committee on the Library was the outgrowth of the Wilkes 

 exploring expedition of 1838-1842. although there had been a botanic 

 garden on this site for nearly two decades under congressional per- 

 mission granted the Columbian Institution for the Promotion of Arts 



