88 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA ? 
measure. Those people, who are opposed to the 
building of the city of Washington, maintain 
that it can never become a town of any im¬ 
portance, and that all such as think to the 
contrary have been led astray by the represen¬ 
tations of a few enthusiastic persons ; they go 
so far even as to assert, that the people to the 
eastward w ill never submit to see the seat of 
government removed so far from them, and 
the congress assembled in a place little better 
than a forest, where it will be impossible to 
procure information upon commercial points; 
finally, they insist, that if the removal from 
Philadelphia should take place, a separation of 
the states will inevitably follow. This is the 
language held forth; but their opposition in 
reality arises from that jealousy which narrow 
minded people in trade arc but too apt to en¬ 
tertain of each other when their interests clash 
together. These people wish to crush the city 
of Washington while it is yet in its infancy, 
because they know, that if the seat of govern¬ 
ment is transferred thither, the place will 
thrive, and enjoy a considerable portion of that 
trade which is centered at present in Philadel¬ 
phia, Baltimore, and New York. It is idle, 
however, to imagine that this will injure their 
different towns; on the contrary, although a 
portion of that trade which they enjoy at pre¬ 
sept should be drawn from them, yet the in- 
