Washington—A Residential City 
THE HOME OF SENATOR KNOX OF PENNSYLVANIA 
political parties, and the third from the army—from 
the corps of army engineers—;and is therefore as near 
non-partisan as it is possible to be. The Congress 
enacts laws for the government of the city—sits in the 
capacity of a city council—and the commissioners 
formulate such police regulations and carry out such 
plans of public improvements as are warranted by 
congressional enactment. There being no elective 
franchise in the District of Columbia, its attractive¬ 
ness as a place of residence is enhanced by its re¬ 
moval from unseemly partisan policies, such as 
prevail in most of the cities. The controlling author¬ 
ities are removed from political influences and there¬ 
fore devote their energies to the city’s development 
along practical and uniform lines. 
In Washington the streets and crossings are never 
congested and travel consequently hindered by heavy 
and noisy trucks. The street cars of the city are all 
operated by the underground electric system and 
there are no unsightly, dangerous overhead wires. 
These are conditions not found in cities where the 
greatest ambitions tend to development along com¬ 
mercial and other business lines—where hustle and 
bustle are the characteristics most heralded to the 
world—and which add so much to the desirability of 
communities for purely residential purposes. 
No city in the world is more fortunate in having 
its streets and avenues laid out with broad roadways, 
and of uniform width. No other city in the world 
is more amply provided with shaded streets, ddie 
THE HOME OF SENATOR FORAKER OF OHIO 
distance from the curbing to the building line, on all 
avenues and on most of the streets, is such as to 
permit of two rows of shade trees, and when in full 
foliage give complete shaded sidewalks and drive¬ 
ways. Another feature, and one which is appre¬ 
ciated by all city dwellers, and which is not found 
in cities devoted to commercial enterprises, is the 
vast number of well-shaded parks dotted here and 
there all over the city. These parks vary in size from 
the small triangle of a few yards at the intersection of 
streets and avenues, to those covering one and two 
city blocks. They are always well kept, and add 
attractiveness even to attractive surroundings by 
taming the white with the green. An incident to 
Washington’s attractiveness is the rigid enforcement 
of an anti-smoke law. On a sunny day there is only 
now and then visible a streak of smoke against a sky 
of Italian blue, except about the railroad terminals 
and when the new union station, which is nearing 
completion, is in use the smoke nuisance from the 
engines will be abated. 
It is no exaggeration to say that Washington is to¬ 
day one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It 
is safe to say that in the very near future it will he 
the most beautiful city in the world. It has only been 
within the last few years that the Congress, the law¬ 
making power for the District of Columbia, which, 
with the city of Washington, is under the same 
municipal direction, has dealt with the city in a 
manner indicating the intention of the National 
