cumscribed in respect to room and choice of situation; or, if more scattered, there would be a difficulty in forming that appropriate connection between them which would be essential to unity and beauty of design; and, after all, it would be a mere suburb to the city. Besides, a thousand objects might from time to time call for the erection of new edifices, which could not at present be anticipated, without keeping vacant for years, at great loss of interest to the Government, and to the detriment of the city, large tracts of land in the best position, which, in the hands of individuals, would be built upon and improved. On the other hand, in a place that increased chiefly in proportion as the sphere of the executive department was enlarged, the lots of ground would seldom be available to any individual before they were required for public purposes, and the cost to the Government would be comparatively trifling, while there would be an opportunity to devise a plan expressly for the public accommodation, to which purpose every part of the city would be subservient.

In any existing city, the large number of men of wealth, who could command the best positions, would at once raise the price of land to a degree which would render it almost impossible for the officers of Government to live in a style of decent respectability suited

to their stations, upon the moderate salaries with which it was the policy to commence the Government, and which were called for at all times, as well to diminish the attractions of office, as from a regard to the simplicity of our republican institutions; whereas, in the absence of a preëxisting population, a style and fashion of living would commence, which would to a considerable extent prevail thereafter, and be conformed to by the more wealthy classes who should afterward come there to reside.

It is obvious that these arguments, if they have any force, are not to be applied to times like the present, when the exigencies of war overturn all plans formed in time of peace.

It was, at one time, suggested as expedient to require a cession of soil, as well as of jurisdiction, under the idea that the State or States would find it an object to purchase the territory and present it, for the sake of having the Government in their midst; while, on the other hand, the income from the sale of lots would furnish a fund for the erection of public edifices, and the improvement of the place; but this was pronounced out of the question with regard to places where any considerable population had already collected: to all of which, Mr. Carroll's remarks in regard to Baltimore would apply. "He believed if Congress were dis

posed to fix on that town, it would be agreeable to the State; but he did not imagine they would agree to give Government a property to the whole town and the surrounding country. The other parts of the State had never contemplated making Baltimore a compensation for such an immense property."

In selecting a place not previously occupied, the object of the Government would be accomplished whether the States conveyed the soil or not, since the cost of the purchase would be comparatively small.

XI.

WHERE SHOULD IT BE?

WITH respect to position, it was said that while a central point should be preferred, "it ought to be a centre uniting convenience with utility; the heart should be so placed as to propel the blood to the extremities, with the most equable and gentle motion."

There is no common centre. Territory has one centre, population another, and wealth a third. The centre of population is variable, and a decision on that point now, might establish a seat of Government at a very inconvenient place for the next generation. The same remark may be made in this country with re

gard to territory. With the rapid increase of States, we should find it necessary to remove the capital every fifty years, unless we anticipated the future extent of our country by placing it where it would be, in the meantime, far beyond the centre of population and convenience.

A centre of wealth is open to greater objections. The centre of a sea-coast line ought to be regarded because it is more conveniently accessible, has more wealth and more people than an equal area of inland country. Being more liable to invasion on that quarter, Government should be near to protect it. It is also the interest of the back country to have the Government near the sea, to inspect and encourage trade, by which their abundant produce will find an export. When the central line between the northern and southern extremities was fixed, no person in the western territory had ever wished anything further than that congress should establish their seat as far back on this line, as the convenience of maritime commerce would allow.

This centre of a sea-coast line falls between the rivers Potomac and Susquehanna; the place between the Potomac and Eastern Branch would admit of a navy yard, and was yet so far inland as to be, in some measure, protected

from sudden attack. The Potomac, Will's Creek, and Youghogany, could be connected by canal navigation, and, descending the latter, you come to the Monongahela, which meets the Alleghany, and forms the Ohio. Its immediate vicinity to two flourishing inland towns would give it some of the benefits of their prosperity, without the evils before mentioned as incident to a large commercial emporium; since the inland trade would bring into them a different class of population from that which throngs our seaport towns-one accustomed to the institutions of the country, and more disposed to the preservation of good order. This, too, it was thought, would be a security against the place becoming slavishly dependent upon congress, giving it a healthy trade, but not one which would supersede entirely the advantages derived from the presence of Government.

The growth of the western country was anticipated, and depicted in glowing colors by some of the members of that day. "If," said Mr. Madison, "the calculation be just, that we double in twenty-five years, we shall speedily behold an astonishing mass of people on the western waters. * * * We see the people moving from the more crowded to the less

*See Mr. Smith's remarks in debate. Gales and Seaton's Debates, O. S., vol. ii. p. 960.