Identifier: picturesquewas00moor (find matches)
Title: Picturesque Washington: pen and pencil sketches of its scenery, history, traditions, public and social life, with graphic descriptions of the Capitol and Congress, the White House, and the government departments ..
Year: 1884 (1880s)
Authors: Moore, Joseph West
Subjects: Washington (D.C.)
Publisher: Providence : J.A. & R.A. Reid
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ircles were adorned with thestatues of heroes, and bordered with costly and palatial mansions;splendid school-houses, churches, market buildings, newspaper officeshad been erected. The water-works and sewer system were une-qualed in the country. Washington had risen fresh and beautiful,like the Uranian Venus, from stagnation and decay. The population of the city in 1880 was 147,293, and with George-town added, 159,885. It is believed that since the last governmentcensus was taken there has been a large yearly increase in popula-tion, and that the city now contains quite 200,000 permanent resi-dents. There is also a floating population estimated at 25,000, whichis composed in part of congressmen and employes of Congress andtheir families, and people of wealth from various portions of theUnited States, who spend the winter in the city. There is a constantgrowth in enterprise and public spirit, and year by year the capitalincreases in prosperity and importance. ELEMENTS OF PROSPERITY. 53
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THE DISTRICT COURT HOUSE. The government business in Washington necessitates the dis-bursement of a vast amount of money yearly to the residents of thecity. All the great departments of the United States governmentare located there, and the number of persons who perform service inthem is estimated at 20,000. The Treasury Department has on itspay-rolls 3,504 persons who do work in Washington; the InteriorDepartment, 2,949; the War Department, 1,686; the Post-OfficeDepartment, 544, and the many other departments, divisions, sub-divisions, and offices of the government employ from 100 to 2,500persons each in transacting the immense business of the states andterritories included in the American Republic. Many millions of dol-lars are annually paid as compensation to the government employesin Washington, and, in good times or bad, these enormous disburse-ments are made with the regularity of clock-work. The governmentis generally a liberal paymaster, as it is obliged to employ the besttale

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