Summary
âž¡ The text discusses the transformation of Washington D.C. after the Civil War. Despite the city’s physical appearance remaining largely unchanged, its population and governance underwent significant changes. The city saw an influx of refugees, mainly former slaves, leading to social and economic challenges. The text also highlights political shifts, including the election of a radical Republican mayor and the push for greater federal involvement in the city’s affairs.
âž¡ In the 1870s, a new system of government was introduced in Washington, with a governor and legislative council appointed by the executive, and a House of Assembly elected by the people. However, Congress retained the power to overturn any laws passed by this new government. During this time, Mayor Emery focused on improving the city’s finances, while others lobbied for the territorial bill. This bill aimed to ensure a conservative influence in the district administration by having its chief officers appointed by the federal government, but also allowed for some elected officials. Despite some opposition, the bill was signed by President Grant in 1871.
âž¡ The Tiber Creek was planned to be transformed into a main sewer system for Washington and Georgetown, with a cost of $6 million. However, large property owners opposed the plan due to concerns about increasing debt and the need for a special election. Despite initial legal obstacles and public dissatisfaction with the disruption caused by the construction, the plan was eventually approved and work began. Allegations of favoritism and illegal activities were investigated but found to be unsubstantiated, although the cost of the improvements exceeded the budget, leading to financial difficulties for the territorial government.
âž¡ In the 1870s, Washington faced financial difficulties due to infrastructure projects, leading to increased taxes and debt. Despite these challenges, significant improvements were made, making Washington the best lit and paved city in the U.S. However, financial mismanagement and corruption allegations led to a government investigation and a shift to a commission form of government. Despite the controversy, the city’s improvements and subsequent federal financial assistance had long-term benefits, outweighing the initial debt.
âž¡ The text discusses the Organic Act of 1871, which established a municipal government for the District of Columbia. It explains how laws were previously written in chronological order, making them hard to find and understand. The process of codification, which organizes laws by subject matter, was introduced to make the legal system more accessible. The text also clarifies some misconceptions about the Act and its relation to financial matters.
âž¡ This text discusses the history and evolution of the governance structure in the District of Columbia. It highlights the issues with the Act of 1871, which led to financial mismanagement and lack of accountability due to a centralized governance structure. The Act was replaced in 1878, reinstating a more democratic form of government. Over the years, the governance structure has continued to evolve, with significant changes like the Home Rule Act of 1973, which granted the district limited self-government.
Transcript
So. But anyway, that is a topic for another day. For now, let’s go ahead and I’m going to jump in to. I’m going to jump into the next chapter, which is post civil war from where I wound up yesterday or finished off yesterday. So. All right. I’m a little more alert than I was yesterday. I had cats waking me up like, well, I don’t mind telling you guys just a quick story. So I have. I have a little. I have a. Another bengal that I got specifically for breeding purposes, but she escaped quite some time ago and she’s kind of made herself an outdoor cat now.
Well, she’s a. She trying to eat and all the, and all the other animals are fighting her way. So she was really, really hungry and I was able to pick her up and bring her in and I had to put her in a cage just because I. She was almost kind of semi feral again. So I had to put her in a cage a little because I needed to keep her confined. Well, she messed up her cage and it was like about 02:00 in the morning and she was just extraordinarily unhappy. And anyway, long story short is I didn’t really get much sleep after that, so that’s why I was like, I felt like I was dozing off yesterday when I was reading, so.
But I feel much better today. So anyway, put it this way, I was so tired that I didn’t watch the Dodger game. I literally, when I finished the show yesterday, I went and I laid down and the next thing I knew, it was like, like 1230 at night. Like, I fell asleep and I slept all through the game. I didn’t see anything. I was out. So, yeah, I was. I was pretty done. I was pretty exhausted, but got a. Get some good sleep last night. So anyway. All right, yarn my thoughts on the book so far, just laying a foundation yet we’re not really into the meat and potatoes of it.
I’ve kind of, like I said, I’ve looked at it a little bit, but we haven’t really. It’s interesting because she’s laying some foundations, but we’ll, we’ll see. I think you guys are going to be quite surprised with a lot of the other things. You know, if you subscribe to the notion of the 1871 constitution is what we’re, is the current form of government that we’re in or the corporation that is the core is the current form of government that we’re under right now. I think you guys are going to be, you’re going to be a little like, whoa, I didn’t know that.
So, so anyway, let’s get into this and have some fun. All right. Years go by, lots of things occur. The country continues to establish new states. Each new state signs on to accept the terms of the Constitution of the United States while also creating their own state constitutions. In the 1860s, America finds herself in crisis. The country is divided and war breaks out. Surviving the meltdown, you can likely imagine lots of shifting and growth occurred within this 100 sq. Mi since the early 18 hundreds when the original government infrastructure was established for DC, a major shift in population had developed over time.
The land that had been given by Maryland was now bursting at the seams post civil war. Many more people have moved into the area. The current revised act of 1807 once again is found to be wanting as far as able to attend to the needs of large scale growth. And again, what she’s talking about here is that so many people that were slaves who escaped the north, they came in and they stayed in that 100 sq. Mi. That’s especially why the major population of Washington, DC is black today. Primarily because when, when the slaves escaped, they came to that area and they didn’t leave because if they, as long as they were in that federal territory, they were not, they were not subject to arrest and deportation.
Back to, you know, being in bondage. Let’s see. The governance structure created by the 1807 act proved inadequate, and there were ongoing issues with the administration and management of the district. The Organic act of 1871 was intended to address these issues by further reorganizing and modernizing the governance of the District of Columbia. While the 1807 act had established a single municipality, there were separate charters for Georgetown and Washington city. The 1871 act made additional changes to the governance structure, including the establishment of a governor, a board of commissioners, both selected by the president and legislative assembly.
Elected by the residents for the district. It also revoked the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, consolidating them into the new District of Columbia government. So now, instead of having separate mayors, councils and other officials, it was consolidated into one system for the whole area. The goal was to create a more efficient and robust system for the bursting metropolis. There is so much to unpack about the Civil War. I wish this book could cover those intricacies, but at the but as this book is a companion to Patriot Siob, the battle for your mind I will do my best not to bunny trail into incredibly interesting other topics.
For the sake of your generosity and time you were investing in this information. But also turn the page time travel to 1871 I have a great idea. Instead of me telling you about 1871, how much more fun would it be if we travel back in time and take in the views of early America on the street level, this is a captivating peek into what life was like during the infancy stages of our beautiful America. Presenting this epic zoom into history is James H. White. Sit back and enjoy this trip down the streets of DC. I’m guessing that this is a passage from his book or a book.
I deeply appreciate the honor which this society has accorded to me, a relatively junior member and a resident of Washington for a mere 15 years, by inviting me to give this address. Let me say at the outset that I am by training no professional historian and that my approach to the subject of this paper, the District of Columbia Territorial government, may strike you accordingly as somewhat unorthodox. As a citizen who is deeply concerned with the question of civic participation in local government, I have for some years been particularly interested in that period following the civil war in which all classes of district residents voted to elect their municipal representatives.
I have studied not only the standard texts and such as writers, such writers as William Tyndall, WB Bryan, Doctor Schmeck, Iber and others, but have also made a point examining every newspaper, pamphlet, letter and manuscript in the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the possession of this society which might shed additional light upon the period. I sincerely hope that the results of these investigations may prove interesting to you this evening and that they may further stimulate a closer examination by the citizens of the district of so important a pleasure, a phase of local history. Let me start this evening by rolling back the curtain of time to the 20 February in the year 1871.
Washington is celebrating paving of Pennsylvania Avenue by a three day carnival. I think I’ve got that right. It’s kind of. It’s the. The text or the scan is a little bit difficult to read, so I apologize. The schools are out on holiday and more than 10,000 visitors have flocked to the city. From the capitol grounds to the treasury building, the avenue is lined with spectators. On both sides of the street, buildings are adorned with pictures, streamers and evergreens, and the conspicuously new wooden paramount stretches from curb to curb like a. Like a ballroom floor. Our pavement.
Excuse me? The new wooden pavement stretches from curb to curb like a ballroom floor. Foot races are on the program, and horse races are of all kinds, from six in hands to dog carts. At night, calcium burners, gas jets, and chinese lanterns illuminate the streets, and fireworks are touched off at the treasury portico. The new Cora can gallery at the center of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th street is the scene of the most brilliant ball that Washington has ever witnessed. The celebrations continue through the next day. Shore Shrove Tuesday. I’m not sure what that means. There is a masquerade possession along the avenue, more displays of fireworks, and two masked balls.
On the following day at the new Arlington Hotel, across from the White House, the mayor and city council of Washington hold a banquet for the press and prominent visitors to the Capitol, and the great carnival comes to a close. Hold on a second, guys. I’m going to leave this up on screen, but I’m going to actually pull this up in the book so that I’m, I’m getting a better copy to read. Sorry for this. Okay? Oh, I think I butchered it. All of this civic effervescence is meant to celebrate much more than the mere paving of Washington’s principal thoroughfare.
Congress on February 21 has passed a bill providing for a new district government, which the citizens all believe is to usher in a new and more prosperous era for the residents of the national capital. In order to appreciate their sentiments, let me briefly review the course of municipal affairs in Washington since the end of the Civil War. In a parent in appearance, the city has changed very little since 1865. Apart from the White House and Capitol, there are hardly any government buildings of importance to be seen, only the treasury, patent office, post office, and Smithsonian Institute.
The Potomac comes almost to the front of the White House, and the Washington monument still lies uncompleted for lack of funds. The northern limit of Washington City is still boundary street, or now Florida Avenue, and above it lie a beautiful or a handful of scattered farms. To the west is the separate municipality of Georgetown, linked by one ancient wooden bridge across Rock Creek at M Street. Since Lefont’s plan called for avenues far wider than those of any other american city. Washington taxpayers have been unable to afford the money required to pay them, and Congress has, up until now, been extremely niggardly in its appropriations.
I hope I’m saying that word right, and I’m just reading it from the word. I’m reading it from the book. The water supply is inadequate for the population, which has increased since, but since the war by 100%. Only a few of the streets are lit by gas, and the old canal back, and the avenue is still an eyesore and sinking disgrace. Things have changed little since 1867, when Harry Latham, an english visitor, wrote, to make a washing, to make a Washington street, take one marble temple or public office, a dozen good houses or of brick, and a dozen of wood, and fill it in with sheds and fields, some light seems to have fallen on this city.
It is only. It is the only place we have seen which is not full of growth and vitality. The great difference between Washington before and after the war is in the nature of its population. In 1860, according to the census, there were only 14,296 negroes in the district, of whom over 11,000 were free. Some of them, such as caterers James Wormley and John Gray, were men of means. The free colored population had established its own churches and provided a large number of private schools for its children. Except during the snow riots of 1835, there had been little race friction for many years, even though prejudice unquestionably existed, and many, many residents of Washington and Georgetown had been openly sympathetic to the southern cause.
The war, however, had brought to the district more than 30,000 negro refugees, chiefly from the plantations of Virginia and Maryland, and soldiers who had been mustered out there at the close of the fighting. Some of the negroes lived in abandoned fortifications, others in miserable alley shacks, thousands jammed together in areas such as. With such revealing names as murder Bay, foggy Bottom, swamp Doodle, and Vinegar Hill. There were. There was little work for the refugees. Their health conditions were shocking and a menace to those of the entire community. Congress had made several appropriations for their relief, but it had thrown a heavy burden upon the taxpayers of the district by appropriating a portion of the public school fund for the education of colored children.
Mayor Richard Wallach had accurately expressed the sentiments of the older residents when he refused to hand over the colored school funds on the ground that Congress had been unfair to Washington taxpayers to saddle the community with this expense, since the refugees were likely to contribute nothing in taxes and remain a public liability for many years. Boy, that doesn’t. That sounds like my stance. On welfare, however, Congress has been more disposed to grant political rights to colored population of the district than to provide it with a live with a livelihood. The minds of such leaders of the republican party as Charles Sumner.
The enfranchisement of the Negroes in the district was to be the first step in a comprehensive plan for negro suffrage in all southern states. In January of 1867, Congress lost my place here. Congress passed. Congress had passed over Andrew Johnson’s veto, a bill granting equal suffrage to the colored men of the district, in spite of the overwhelming opposition of the white population in Washington and Georgetown. In 19. Excuse me. In 1868, sales J. Bowen, a radical Republican, had been elected mayor by a narrow margin of 83 votes. Bowen was a man of upright character whom Lincoln had appointed postmaster of Washington during the war.
He had the full support of the colored voters and also of all Republicans, including three daily newspapers, the Evening Star, National Republican, and Chronicle. Bowen had endeavored to make us start, to make a start with improving the streets, but not wishing to raise property taxes, but made few paving contracts during his first years in office. However, in 1869, the municipal elections had given Bowen an overwhelming majority, and the Democrats had all had been almost completely ousted from both city councils. One third of the members of the board of councils to be elected were negroes, and the other colored men received important civic positions.
Baldwin furthermore revealed his true position in his inaugural message to the council, when he openly advocated the integration of the white and colored school systems. At this point, many of his republican supporters began to be alarmed, and some of them began to seek methods to eliminate Bowen from the political scene. Among the republican politicians of Washington, the natural leader was Alexander Shepard. Born in 1835, Shepherd. Shepherd had been left an orphan at the age of twelve. Within a few years, he had become a partner in the gas feeding business of John W. Thompson, the most flourishing plumber in the city.
In 1861, Shepard enlisted as a private in the Union army and had a year later been elected to the board of common council. Physically, Shepard was a large man, weighing more than 200 pounds and over 6ft tall. His hair was brown, his eyes blue, his chin that, his chin that of a fighter. William Tyndall, his secretary, remarked many years later, I have never heard another male voice that was equal to his enrichness and fullness from an instrument of conversation. In 1865, Shepard was elected secretary to the newly formed Board of trade, and though his friendship with the banker Harry D.
Cook became acquainted with General Ulysses S. Grant, politically Shepard was a Republican, but not as a doctrinaire nor a radical. He was. He was not hostile to the negroes, but he but he objected as a taxpayer to their becoming a permanent municipal charge. No man was more passionately concerned than he was or than he with the improvement of the national capital. And B and he had long held the view that the federal government, as the largest owner of property in the district, should make far larger contributions and its upkeep. In 1870, he had signed a memorable or a memorial to the Senate district committee, positioning Congress to make use of the unemployed negroes for the paving of Washington streets and other public works.
Shepard at first supported the Bowen administration through the Evening Star, in which he had at the time a quarter interest, but he had but had turned against Bowen when it appeared clear that he was unable to handle the situation competently. Bowen lacked the hard boiled political experience to resolve the conflicting claims of the ward commissioners and was obliged to spread the work of improvements over different areas of the city in order to retain his influence with voters. As a result, much graveling and grading had been performed, but very little paving, and yet the floating debt of the corporation or local government charter had soared.
By January of 1870, the city’s financial state had become so grave that the furniture of the mayor’s office had been seized and a judgment granted against the municipality. Wow, that’s kind of crazy. This incident had severed or had served to fan into flame the smoldering public dissatisfaction with the Bowen administration. At a meeting of influential Washington citizens held in the real estate offices of Kilborn and Lata, Shepard expressed his opinion that only that the only way to solve the recurrent financial crisis was to unify the local administrations of the district and to provide for increased participation by the federal government.
Two days later, he presented to Congress a draft bill endorsed by the citizens committee, which provided for a modified form of territorial administration. A governor and legislative counsel for the district was to be appointed by the execution, and a House of assembly of 25 members was to be elected with legislative powers equivalent to those which had been conferred by charter upon Washington and Georgetown. The district was to be represented in Congress by an elected delegate. However, Congress was to retain its traditionally exclusive power over the district, including the right to repeal any legislation passed by the new government.
In the election campaign of June 1870, all of the Washington newspapers except the radical chronicle came out against Mayor Bowen, who was standing for really who was standing for reelection. The opposition Republicans united with the Democrat behind a so called quote unquote, Reform candidate, Matthew J. Matthew G. Emery. Emery was strongly supported by shepherd, who was convinced that Washington could expect no larger appropriations from Congress if Bowen were to be re elected. Crosby, Noyes. I think I’m saying that right. In the evening, star made strong appeals to the colored voters who held the balance of power.
Many of them who had worked for the corporation as day laborers had not been paid for weeks. And the star claimed that the other colored men had been imported into Washington from nearby Maryland and Virginia to vote for Bowen. The campaign. God. Sounds like. Sounds like today. The campaign against the mayor who was compared with the infamous boss Tweed of New York was one of unparalleled, paralleled abuse. If you guys have. I don’t know if you guys have ever seen the movie. I think it was gangs of New York. Boss Tweed was in that. Boss Tweed was, I think, if memory serves, and don’t quote me on this, but I think Boss Tweed is the guy who started Tammany hall.
But I could be wrong on that. And Tammany hall had still to this day has just an enormous amount of political influence in New York City. But anyway, I digress. Let’s see. The turnout of voters was large and Bowen was defeated by more than 3000 votes. Only four of his supporters. Supporters were elected to the common council and two of the board and two to the board of aldermen. During the administration of Mayor Emory, who concerned himself with putting the financial affairs of the corporation, that’s local infrastructure, in order, Shepard and his friends had had devoted themselves to lobbying for the territorial bill.
Shepard had become a close friend of President Grant who was deeply concerned in the improvement of the national capital and used his influence with leaders in Congress to help promote the bill. In February of 1871, the head of the House district committee, Rep. Burton C. Cook of Illinois, introduced a measure for a change of district administration which closely followed the proposal of Shepard and the Citizens Committee in 1870. The theory of the territorial bill, its author explained, was to secure a conservative influence in the district administration by the appointment of its chief officers by the federal government.
The bill actually represented a halfway stage to the commission form of government which Senator Morrill had proposed in 1865. And the Cook bill provided the for considerably less authority for district officials than that of territorial administration. The executive was to appoint the governor a legislative committee or, excuse me, a legislative council of eleven members and a five man board of health. In addition, there was to be created a board of public works consisting of five members, also presidential appointed appointees. The only elected, the only elective officials were the 22 members of the House of Delegates. The district had been divided anew to make provisions for Georgetown and the county of Washington.
And a delegate to Congress. In section 18 of the bill, it was stated that nothing shall be construed to deprive Congress of the power of legislation over said district in an ample manner. As if this law had not been enacted. A limit was placed upon the amount of money which was the which the territorial government was permitted to borrow 5% of the assessed value of realist of real property in the district, and such a loan had to be ratified by both councils and the governor. It is impossible to know, for the lack of documentary evidence, whether Shepard was responsible for the selection of the act which created the board of public Works.
The original bill, which he and the citizen committee had drafted, contained no such provision. Similar boards did, however, exist in other american cities at this time, had been responsible for a vast campaign of civic improvements which had cut huge avenues across ancient streets and transformed the old city into a modern metropolis. The district board was subject to a number of restrictions, although it was given exclusive authority over the streets, sewers, etcetera. The power to distribute money collected from taxpayers for the improved for improvements contracts were not to be awarded or payments made unless sanctioned by the legislature and any contract in which a member of the board had a personal interest was to be voided.
In theory, the bill provided sufficient legislative safeguards according to the traditional american theory of checks and balances, however different, differently matters turned out to be in PRA and however differently. Okay, I saw. I’m sorry, I read that wrong. Sorry that the italicized fonts. It makes it hard to read. In theory, the bill provided a sufficient legislative safeguards according to the traditional american theory of checks and balances, however differently matters turned out to be in practice. So they tried to do it right, but they didn’t actually succeed. I guess it didn’t work out. The majority of district residents, including members of the Board of Trade, near heartily endorsed the territorial bill which President Grant signed on February 21 of 1871, the date of the Washington carnival.
However, in March, when the presidential appointments to the new district government were announced, the Democrats were highly disturbed. Henry D. Cook, brother of the republican banker J. Cook and head of the First National bank of Washington, was named governor and shepherd, vice president of the board of public works. Others appointed to the board were Ab Mullet, architect to the treasury sp. Brown, a contractor and real estate speculator, and James Magruder, an army engineer. The largely the large property owners, most of whom were Democrats, were bitterly resentful of the partisan nature of the appointments. Not one old resident nor a Democrat, nor a Catholic, nor an Irishman complained the governor or the Georgetown courier.
Yet we. Yet we have three darkies, Douglas, Gray and Hall, a German. A german native of Maine and one of Massachusetts. The president’s nominee as secretary of the district general, Norton P. Chipman, was chosen as candidate for district delegate to the republican ticket. Chipman was a practicing patent attorney and excellent speaker who had many influential friends in Congress. In the elections of April 1871, Chipman was elected by more than 4000 by a 4000 majority and 15 Republicans returned to the House of delegates, two of them negroes. Many colored men also receive clerical positions in the new government.
Oh, doggone it. Come on. What happened? What the heck did I do? Damn it. I’m sorry, guys. Hold on a second. For some odd reason, it. I think I clicked. I clicked something wrong here and I need to go back and open that document up again. Sorry for that. Here we are. Okay. And I think this is like page 435 or something. Check out some of your comments while I’m doing this. I know, right? Yarn. Talking about the. The book being banned because of. Because of printing here. Okay, getting there, guys. Okay. All right. I. Let’s see.
Here it is. In the elections of April 1871, Chipman was elected by more than a 4000 majority and 15 Republicans returned to the House of Delegates, two of them negroes. Many colored men also received clerical positions in the new government and with the board of public Works. The Democrats, who had hoped that the territorial administration would eliminate the colored office holders, were bitterly disappointed with the election results and they claimed through their own organ, the patriot, that the elections had been fraudulent. I guess that’s something that goes back almost 200 years. Since the Democrats had been excluded from the legislative Council and were politically impotent, they felt compelled to oppose any scheme which the new government would suggest.
It was not long before the opposition found its target. In June 1871, three weeks after the territorial administration had been inaugurated the Board of Public Works announced its comprehensive plan for improvements which was conceived on a heroic scale. The original plan of major, which for decades had remained a dream, was at last to be realized. The grading of the principal streets and avenues was to be made uniform in order to make possible the magnificent vistas called for in the original city plan. The streets were to be paired in a variety of material, paved. Rather, the streets were to be paved in a variety of material, stone, concrete, uh, macadam and wood.
And the widest avenues were to be planted with trees and gardens planted by the property owners in front of their houses. This would reduce the width of the area to be paved and render the cost less expensive. I’m not sure I understand that sentence. The Tiber Creek was to be arched over and become the principal sewer of the district, draining the waters of northwest Washington and Georgetown into the Potomac. Many new miles of sewage were to be constructed to take care of the present and future requirements of the city. The plan called for a system of fixed prices to be established by the board, which would serve as a basis for contracts.
It was claimed that the feature would prove more satisfactory than taking bids from contractors or paying laborers by the day as had been done in the past. The cost of these improvements was estimated to be $6 million, of which one third was to be paid by the owners of property to be improved by an and the balance of $4 million to be raised by a bond issue. The large property owners in the district lost little time after the plan had been approved by the legislature to organize in opposition against it. They contended that the existed that the existed funded debt of the corporations and county amounted to over $3 million, and that since the total amount of assessed property in the district was only $77 million, it would not be possible to increase the debt limit without exceeding the 5% limit fixed by the Organic act.
It would furthermore be necessary to hold a special election to ratify the loan. On August 2, Justice Wiley of the district Supreme Court granted an injunction against the board, and the district government was obliged to make arrangements for specific for a special election. On November 11, Chief Justice Carter reversed the injunction verdict, and a few days later the elections were held. The loan was endorsed by the sweeping majority of 27 48 to 1202, and the Republicans won 20 out of the 22 seats in the house of Delegates. There was now no legal obstacle to the execution of the for the improvements, and immediately laborers started in every part of the city, tearing up streets.
The method in which the improvements were carried out proved very difficult for the residents of Washington to endure. It was a daily occurrence, wrote ee Barton in Washington City, for citizens to leave their houses in the morning as usual, and when they returned in the evening, the sidewalks and curbs, which not infrequently had been, but recently laid down at their own expense, all torn up and carted away. The established grades of the streets were changed, and some filled up, and others cut down, leaving houses perched up on banks 20ft high, while others were covered nearly to the roof.
Not that infrequently. Buildings had their foundations so injured that they were in danger of falling, and the owners were notified to render them safe in 30 days, or they would be pulled down the contractors often displayed great indifference toward the feelings of property owners. Once a contract had been awarded them by the board, many felt impelled to stake their claim immediately by tearing up a street, even though they realized that it would be months before they would be able to complete the work. The unusually cold winter of 1872 to 73 and the outbreak of epizootic horse disease still further slowed up the process of the improvements.
Public opinion was irked by the supposedly favoritism of the board toward such implement. Such important men as Senator Edmonds of Vermont and I Bayard of Delaware, whose adjoining houses on Massachusetts Avenue had been left perched in the air by the new grade, and to Justice Wiley, whose house at Thomas Circle was moved at the expense of the board. These men had never, excuse me. These men had been granted tax relief while small property owners were often obliged to sell when unable to borrow money to pay the heavy. To pay the heavy assessments. In January of 1872, following a memorial to Congress signed by 1000 property owners, the House of Representatives appointed an investigative committee to examine district affairs.
Some members of the opposition had charged that shepherd, who owned considerable property in the northwest section of Washington, had cut down the grades of streets in order to improve his own investment investments. It was claimed that shepherd, together with Governor Cook and Howard Kilborn, had formed a real estate pool and that they were buying up real estate in sections which were to be improved immediately. No definitive. No. No definitive proof of these allegations, however, could be established, and shepherd emerged from the investigation with flying colors. The Democrats had also hoped that the investigation would reveal charges of illegal voting by Negroes.
But even the editor of the Patriot, the leading opposition newspaper, when placed on the witness stand, was unable to substantiate his charges. The report of the committee, which appeared on May 14, sustained the actions of the board with. With few reservations. The authorities had become somewhat intoxicated with the spirit of improvement, the report stated, and added that the care was not taken to have strict economy prevail in every department. However, Shepard and other members of the board were cleared of all charges of personal profit, and they were commended for their zeal, energy, and wisdom. The two democrats of the committee, John M.
Krebs and Robert B. Roosevelt, signed a minority report which complained of the excess expenditures of the board and called for making all offers of the district government elective except that of governor. All members of the board, in their opposite, in their opinion, should be required to place bond and be placed directly under legislative control, and the board should issue warrants upon the district treasury instead of issuing independent checks. Shepard had triumphed. But his problem were by. But his problems were by no means solved. Before Congress adjourned, it sent a limit of $10 million upon the amount which the district might borrow, including in this, included in this figure the old funded debt of the corporation and county, which amounted to over $4 million.
Since all but 500,000 of the 4 million had been expended, there was all there was left only $1 million with which to complete the improvements. Nevertheless, shepherd, feeling that the majority of citizens supported him, continued his plans unabated. Maybe it’s undaunted. On the evening of September 3 of the old northern Liberties market on the site of the central public library long and unsanitary eyesore was removed over the heads of the market men. The heads or beads. Not sure. Shepherd had taken the precaution of inviting to dinner at his farm the only justice of the district Supreme Court in the city who might have granted an injunction.
One of the butchers was killed in the demolition. And public sentiment against Shepherdess flared up so violently that he was obliged to leave his office under an armed guard. On November 18, after Grant had been reelected president and the patriot had folded, he pulled off still another coup. This time, a force of 200 laborers pulled up a section of track belonging to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which passed directly at the foot of Capitol Hill, which was which. Which had a long formed a serious traffic hazard. For the first time, shepherd was in absolute power. The recent district elections had again brought a republican landslide in the house, and Chipman was reelected delegate.
The governor was a mild man who never questioned his intentions, but. And the commissioner of public buildings and grounds. General Babcock was an intimate friend. Shepherd moved in the fall to a magnificent mansion at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and K Street, which had cost him $50,000. He already owned a large farm in the county. $50,000 was a lot of money back then. He was happily married, the father of a large and growing family. In spite of his local success, however, Shepard was becoming one of the favorite targets of the opposition press outside of Washington. The newspapers which had backed Greeley in the national elections in 1872 were united in their abuse of the district government.
Pamphlets were published in Washington ridiculing the board and complaining of the high cost of the territorial administration. Robert Roosevelt, who had become the chief spokesman for the Democrats and district property owners made several speeches in the House attacking the air, the extravagance of the board and claiming that the federal government had been defunded or defrauded, rather by dishonest measurements made by district surveyors for work done on federal property. Roosevelt, as one of the citizen committee responsible for the defeat of Boss Tweed in New York, lost no opportunity to press the parallel between Tweed and Shepherd. In spite of these attacks in Congress, the administration dealt very generously with their district appropriations.
In 1872 and 1873, $3.25 million were allocated to the territorial government to cover the cost of the improvements on federal property. The generosity of Congress produced, however, some unexpected results. Many hard pressed property owners delayed paying their assessments in hopes that still further appropriations would be forthcoming. Taxpayers all over the nation were were henceforward to pay considerably more attention to the financial state of the district in which for the first time they held so large a stake. By the beginning of 1873, the territorial government was feeling the pinch. The cost of the improvements was proving to be greater than the board had believed possible.
Even with the generous appropriations of Congress, certificates of indebtedness bearing interest had to be issued to a property owner for work which had not yet been completed. A sewer tax was introduced which hit particularly hard those dwelling in the swampy eastern sections of the city. The property tax in Washington was raised to $2 the legal maximum and in the county to $1.50. In May of 1873, Sp Brown was replaced on the board by Henry Willard. The hotel book, the hotel keeper as a move to placate the business interests in the community. But the financial miracle for which shepherd hoped never happened.
Instead came the crash of Jay Cook in September, the closing of the First National bank of Washington, and Henry Cook’s resignation as governor. Although Shepard was immediately appointed in his place and quickly confirmed by the Senate, he had become even more conspicuous or conspicuous target for the opposition press. Such papers as the New York Herald Tribune, sun, and world lost no opportunity to attack the district ring, and the Washington financial affairs were now front page news. He could still, of course, count on the loyalty of the president and I. Washington Press was unanimously behind him. In December of 1873, the Board of Public Works published the achievements of the past two years.
58 and a half miles of wooden pavement laid, 28 and a half miles of concrete, 93 of macadam gravel and block, 208 miles of sidewalk, 127 miles of sewers and 6000 trees planted. Washington was now the best lit and best paved city in the United States and its water supply was more plentiful than that of New York. A few days later, the president in his message to Congress paid high tribute to the board for its accomplishments and again asked for generous appropriations for the forthcoming fiscal year. However, the situation at the end of 1873 was vastly different from what it had been a year before.
The financial crash of September had shaken the nation. Unemployment was widespread and retrenchment in the the order of the day. Moreover, the past year had exposed the operation of the credit mobile mobilier in which leading Republican in Congress had been implicated. And other other revelations had made party leaders particularly sensitive to charges of corruption. Following another memorial by property owners in Congress appointed a joint committee of members from both houses to examine a second time the conduct of the district government and especially the board of public works. Time does not permit me this evening to devote to the investigations of 1874, which lasted for three months, and the report of which consumes three volumes of 1000 pages each.
The attention which it deserves. It is sufficient to summarize the fundings of the report, which disclose that many of the businesses business methods employed by the board were highly irregular. The system of fixed prices had condemned as leading to favoritism in the allocation of contracts. Faulty measurements had been made for work done on behalf of the federal government. While Sheppard was not personally mentioned, the board was condemned for permitting him to exercise with such unlimited control. The vouchers. I think it’s vouchers. The vouchers of the board’s treasurer were found not to correspond with his payments and the auditor of the board had no book by which to certify to the certificate book by which the certificates of indebtedness could be checked.
The sewer tax and the certificates were burdens, the report stated, which violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the organic act. The floating debt of the district, together with the funded debt was estimated to exceed $18 million, $8 million more than the limit authorized by Congress. The committee considered that the territorial form of government had been too cumbrous and expensive and that a temporary form of administration should be devised until Congress should have time to consider a permanent solution. Shortly before the joint committee had been issued its report, members agreed upon a bill for a commission form of government for the district.
The councils and all elected officials were to be abolished and the army engineers were to take over the public works program. The floating debt of the district was to be examined by the United States treasury and sinking fund commissioners appointed to fund the debt over a 50 year period. Property taxes were temporarily to be raised to $3 in Washington, 250 in Georgetown, and $2 in the county, and salaries of all district officers were to be cut 20%. The bill was signed by President Grant on June 21, when the councils adjourned for the last time. Fired by sentiment and passion for souvenirs somewhat might in a legislative body, some of the members of the House of Delegates removed ink wells, desks, and chairs from the council chamber.
One of them, who concealed a duster in his trouser leg, was to give to the last was to give to the last session of an elected government in the district of the nickname of feather duster. Legislation in reviewing the history of the territorial government, two factors must be considered, which the joint committee doubtless felt were too politically explosive to mention. In the first place, the system of checks and balances established by the act of 1871 had been nullified by the appointment of an exceedingly republican legislative counsel by president. Granted, there was no opposition within the district government capable of constructive criticism.
This lack of opposition encouraged shepherd in his autobiography. In his autocratic policy, instead of spreading the improvements over a large period of time, he was led to attempt all within the short space of two years. The inescapable conclusions are that Shepard realized that the federal government would not would be forced to save the government of the national capital from bankruptcy, and that the ultimate form of administration of the district was a matter of lesser importance to him than the completion of the improvements as planned. The question of negro suffrage, which was avoided in the report, must also be mentioned, especially since it’s, since this remains today the chief obstacle to district home rule.
It seems significant to me that the chief outcries made by democrats of illegal voting by Negroes were after municipal elections in which they had been defeated in 1870. On the other hand, when negro voters had helped to defeat Bowen, no such accusations were heard. Neither the 1872 nor the 1874 investigation revealed that Negroes had voted illegally, although evidence disclosed pressure upon laborers by contractors who were employed by the Board of Public Works. The negroes were not, however, the only large racial group employed as laborers. The Irish, who were almost as numerous and many of, and many of, I don’t know what that is, many of whom were equally literate or illiterate, were as united in their support of the board as the negroes.
In 1873, when the pressure of the special assessments became too great for the small property owners to bear, it was a negro member of the legislative counsel, John Gray, who introduced a law permitting the payment of the assessment in four installments, which was subsequently adopted by the district government. The positions of shepherd at the close of the investigation was an ambiguous one. Although the report made no accusations of his using public money for his own advantage, the Senate nevertheless had refused to confirm his appointment as commissioner by a vote of 36 to four. He could doubtless draw some consolation from the Poland Judiciary Committee report published on June 5, which substantiated his contention that the federal government should make a larger contribution to the district budget.
There is something revolting to a proper sense of injustice, the report stated, in the idea that the United States should be should hold free from tax taxation, more than half the area of the capital city should require to be maintained a city upon an unusually expensive sale scale, from which the ordinary revenues derived from commerce and manufacture are excluded, that in such the in such a case, the burden of maintaining the expense for the capital should fall upon the resident population. Contrary to the expectations of his enemies, shepherd remained in Washington for several more years, looking after his his manifold business interests and lobbying in Congress for further district appropriations.
In 1877, Shepard had the satisfaction of seeing the same figures that had produced during the 1871 investigation, incorporated in a memorial that a non partisan citizen committee presented to the Senate. These figures, which showed the value of the federal government property in the district and the area occupied by streets and avenues, were used as the basis for the committee’s claim that Congress should provide in the district government bill under the consideration for one half of the expenses of running the district. The 50 50 proposition, which was subsequently incorporated into the Organic act of 1878, was unquestionably the result of Shepherd’s long fight for his native city.
If one takes a long view at the situation, the economic benefits that the district derived for more than 40 years, from 1878 to 1925, as a result of the financial assistance of the federal government, infinitely outweigh the debt incurred by the operations of the Board of Public Works. If Sheppard, however, had been able to foresee that Congress would one day renege on its obligation to the district and gradually reduce its contribution to the budget, until today, it amounts to be less than 8%. It is doubtful whether he would have consented so willingly to the elimination of popular suffrage in the national capital.
This amazing glimpse can be found at and it’s got www. JSTOR stable. If I don’t know that, I probably would have gone there and read it. But now she’s going to talk here about the Organic act of 1871. I hope you got as lost on that story as I did. I found that absolutely fascinating. I can picture the outfits, the horse drawn carriages, and the hustle and bustle of the crowded streets as I read that captivating glance back into american history. But let’s talk about this act of 1871 more in depth. Like many other writings, I find it to be of extreme importance to document anything I bring to you here.
Here is the act of 1871 in all its glory. The act will be in italics, and my comments following any segments I want to comment on will nothing chapter looks like this is chapter 62, an act to provide a government for the District of Columbia. Let’s pause here. This is the beginning of the act. The title the title those who, confused by the act itself, are often adding in text from the original common law that falls above this act. On the next page, locate this chapter heading on the document midway down there. This is where the act begins.
Okay, so this is looks like this is not part of the act. And then notice that the page starts with for the expenses under the Neutrality Act, $20,000. Well, and can’t really read that, but I’ll take it for her word. The way common law was organized at our founding, or organized at our founding is quite different than it is today. Back then, they literally wrote everything down in chronological order. They also did not start a new page between issues they took up during the same session. Notice just above the start of the paragraph at the top of the page, you’ll see the title.
41st Congress, session three, chapter 6160 218 71. The first paragraph, followed by two standalone sentences and two more paragraphs, is not part of the Organic act of 871. In order to see what this portion pertains to, one must flip back a couple of pages to learn that what this information is discussing. In doing so, we learned that at the same time, or that at this time, the same. At this, we learned that this same congress. Sorry, I got that, guys. On the same day they took up the matter of the act of 1871, also enacted another act, as you see at the top of page 417, a couple of pages prior to the chapter containing the act of 71.
Let’s take a look together. On the next page, you will see the chapter and chapter title introducing the legislation for an act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses for the government for the year ending June 30, 1872, and for other purposes. Hey, sleuth, feel free to use this blank space to jot your notes down. Okay. 41st Congress, session three, chapter 118 71 all right, I’m not really going to go through this. Page 418 clearly has not completed the con, the conversation concerning the Appropriations act. It continues on to page 419, where we bump into the Organic act of 1871.
Midway down, refer back to page 45 for 419. So let’s go up and look at this here. What did he, what was it? See? It continues. Page 418 clearly has not completed the conversation. It continues on to page 419. Where we bump into the organic active, 1871. So 419 is the one we’re looking at. Looking for. Here’s 417. This is for 18. Okay. And it continues on to page 419. So where we bump into organic. Okay. At the bottom of these few paragraphs that fill the top portion of page 419, we see the words approved February 2020.
118 71. The act that started on page 417 had been approved by Congress. The next line and next chapter heading is Congress taking up the next order of business. That day in the chamber, they closed the book on the first order of business and now have moved on to topic number two. Because the act sits underneath a convention, or, excuse me, a conversation about finances, it has been mistaken for being part of the information above it. But because common law was formerly logged in chronological order, this was just the flow of the order of business that particular day.
Today, our common law has been completely revamped into a much better system that is not so cumbersome. Can you imagine trying to find a law just by trying to recall or having to log which day of the year sometime it was written? What. What a terribly inefficient and unsustainable way to run a country. Well, okay, I can totally understand what she’s saying there, but I will say that they didn’t have computers back then. Everything had to be done by hand. So they were just. They were just doing the best that they knew how. Doesn’t mean it was right in the end.
Excuse me. In the early days of the United States, laws were written down as they were created, leading to a system where legal rules were scattered and often difficult to find. This system followed a common law tradition where decisions were based on precedent rather than a comprehensive legal code. Huh. I’m going to read that again. In the early days of the United States, laws were written down as they were created, leading to a system where legal rules were scattered and often difficult to find. This system followed a common law tradition where decisions were based on precedent rather than a comprehensive legal code.
Very interesting. Code simply means a well structured library where laws are categorized by their content or subject matter. This allows for easier access, understanding, and reference to the various laws that govern a society. Instead of a scattered and ad hoc approach, a comprehensive legal code provides a unified and clear structure for the legal system. As society and the legal system evolved, there was a growing recognition of the need for a more organized and accessible legal system. Enter the process of codification. Imagine it as a makeover for the legal structure. Codification involves systematically arranging and organizing laws into structural legal code.
The US code is like a well organized library for federal laws. It categorizes and compiles laws by subject matter, making them easier to find and understand. Hopefully that clears up some cobwebs from the conversations you may have been ha, may have been privy to, that suggested code was some sort of bad word in correlation with our common law. We basically gave our laws a Dewey decimal system of sorts. And that’s true if you us code, 922, whatever. There’s a whole bunch of codes. And it’s not just the, it’s not just federal code. The state systems are also done very similarly, if I, if I recall correctly.
A bit of a bunny trail here. If you have not read my first publication, Patriot Psyop. This discussion is also pertinent when discussing 50 USC 1550, which has been mistaken for part of the War Powers Resolution act because of where it is organized into code. But in fact, it is not part of the WPRA or War Powers Resolution act. It is from the NDAA or the National Defense Authorization act, but was organized into code beneath the WPRA by Congress, and its placement in code was signed off by President Joe Biden. So as you read through the old document, where the Organic act of 1871 was written down in the old chronological system, you see firsthand how Congress operated back then.
It’s a fascinating glimpse into yesteryear, but it also clears up any confusion that has been mixed in with the understanding of the act as it pertains to money changing hands. Moving along to the act itself, the first paragraph sets sets up the content for the entire act being enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that all that part of the territory of the United States included within the limits of the District of Columbia be and the same is hereby created into a government by the name of District of Columbia, by which name it bear it.
Hereby. It is hereby constituted a body corporate for municipal purposes. Interesting. Corporate for municipal purposes. I am not through the chapter yet, but let me pause here. This already shows the complete intent of the act. It is setting up municipal government for the locals. Now, you may be asking why, when that was already accomplished in both 1801 and then revised in 1807. Hold tight. We’ll get to that. Let’s continue. And we may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be in pleaded, have a seal and exercise all other powers of the municipal corporation not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and the provisions of this act there is likely some confusing language here.
We will. We will work through all of it. But notice the last part. Not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States. If you hear nothing else, know that this act comes up underneath the constitution, the supreme law of the land. I am not going to place the whole act here and the body of the book. However, the whole document is in the appendix for you to read. Please do. It is an impressive document. As you continue to read, you see how explicitly stated that all must come under the law. Nothing about this act is tied to England or the Vatican in any way, shape or form.
As you refer back to the chapter entitled incorporation on page nine, you now understand what it means to create a municipal corporation. I encourage you to look up the corporation, or lack thereof, in your area. This will concrete your understanding of municipal corporations back to 1801 and the very first municipal corporation that was formed in the District of Columbia. For the locals, there were. Hold on a second here. Phones going off here. Let me start over here. Back to 1801 and the first municipal corporation that was formed in the District of Columbia. For the locals there.
There were problems with that municipality that were mentioned back in the chapter titled DC, Inc. Please keep in mind that all of this was a new experiment. These brilliant men were forming a whole new nation. They didn’t nail everything perfectly the first time. They had to redo things, and often multiple times. Even our beloved us constitution was the second attempt. The revised act of 1807 was more helpful to the citizens of the area we discussed. The act of 1871 was another improvement for the locals as well. However, there were new issues with new growing pains and new hurdles to jump.
1871 was replaced seven short years later with the District of Columbia Organic act of 1878. That’s interesting. And that’s what I was talking about yesterday in terms of the surprise. Everybody talks about that the constitution of 1871 and that we’re under this 1871 constitution and all this other stuff, and yet it was replaced in 1878. It was basically done away with the whole thing of 1871 was done by 1878. Gone and no longer in effect. Interesting. There were indeed financial mismanagement. There was indeed financial mismanagement. The concern over financial management and corruption in the district stemmed from issues that arose after the implementation of the act of 1871.
Under this new system, the district was governed by a governor appointed by the president of the United States and a board of commissioners. This centralized governance structure led to several problems. One, lack of accountability. The appointed officials were not directly accountable to the residents of the district, leading to concerns about transparency and oversight. Two mismanagement of funds. There were allegations of mismanagement and misuse of public funds by the appointed officials, including reports of embezzlement and wasteful spending. Three conflict of interest. The board of commissioners had significant authority over contracts and expenditures in the district, leading to potential conflicts of interest, in favoritism and awarding contracts.
Boy, doesn’t that sound like everything that we’re dealing with today. Limited representation. Residents of the district had had limited or no representation in the government that governed them, which raised concerns about democratic principles and the consent of the governed. These issues, along with the broader desire for local control and representation, contributed to the push to repeal the act of 1871 and restore a form of government that provided for more democratic governance and accountability in the District of Columbia. It is of note that none of these issues included any foreign countries. The District of Columbia Organic act of 1878 reinstated a form of government for the District of Columbia similar to the one before for the act of 1871, with the district divided into two counties, Washington county and the county of Georgetown, each with its own government.
This change was primarily motivated by concerns about the concentration of power in the hands of a single appointed governor and board of commissioners, which led to these list of issues in 1895. Once again, and for the final time, the Georgetown section of Washington county was consolidated with the city of Washington, effectively merging the two entities into a single municipal government. This consolidation was part of a series of changes that gradually unified it. The governance gradually unified the governance of the District of Columbia into a single unified municipal government. Over the years, the governance structure of the district has continued to evolve.
Various laws, regulations and amendments have been enacted that have shaped the governments of the district, including the Home Rule act of 1793. This act grant or 1973, excuse me, the Home Rule act of 1973. This act granted the district limited self government with an elected mayor and council, significantly changing the governance structure and giving residents more control over local affairs. All right, guys, that’s number 54 and I’m at about an hour and 15 minutes, so I’m going to go ahead and kill it there. I’m about halfway through, so it’s going to be right on. I intended to do a couple shows today, but the time just did not permit because I really wanted to read this thing, so I may.
If all goes according to plan, I will be back tomorrow before we do the watch party to do this, and incidentally, I think for the watch party I’m going to try to show that old Chuck Norris flick invasion, USA. It’s like from 19 84 85 or something like that was really hard to find, but we’ll see if, we’ll see if Rumble allows me to do that. And if it doesn’t, then I’ll have a backup plan in place. So while I’m here, though, let me take a look at just some of the comments, because I. I didn’t even look at the comments at all.
Let’s see. Oh, you guys, you guys were busy today. Let’s see. Maybe because then you did. Those tunnels paid over them, basically. Patriot first, Congress. Unfair. No way. I love the sarcasm. Wow. Jumped 1861 for them. Property taxes. Thinking about, let’s see. Just trying to see if there’s anything in here that is in relationship to what I was reading, because it looks like you guys were having just discussions amongst yourselves, so. Hey, PB, how you doing? Um, okay. I really don’t see much in the way of, um, pertinent discussions about what I was reading here, so, um.
But anyway, on that note, I will let you guys all go enjoy the remainder of your evening, and I will see you, Manyana, for the, uh, hopefully a further reading of this and the watch party in the evening. So have everybody have a great night. We’ll see you guys soon. Take care. Bye.
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