Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/620

 WASHINGTON

558

WASHINGTON

Thalhofer in Kirchenlexikort, s. w. Fuss-waschung; Hand- waschung; Cabrol, Did. d'archeot. ei lit., s. v. Ablutions; Tncaa- TON, Lent and Holy Week (London, 190i), 304 sq.

Herbert Thurston.

Washington, District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac River, 108 miles from its mouth in Chesa- peake Ba.v: latitude (Capitol), N. 38° 53'; longitude, W. 77°. The original district (10 miles sq.) was reduced by the retrocession of Alexandria County to Virginia, in 1846, to the present approximate land area of 60 sq. miles. The population, according to census of 1910, was 331,069, and was classified as wholly urban: the county organization (Washington County, D. C.) was abolished in 1874, and the city of Washington is now coextensive with the District of Columbia. The larger part of the district is built up, and, because of its predominant urban character, whatever farm land exists possesses its chief value as a potential residence property.

The Continental Congress had held its sessions in different places, principally at Philadelphia, and there was no permanent seat of the general government until after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. The following provision, enumer- ating the powers of Congress (Sec. 8, Art. I), was included in that instrument: "To exercise exclusive jurisdiction over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the United States". Various places were proposed, and much warmth of feeling and sec- tional jealousy were elicited in the debates on the resolutions and bills introduced before Congress on the subject: the States of Maryland and Virginia, in 1788 and 1789, had offered the requisite area, and the "acceptance of Congress", under Acts of 16 July, 1790, and 31 March, 1791, constituted the District of Columbia the seat of the national government. The territory thus selected was determined as to its exact location and boundaries by George Washington: it included witUn its Umits the flourishing boroughs of Georgetown, Montgomery County (Maryland), and Alexandria (Virginia); the rest of the territory was rural. The president was also authorized to appoint three commissioners to lay out and survey a portion of the District for a federal city, to acquire the land, and to provide buildings for the residence of the president, the accommodation of Congress, and the use of the government departments. One of the commissioners thus appointed was Daniel Carroll "of Duddington", of the family of Bishop John Car- roll, and one of the principal landed proprietors of the District; Major Charles Pierre L'Enfant, a French Catholic, was employed to furnish a plan of the city, and to him the credit of its magnificent design is mainly due; James Hoban, a Catholic, won by compe- tition the prize offered for a plan of the president's house, and the "White House" is constructed in accordance with his design. The corner-stone was laid (13 October, 1792) by President Washington, who also officiated at the laying of the corner-stone of the north wing of the Capitol (18 September, 1793): the site which the Capitol occupies was part of the land of Daniel Carroll, and was practically a gift from him to the United States. In ISOO President .Vilams came to the city, the transfer of the departments from Phila- delphia was effei'ted, and Wa.'^hington became the permanent capital of the United States.

The first local authorities of Washington were the president, three commissioners appointed by him, and the Levy Court; the city was incoqiorated in 1802, with a city covmcil elected by the peo))le, and a mayor appointed by the president. Robert Brent, a Catholic and nephew of Bishop Carroll, was the first mayor, and was annually re.api)oin1ed by Presidents Jefferson and Madison unt il 1S12; in 1812 the duty of

electing the mayor devolved on the council, and from 1820 to 1871 on the people. In 1871 the charters of the corporations of Washington and Georgetown were abolished by Act of Congress; for a brief time the District was assimilated to a territorial form of gov- ernment, with a board of pubUc works as the most important administrative factor. Since 1878 it has been governed by a board of three commissioners appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. The District of Columbia is neither a state nor a territory, but a municipal corporation, holding the same relation to the government of the United States that other municipal corporations do to their owTi state governments. It has no share in the election of president, nor any district representation in Congre.ss: its inhabitants have no voice in national legislation, and, since 1874, not even any part in local self-government, except by favour of Congress.

Father Andrew White, S. J., "the Apostle of Mary- land", was the first priest to visit this region: in 1639 he established a mission at Kittamaquund, a few miles below Wa.shington, and, with solemn ceremony, baptized the taync, or "Emperor of Piscataway". He also carried the Gospel still nearer to Washington. The "Annual Letter" for 1641 mentions that the King of the Anacostans was a most promising candi- date for baptism. The tribe, from which the Ana- costia River (eastern branch) is named, dwelt in the immediate neighbourhood, and on the site of the national capital: so that the history of Cathohcism in the District is traced back to the earhest days of Lord Baltimore's Colony. As settlements advanced up the country from lower Maryland, a fair proportion of those who acquired land in what is now the District were Catholics. In 1669 "a parceU of land . . . called Rome . . . was lajd out for Francis Pope . . . extending to the south of an inlet called Tiber": this gentleman, "Pope of Rome on the Tiber", was sheriff of Charles County, and, in all probability, a Cathohc. The well-known famiUes of Carroll, Digges, Queen, and Yoimg were the possessors of extensive landed estates before the American Revolu- tion. There was no church in the region during the early decades of the eighteenth century, as the public exercise of Catholic worship was prohibited by the laws of Maryland: the faithful depended for spiritual aid on the Jesuit Fathers from White Marsh, Prince George's County, or St. Thomas' Manor, Charles County. Stations were visited and Mass was cele- brated in private houses, a room being set aside for the purpose, the neighboiu-s being invited. An interesting collection of vestments, altar furnishings, chalices etc., reUes of those stations and memorials of the old Jesuit missions, is preserved in the museum of Georgetown College. The independence of the United States ensured religious hberty, and a new era for the Catholic Faith began in Maryland. Father John Carroll, having retm'ned to America in 1774, resided at Rock Creek, from which he made mission- ary excursions to all the neighbouring region, includ- ing what is now the District. In 1784, he was appointed superior of the American Church, and his consecration at Lulworth Castle, England, in 1790, to the See of Baltimore coincided with the selection of Washington as the seat of government. The District of Columbia has always been included in the Diocese of Baltimore. In 17S9 Bishop Cjirroll had already taken steps for the establishment of George- town College, where, on 4 May, 1912, a bronze statue to his memory as founder was erected by the Alumni Association, with imposing ccremoni(>s and addrc^sses by the chief justice of the Supreme (^ourt, the rector of the university, the attorney-genc-ral representing the president. Cardinal ( iibbons, the Ambassador of Austria-Hungary, dean of the Dijilomatic Corps, and the .speaker of the House of Kepresentatives.

The oldest Catholic Church in the District is