From George Washington to Gustavus Scott, 25 May 1796
To Gustavus Scott
Philadelphia 25th May 1796
Sir,
Your favor of the 20th inst: came to hand yesterday.1
I have neither received, nor heard of an Address from the Proprietors of the Federal City. Nor do I know any more of Mr Law’s sentiments relative to the concerns of it, than I do of Tippo Saib’s.2 The ideas conveyed in my last to the Commissioners (dated the 22d) are not of recent adoption. They are as old as the change which took place in the establishment of the Commissioners; and were the cause of that change. A combination of causes have brought them more actively, and pointedly into view than heretofore: among which, and not the least to be regarded, are the remarks which were made during the discussion of the Guarantee Bill, even by its friends (not so much in, as out of the house)—the indispensable necessity for close attention, & great exertion in all those to whom the business is entrusted; with an eye to the strictest œconomy, under the best systems that can be formed.3
You cannot, I am persuaded, be entirely unacquainted with the remarks which have been made on the want of œconomy, and due attendance to the operations which are carrying on by those who are entrusted with the management of it. Nor, acquainted as you are with the jealousies, & contracted views of the Proprietors, can the utmost circumspection, and the minutest attentions in the Commissionrs to all the wheels that are in motion, and to all the persons who move them, appear unimportant. Consequently, wherever the scene of business is, there also should be the principal actors. And ’till this happens, the Jealousies between the upper & lower end of the City will not subside, nor will the injurious consequences flowing from them, cease. Nor indeed will it be believed, be the fact as it may, that while the Commissioners, or the major part of them (with the subordinate Agents) reside in George Town, that the concerns of the City will be conducted uninfluenced, and to the best advantage—We may dispise public opinion, and these kind of reports as we please—but they are not less injurious on that account. The time is very short in which a great deal for the reception of Congress is to be done; and no means, or exertion should be wanting to accomplish it.4 It would be ineligable, & highly impolitic to bring any new proposition before Congress, before the Government is fixed there.
I do not precisely know what the late Secretary of State may have written with respect to the alternative allowed the Commrs to reside in the City, or George Town5 But it is a fact known to every one who ever heard me express a sentiment on the subject, that it has been decidedly in favor of the former; and that nothing but necessity, arising from the want of accomodation, could justify the latter. Nay more, it is known to the first Commissioners, that I not only coincided in opinion with them, that a house, situated between the two principal buildings should be built for their accomodation, but actually approved a plan for the purpose.6 Why it was laid aside, unless their going out of Office, or the want of funds occasioned it, I am unable to say.
I have been thus particular, that you may see what my opinion uniformly has been; that it has not proceeded from any recent movements in the City (which were unknown to me, before your letter came to hand)—and that it has appeared more necessary & has been more pointedly mentioned, since I find that the friends of the City, and I presume the Community at large, conceive (as I have always done) that the measures which have been suggested, are useful & proper. With esteem & regard I am Sir Your Obedet Servant
Go: Washington
ALS, anonymous donor; ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
1. Scott’s letter has not been found.
2. This address, dated 24 May, has not been identified, but GW later acknowledged its receipt on 1 June (see GW to Alexander White, 5 June). Some hint of Thomas Law’s sentiments come from notes that he wrote at a much later date: “The President’s house was advanced rapidly and the Capitol was only above ground and the foundation was so bad that it was to be undone and commenced again. In short Mr. Stoddert, Secretary of Navy, and the majority of the Commissioners and the bank being George Town men, resolved to have Congress meet in the President’s house or in George Town College and to make the progress of the West End tend to counteract that of the Capitol.
“General Washington having been informed of these injurious ideas in the Commissioners and being displeased at witnessing the slow advancement of the Capitol ordered the Commissioners to live in the city and to encourage persons to build for the accommodation of Congress” ( 255).
Tipu Sultan (Tippoo Sahib; 1750–1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, ruled Mysore in India from 1782 until his death. He was known for his conflicts with Great Britain.
3. GW especially is referring to debate in the House of Representatives on 31 March over a “bill authorizing a Loan for the City of Washington” ( 4th Cong., 1st sess., 825–40; quote on 825–26; see also GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 8 Jan. 1796, and Thomas Law to GW, 11 May, n.2).
4. This concern worried GW (see his letter to the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 22 May, and n.3 to that document).
5. Secretary of State Edmund Randolph mentioned residence in Georgetown or the city “as necessary” when he wrote Scott on 18 Aug. 1794 to offer appointment as commissioner (DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters).
6. Daniel Carroll, then a D.C. commissioner, had written then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson on 16 April 1792 that the commissioners “concluded to build a House for their Office and accomodation in the City near the place called the Church Square, being not far from the Center and nearly equidistant on the way between the Presidents House and the Capitol” ( 23:428–29). The commissioners contracted for the work on 7 June 1792 (see DNA: RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Proceedings).