John Cabaguing, age 13 of San Diego, Calif., for his question:

HOW WAS THE LOCATION OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL SELECTED?

A number of different cities served as the national capital during the early days of the United States. For years there was a great debate: each state wanted it to be located within its borders and both the Northerners and Southerners wanted it in their part of the country.

In 1790 Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton worked out a solution. He suggested that the capital be built on land that belonged to the federal government, rather than a state. Northern political leaders agreed to locate the capital in the South in return for Southern leaders' support of certain government policies favored by the North. Washington became the capital in 7800.

President George Washington selected the land now occupied by Washington, D. C. and also about 30 square miles of land west of the Potomac. The city's present territory had belonged to Maryland and the land west of the river was part of Virginia. The two states turned over the territory to the government.