Evening star., 1870-03-09
The Little Joker.


The City Hall opponents Of the plan of sell
government for the people of the District have
been a good deal sm)ralized over the unmis-
takeaf Ie signs that Congress is disposed 70 pass
thai measure, and their alarm eliminated when
the report reached them that both the Senate
and House committees were prepared to repo:
unanimously in its favor.
Something must be done, and that speedily:
and on Monday morning the ..ring'' by various
expressive mods, winks. and smiles indicat II to
one another that the plan had been concocted
whereby to kill the Territorial bill, dad de IL,
dead,-dead as herrings that are red, And
when they went up before the Senate commit
tee that day the little joker speedily made its
appearance In the shape of a proposition t.
postpone the matter, take il ou. of the hands
OF Congress, and have it submitted at a spe-
cial election in October next; only those to
be permitted To vote who shall be nut IN
the June list by the Board of Registration
This dodge is in keeping with the whole schem,
OF evasion, Misrepresentation, pettifogyiny anl
delay set up by the opponents OF self-yoyern-
ment Now they resort to what Is called i,
Congress fllibustering tactics-the attemot to
defeat a measure by dilatory motions, AMI every
species OF inscriptions hiHlrance to action
They want, in the first place, to staye of
action-to gain time-an1 hope that IL the ques-
tion ever Is submitted 10 the people they can
defeat 1t by appeals TO ignorance and prejudice,
as Senator Hamlin bluntly told them AMI
by loS-rolling to combine an opposition to il
of all those d.saffected with individual sections.
This was the manner, it will be remembered. in
which The revised cole for the District was
killed, after it hal been prepared with great
care under the direction OF Congress.
From the present temper of the people w,
imagine that no dodges of this sort will pre-
vail to defeat the plan of self-government, if
submitted to them. Not a voice is raised in an
position to 1t throughout the entire District.
except from those who have near relatives untIer
the upset load Ofhay. II the election, therefore,
Is to be held, let il be held at once.
The people are ready to vote upon il now
As they ever will be. 1t does not need very te-
dous induetive process TO get 1T into their heads
that self-government il a good thing 1t is not
necessary to din IL in their ears from NOV =,
october that il is desirable for them to have
the power to build railroads. establish manu-
sactories, pave streets, abate nuisances, build
market-h"uses, set up industrial enterprises
ard put the blocked up wheels of progress in
motion here. III there is a single individual in
this community 50 stultifed that he need, to be
told all this, it will not help his case BY de-
laying the question six months. 1t will never
get through his hair by the 1st of October.
!, VIII need century at least for such first-clas,
hips To nnish their snooze. IL postponement
is necessary, the ring had better make il
october, 1870; and if that delay should prove
unreasonably short, we doubt not the Cornora-
uon Attorney Of the period will be on hand
win an amendment yet further postponing IL
until October, 2O1O!
But from what we hear, Congress is not i'm
pressed with the postponement argument, and
means 10 put stop to the insufferable trihing
persisted In by the dog-in-the- manger oppo-
nents OF every measure of progress and reform
started in this District