Evening star., 1870-01-31

Mr. Howard said he would vote for this bill.
but would prefer to see this burden placed upon
the sh, uders of the people Of the District rather
than upon the Treasury of the United States.
Mr.. Sherman said:
al did not intend to say anything about this
Till, but I must say do not think there Is q
Governments in the world that is 50 unjust to any
community As the Government OF the United
States is to the people residing in the District Of
Columbia. Now, here Is q palpable fact the
Government Of the United States is the owner Of
Mr.. Hamlin.-One-half
Mr.. Sherman.-One-half, my honorable friend
says. Look ut the boundless spaces in this CITY
tnsa nt are mo now % vacant and held by the Govern.
is worth SlC0 600 600, One-half of all the prop
erty Of the city. 1t Is the presence of the COY
ernment that brings into this city the poor who
ence Of the Government that brings here the
great number Of employees whose children are
educated at the public schools 1t is the pres
ence of the Government that throws upon the
people Of this city nearly all the expenses they
incur. Here are wide avenues. The city gov
ernment have no power even to take up a bowl
der in order to repair the avenues, because they
are owned by the Government Of the United
States, and the Government will not surrender
lts supreme power over those avenues The
OF their own dwellings. They cannot do the
most ordinary municipal act, the act of q city
government, because the supreme power rests
with Congress, and Congress will not t. ust that
power to nybody; and yet Congress, from day
to day and from year to year, neglects to per-
form the simplest duties to the people of this
District. Here is city with one hundred and
thirty thousand Inhabitants who are living un-
der the old laws of Maryland, enacted before
the Revolution. The people Of Maryland
have modernized their laws together with
here Is . people living under interest laws,
usury laws, and local laws formed and
framed by the dependencies Of George LII.
to us to grant $50 900 as the share of the people
Of the United states to the pOor-tax of this city
i think It Is very small sum indeed. If instead
Of nat the Committee on the District Of Columbia
,cere to report selloryanired system to govern
is CITY, to enable the people Of the city 10 govern
teselves, and to establish some rate of tarotion or
some rate Of eontribstion or appropriations TO be
the poor, the education of the people, tAe construction
Of rodds the lighting Of the city, de-. then zoe should
h6re a complete municipal government. And
hope that the honorable Senator from Maine tcho is
noW chairman of that committee, wiA in due tims
report IL; but in the meantime here are people
hungry, sick, ragged \ II the property of
the United States in this city could be put the
tax-list and subjeS eSted to a pOOr-tax, like the
property of individuals, the amount we should
contribute to the pOOr-tax would be more than
one hundred thousand dollars, because that
would be only one-tenth OF one per cent on the
property of the United States"
Mr.. Patterson said
"Mr. President, wish to say word in rela-
ton to one remark dropped by the Senator from
California, (Mr Cole) He says that about all
that is paid to members of Congress is absorbed
here, and that We are making many appropria-
tions for she people Of the District Of Columbia.
often hear that remark made in Congress.
subject somewhat and find that up to 1868 the
whole amount of appropriations made by Com
gress for the District of Columbia were not
equal to the interest on the money which has
ic Traa off
originally made by the proprietOrs of this Dis
trIct TO the General GOvernment-nOt equal to
the interest of the money that has been given to
the General Government by the original pro-
prietors OF the soil of this District"
Mr.. Wilson said
Il think the conduct of Congress toward the
people Of the District of Columbia during the
whole century, from the time the Government
was established here to the present time, is
utterly indefensible. BY establishing the GOV.
ernment here We have brought to this place
tnous MS OF poor people, of laboring men.
speaking, in the District OF Columbia. There is
vast amount OF poverty here; there are great
numbers Of dependent laboring people. We
have done very little for education. While we
have voted away millions upon millions of acres
OF the vast public domain of the United States
for the purposes of education i'm the States, here
in the District of Columbia, where we should
have had the model schools of this country we
have refused either to give lands to give
granting million of acres for the purpose and
L have introduced a bill granting two millions
OF acres for education at nearly every Congress
since then, but nothing has been dene with
II. Such measure is now before the Com
mittee on Public Lands, and l hope it will
soon be reported. 1 know that committee
once reported it, but ii failed in the Senate.
Now, sir, trust that we should not only pass
this measure promptly. but that measure such
as that suggested by the Senator from Ohio Mr..
ThurmanI will be devised. Whatever measure
i II hon. hat
with its hundreds of millions of property here,
and IN consideration of the fact that the exist
many poor laboring people, will feel under obli-
gatons 10 do something to aid the educational
of the District, and something to
relieve the suffering of the people. Senator's
speak OF what wealthy men ought to do. Sir,
there are but few wealthy men in the District of
Columbia The great body of the people of this
district are poor. There is little commerce,
few mechanic arts, no manufacturing very lit
tie by which the mass of the people can
earn money. Under such circumstances
! ard dhnk nix the Government, with its property
somerS. sn s vast IT, interests here shGald tighten
,.s rs |" ...e city government and voting to put
-Oney into the hands of those who are candi-
dates for Office, will say that have no wish to
for electiOneering purposes or for political in
fuence. ana dmon0 those tch0 are Wiiling 10 es-
taJlish territorial government here, and let the
District be re9resented the House of Representa-
tires. There is no reason ,cAy should not be repre-
sented iR Congress. But am against doing any
thing or establishing anything which shall take
from the people here the right ofsuffrage which
has been given TO them aud the right to elect
whatever officers they need.''
Mr.. Wilson said, in answer to an allusion
made to the city government, that he did not
suppose it perfect, but he thought it much bet
ter than any during the last fifteen or twenty
years. In further defence Of the city he said:
Z" 1 believe the city of Washington is i'm many
respects the most orderly city In the country.
The Sabbath is better observed than in most
other cities Of the country; more people, in pro-
portion to the population, attend the churches
steadily and constantly than in most of our
large cities. There are more men here, in pro-
pcftlon to the population, who are temperance
men-and OF course law-abiding mcmillan in
most other cities Thefe are fewer broils and
fights IN this city than in cities that are consid
cred the best organized cities Of the country"
Mr.. Stewart said: n
90 Il shall vote for this bill with great pleasure
because 1 believe from what 1 have seen that
there Is immediate necessity for it. 1 see, how
ever, in the suggestions that have been made,
particularly by the two Senators from Ohio a
pressing necessity for a permanent organization
to take care Of the poor Of this District, and IL
seems TO there should be reorganization of the
government Of the District in some form, that the
People here can hare pOpcer 10 make the necessary
regulations an the premises. That seems to TO be
reTy important: am not particularly opposed
to the city of Washington as seems to have
ls2 int rcd Awx.w..