New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-02-20
The District Government.

The government of this District Is beng
1ercely attacked just now by some members
of Congress, and these members are beng
echoed BY certain citizens who were at one
time the most blatant for territorial form OF
government. Had Congress kept its hands
Of from the beginning Of the agitation Tor
change of government till the people had de-
cided by ballot whether or not they desired
any change, il would have had more data to
60 upon than it did when the change was
made. The change required consideration,
not so much in the interest Of the District rs
III that of Congress itself. The wlsest anu
purest OF our early statesmen debated the
question OF territorial gsTsrs municipal ex-
istence for the District, and finally decided
in favor Of the municipal, upon broader
grounds than any Of those which now come
within the purview Of congressional debaters.
Neutral territory under federal control was
the first great desideratum, and local sell
government was the next, so that national
and municipal rights could counterbaIance
each other. But in the Wild scare about
changing the capital from Washington 10
Nova Zembla or some other impracticable
place, Congress allowed either its indilier-
ence or its fancy to be manipulated into ter
ritorial life. That life we now have with the
loss of suffrage on all material points OF
self-govenment, though the officers OF the
government are, on the whole, as fair and as
efficient as might be expected. Our condl-
ton is the gift Of Congress, and yet there IS
not yigor or interest enough on the floor 10
silence Mr.. Roosevelt who makes the charges
of corruption against the officers OF the gov
eminent, the facile vehicle for his partisan
utterances. He seems to be willing that the
Door. the needy, and the deceived should
suffer simply on account OF congressional
mistakes, or throug h general indifference to
District affairs in Congress. This is not Just
The officers Of the territory, no less than the
people, are the victims OF congressional legs-
lation, and if the nation, through Congress, re-
fuses to pay its share of the taxes upon pro-
perty, or to bear its part in the improvements
BY sufficient appropriations, no member OF
Congress has a right to laugh at bankrupt
treasury, or to treat with dersiOn those who
are straining every nerve and taxing every
energy to reach state of sOlvency for the
District. The poor are suffering for their
pay, and even the rich are in dreadful straights
at present. No government is worth cent
that does not sit so lightly upon the people,
that they are unc9pscous of being governed.
ANY other state Of things in a Republic car
ries with it the inference either that the peo-
pie are untrue to themselves, or that their
representatives arc unfaithful to their duties.
In the one case the natural order Of genuine
Republicanism is reversed, and power comes
down in a corrupting torrent to fioat the
masses into place and profits instead Of rising
to its natural level, by the force Of a
healthy public opinion through which the
people remain masters Of their own political
destiny; and in the other, those who have
been elevated to positions of trust, marshal
their resources for the selection Of places in
stead of Illuminating their hOnors with fidel-
ity, and warming their power with patriotic
endeavor5 for the general good. Give us one
thing or the other-a territorial government
which shall be paid by Congress for its as
sumpticns Of imperialism or real govern
ment by the people, which will tax itself in
the interest of self-goyernment. At any rate
let Congress pay its own way and cease to
change our government every five minutes,
and beggar the people by so doing.