National Republican., 1883-07-27
DISTRICT GOVERNMENT.
Ex-Mayor Berrct Expresses Himself Emphati-
Cally in Favor Of Popular Suffrage.
How lie Would Change the Present State
OF Things-An Interesting Interview.

afternoon on Col. Jas. G.. Bcrret to obtain his
views considering u change of government
for tho District of Columbia As is well
known, Col. Berret was mayor of Washington
when Lincoln was inauguratcd in 1861, and
has been for more than thirty years one OF
the most public spirited citizens of tho dis.
trict. Tho gentleman expressed his vows
without the least hositanCy, and unequiya
cally in favor of the restoration of suffrage
There is a great principle involved in
this matter" said he, (which no American can
afford to ignore. 1t is the principle upon which
the government is foundcd-that public oili-
GERS should be directly responsible to the
people, and to make them thus responsible,
they should be elected by popular vote. |
hold it to be most dangerous precedent to
deprive any part of this country of the right
of suffrage. IL the wrong is allowed to con.
tinue here in Washington it may expand and
grow, and in time take root in contiguous
states. hold that there arc some things
in this world more valuable than
money, and one of these is an un-
trammeled eleativo franchise. 1t was
never intended by those who obtained the
cession of territory from Virginia and Mary.
land that the inhabitants thereof should be
prohibited from voting. If you will examine
pressly declared that the people of the district
should retain the right of local self govern
ment. In fact there can he no doubt what
ever that tho statesmen who organized the
District of Columbia never contemplated such
an idea that the inhabitants should not control
thcirmunicipal affairs as they doin every other
city of the country. Would Virginia and
Maryland have delivered over part of their
domain to be robbed of so dear right? The
fact that from the very beginning tho district
had n local government shows what the
original purpose was, and its continuance for
cighty-fve years without interruption proves
that dispute on that point was an after
thought. 1t is true that the constitution
reserves to congress the right to legislatc for
tho district, but it was not until recent years
ever held by any one that congress had the
right to legislatc away the voting privilege"
When asked as TO whether he thought mu
nicipal government had been success in
Washington during the many years that it
was on trial, Col. Berret replied: Most un'
doubtedly: il can be said that the local gov
crnment of Washington compared fayorably
with that of any city in the states. There
were abuses from time to time but they were
always corrected The people can always be
trusted to reform popular wrongs. In Balti-
more thev had bad government during the
knownothing reign but the people called for
n new deal, and an honest and orderly gov
ernmont followed. Now it would have
been curious proceeding to have
said to the people of Baltimore,
You can't govern yourselves, therefore the
government will take away your right to
vote. Yet this is exactly what was done
with Washington. If the people had bad
government they would have changed it in
time. Now we are governed by strangers,
who are not responsible to the people. Their
appointment is necessarily due to the favor
n NS'bi hnI ba1l nt W hDngp
and it Il the President they strive to please
and not the people. The commissioners we
have arc very clever gentlemen, but it is i'm
possible for them to properly appreciate the
wants of the public they are supposed to
serve. They have been here but n
short time and arc practically
strangers. I doubt if Commissioners West
and Edmonds are personally known to a
hundred men in the district, and yet the
commissioners are to MS u supreme govern
ment, to whom we must look for whatever
official good we get. / hold that il was never
intended by the trainers Of the constitution
that any part of the American people should
be governed by officers not of their own choos-
ing. Therefore in foisting upon this district
strange officers who are not responsible to the
people, the spirit of the constitution is vio-
lated, and one Of the most valued rights of
the American Is tramplcd under foot"
On being asked what plan he would suggest,
Col. Berret said that was o matter, of course,
that should be settled after due deliberation
and discussion by representative citizens.
The main point was to get back the inherent
rights of which the people had been robbed.
The district" said he, twill need an eXecu-
tive officer, to be called governor or some
other name. / think he should be elected,
hut even If he should he appointed bv the
President it would be well enough. This ex-
ecutivc officer should represent both the peo-
pie and the government, aud his
sponsble sort. Undoubtedly he should
be chosen from the district. Then there
should be q legislative bodv-say the old
twcnty-one districts, from whom aldermen
would be elected, and eleven rounciImen
elected ly the district at large. These alder
men and counclmen would constitute the
Legislature of the district, and all general
ordinances passed by them to be approved by
the governor. All financial bills should he
approved by both the governor and the presi-
dent. for as long as the government pay its
proportion of the municipal expenses il
should of course have a coordinate power in
all financial matters"
On this point Col. Berret said the only
good accomplished the change in 1873 was
the assumption on the part of tho national
government of ne-half the public expenses
OF thc district. This is rs il should be, and
should never be changed, said ho:" "the
people of tho country had approved the ac
tion of their congressman in asscnting to such
an arrangement, and the past DEVELOPMENT
of Washington was due TO the wise measure,
and its future would depend on its c0utinu-
ance. Washington had been Ibid out on an
elaborate and artistic plan, making tho con-
struction and keeping Of its broad avenues
and its numerous parks feature of cXtraor-
dinary expense, such as no city could sus-
tain by local taxation. The national aid
had GiVon IL the best streets of any city in
America If not in the world, while its sewer
and wateI 50 Stems Tere rapidly approaching
perfection. No person who has the good of
Washington at heart should seek to change
this feature OF the present government With
this aid the local tax could ALWAYS be kept
where ii is now-at Sl.50 on the 800. The
restoration of local government would not,
however, interfere with tho present admira-
Bile financial system. With such an executive
officer as | have described, and the proviso
that no financial ordinances were to become
laws until signed by him and approved by the
President, would afford ample protection TO
the national treasury"
Col Berrct spoke with much enthusiasm
on the subject and has maniiestly given
much thought TO it, He had no fear of
that bugaboo called "ward politics." the re-
turn Of which so many people dread. The
important point is that the people, the tax.
payers and the young men should vote and
govern themselves. If one local government
was bad the people would vote it out at the
next election. That was the purpose Of fre-
quent elections in this country, in order that
the voters might purify the places where Of
fetal corruption exists by the quick process
of the ballot-box. There should certainly be
some organized action on the part of the in
telligent and taxpaying people looking to u