National Republican., 1883-07-26
SUFFRAGE IN THE DISTRICT.
Views OF a Prominent Avenue Merchant
on the Subject.

on the Subject.
"How do you regard the proposition to re-
confer suffrage on the people of the districtT
asked REPUBLICAN reporter yesterday OF
Mr. Jas ID. Martin, of the firm Of John T.
Mitchell & Co.
al am not in favor of suffrage in the district
for several reasons" replied Mr.. Martin. zone
is do not think that congress has the right to
delegate its powers in the case, as thoy must
3 make all laws for our government, and fully
three-ffths of the value of all property in the
district belong to the government and must
at all times remain under their control and
cannot be taxed.
" In case of return to what is styled self
government our taxes would be much in
creased, for we should lose the known
quantity of so per cent. now paid by the gov
ernment, and could only depend ON special
appropriations, which might at any time be
cut down to q nominal sum by the caprice OF
some session of congress. There is another
thing that should not be overlooked. Ihere
is an important and intelligent element oil
our population--governme 0ihCials ana
wealthy people who have made large invest
mcnts hero and make this their home q
greater part of the yCar--who pay taxes and
add much to our wealth and progress. This
class could not exercise the right of suffrage
here without giving up their citizenship IN
the different states. This latter they would
not do. and their investment would TO great
extent cease.
again, our present system with all its de-
focts, is more economical than any other form
of municipal government that has been tried
in this country. We have less disoruer,no an
nual periods of excitement, no election rows
and riots as in times past. The mighty in
fiuenco of the ward politician OF course Is
played OUT
what do you say to the charge that our
debt was made by the board OF public
works?"
at will not do to charge that our large
debt was made by the late board of public
works. Do not charge the sins of all to them,
for at the first election held under the terri
torial form of government, II loan OF 4,OUO,-
0J0 was voted upon and carried bya majority
of over 4, ,0O0 and all subsequent loans were
authorized By the celebrated feather duster
legislature. We were certainly in deplorabe
financial condition when congress camc to
our relief and assumed charge of the finances
of the district, Strengthened them out. virt|-
ally made tho 3.65's government bonds, and
brought them from fifty on the dollar to
premium. improvements have steadily
progressed, our taxes been reduced, expendi-
tures judiciOusly made, and all persons con-
cerned held to a strict accountability. we
need no delegate in congress. lie can do us
10 good. He has no vote. Should ho make
q speech II would produce no CHeCu. Inc
committee report is the only thing the mem
bers act upon. If should make any change,
would have five commissioners, one,
as at present, from the engineer corps
of the army, one from at large,
who should directly represent the
government, and be the president of the
board, and the other three to have been actual
residents of the district for at least five years,
not claiming residence or citizenship in any
state. One of these, then, l would take from
the western, one from the eastern, and the
other from the central part of the district.
They should he thoroughly conversant with
the needs and wants of the city and county.
They would be able to give more attention in
detail to the affairs of the district Much of
the discomfort and dissatisfaction that now
exists arises from the unsatis-
factory condition of the police de-
partment. The selection of the new
chief docs not seem to have been a happy one.
The changing of we'll informed officers has
caused feeling of uneasiness, especially in
the business portions of the city. House
breaking and petty thieving have become
alarraingly frequent. That we need a larger
force all will admit but that is the fault OF
congress, not the commissioners. Whether
we have detective force now or not is 8
question hard to answer. We know the good
results that have accrued under our present
system. 1t is far better for us to try and per-
feet it than to return to what experience
showed US had evils that were hard to over
come or control, the greatest of which was eX-
travagance in expenditures to satisfy certain
influential politicians"