Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-10
Unjustly Discriminating Legislation.

To the Editor OF The Evening star:
It is not unusual to see laws passed by
state legislatures and by Congress which
are so unreasonable and unjust that they
can be. accounted for only on the ground
of partisanship and political trickery, as.
for instance, the gerrymandering of cleo
| ticn districts.
But here is legislation in reference to the
District of Columbia as unjust and I'M
reasonable as that, and which cannot be
accounted for in any such way.
In all the legislation by Congress in refer
ence to education, from the day the first
law was passed in 1902 and enlarged in
1903 down to the present hour, there has
been the most unjust discrimination
against this District.
Under the laws passed by Congress there
have been donated to the states and terri
tories for public schools nearly 100 600 coo
acres of the public lands.
Fer state universities about 100000
acres.
For agricultural and mechanical colleges,
9,oOO,0oO acres, to which was added by the
act of 1892 $4,000 per annum to each state
and territory, besides the 2S,000,O00 in cash
distributed among the states by the act of
1886.
Montana and several of the states re-
Gently admitted were given 100000 acres
in a lump for public schools.
In all this legislation, except the act of
1886. the District Of Columbia has been
excluded, and although that act included
the District yet for some reason which
| have been unable to ascertain, the Dis
trict did not get cent Of the sos 600 600
So ingrained does this discrimination
against the District seem to be that when
the Blair bill was before the Senate it was
amended especially to exclude the Dis
trict!
And now comes Senate bill 17OS, intro
duced February q. 1894. to establish
National University in the District Of Co
lumbia, for. the higher education of col
lege graduates only, section 10 of which
provides that. free scholarship shall be
given to each state and territory in the
ratio of population, not less than one for
each member and two for each Senator,
with the District omitted, as usual.
This bill appropriates one-third of the
proceeds of the public lands for ten years
for the establishment and support of this
university, and which, taking the average
of the proceeds of the public lands for the
post three years. would amount to the
sum of S37,511 600.
In this instance I have reason to believe
that the exclusion OF the District was not
intentional, but an oversight, and am as
sured that the bill will be amended to in
Clude the District.
The purpose is a good one, and no one
can object to the establishment of such
an Institution, even though its benefits are
to be confined to a particular class of citi-
Zens.
At the same time, when, as shown by
the official reports, one-third of the chill
tiren of school age do not attend school
at all, and of those who do attend fully
1900 can have only halliday schools be-
cause of the want of school buildings, one
cannot but wonder why there should be
this continuous discrimination against the
District in the matter of an educational
fund for the common people.
1t is no answer to say that the general
government pays one-half the expense of
what schools we do have, because that is
simply in lieu Of the tax on its property,
and besides it has done that only since
1878
Saying nothing Of the anomalous condi-
ton of affairs in the District, such as the
large number Of nonresident pupils whose
parents contribute nothing to the support
of the District or its schools, 1t is most
remarkable that in all the legislation on
this subject. from the foundation Of the
government to the present day, the Dis
trict should be Disseminated against as