The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-01-21
Thursday, Jan. 81, 1897.
How the District Of Columbia is Gov
erned.

erned.
When the colonies gained their in
dependence and prepared a separ-
ate government they were confront
ed with many perplexing problems.
One of the most perplexing OF which
was as to where the seat of govern
ment should be established. AS
there was considerable rivalry be-
tween the new States, the trainers
of the Constitution saw that 1t
would not do to establish the Cap
ital in any of the leading cities. or to
have it's territory under the intlu
enca of any of the individual States.
They determined, therefore, to OBJ
tain absolute jurisdiction over a
tract If ground. not exceeding ten
miles square. and to leave the gov
ernment of this district in the hands
of Congress. For more than Il hun
dred years Congress has now had
control of the District of Columbia.
Plan after plan has been tried and
found to be more or less unsatisfac
tory.
From the organization of the Dis
trict until 1871, it was governed by
Congress in the same manner as
other unorganized Territories were.
A special Congressional Committee
each year recommended such lcgis-
lation and appropriations rs we're
thought needful.
The District was organized as a
regular county, and within the coun-
ty the two cities of Washington and
Georgetown had each its own char
ter and each looked after its own
domestic affairs.
In 1871 a change was found desir-
able, and the District vas given the
status of an organized Territory.
The Governor and the Secretary
was appointed by the President of
the United States, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate.
The President also appointed the
eleven members of the Council, >and
the citizens elected a delegate to
Congress and the twenty Two mem
bers of the House of Delegates.
Alexander r. Shepard was made
Governor, and he at once entered
upon the herculean task of convert
ing a crude, poorly graded and over
grown southern village into II mod,
ell modern city. An immense amount
of work was accomplished under the
direction and the transformation
was almost magical. Through the
carrying out OF the policy inaugural
ed by him Washington has become
the pride of the nation and the adj.
miration of tourists the world over.
1t was found, however, that this
plan had It's defects. There were so
many uneducated colored people il
the city that they out-voted the
whites. and Il petition was circulat-
ed asking Congress to take away the
franchise of the people and govern
directly.
In 1874 the present unique plan
was put into operation. The Presi-
dent appoints three District Com
missioners having the same salaries
as Members of Congress, II of the
Commissioners being an army Of
ticer.
These Commissioners have charge
of all administrative affairs, appoint
ing all the officers employed on the
police, fire, engineer, and other de-
partments. In fact, they have all
the powers of ordinary rulers, ex-
cepting the right to spend the mon
ey as they choose. All expenditures
have to be provided for by Congress,
one half being taken from District
taxes and the other half from the
Treasury of the United States. The
government pays one-holf of the
running expenses in place of n regu-
lar tax, because it is estimated that
it owns one half of the property in
the District.
The citizens have no vote upon
any subject or for any officer what
ever. They can only influence by
petition and through the press.