Evening star., 1897-05-13
" MR. Fs'Rs1zzAL,sf aEJollyDER.

Finds Fault With Mr.. ThOmas' In.
terview. Touching Railway Cases.
The reply of Attorney Thomas, in an in
terview in yesterdays Star, to the state
ments made about him at the Northeast
Washington Citizens Association meeting
held Monday night does not seem to satis-
fly the members of the association. w. ].
F'rizzell, chairman of the railroad COM
mittee of the association, speaking to a
Star reporter today, said: .t
Everybody knows, of course. that the
act of January 20 1881, authorizing the
District Commissioners to make police
regulations. was faulty. The language
quoted by ME-. Thomas. In his interview of
yesterday Is correct so far as 1t goes. and
is to be found in the opinion rendered by
the Court Of Appeals with reference to sec
tion 10 of that act. But Mr.. Thomas seems
to have overlooked the following language,
contained in the same opinion:
1--WE are clearly of opinion, however, that
the power to regulate the movements of
railway locomotives and trains was con-
ferred upon the Commissioners by the joint
resolution of Congress approved February
26, 1892, which reads as follows: That tne
Commissioners of the District of Columbia
are hereby authorized and empowered to
make and enforce all such reasonable and
usual police regulations in addition to those
already made under act of January 26. 1887,
as ley may deem necessary for the pro-
lection of lives, limbs, health, comfort and
quiet of all persons, and the protection Of
all property within the District of Colum-
bia. The contention, on behalf of me ap-
pellants, that this resolution confers no
new powers not authorized by the former
act, and must be limited, by construction,
to such other further regulations only as
may be of the class enumerated therein, is
without foundation. We think 1t clear that
Congress intended thereby to increase the
~, erf, - f,,n
extent of those frequently, If not generally,
intrusted to municipal corporations. Such
regulations have certainly been male and
enforced in other jurisdictions. and their
reasonableness, so far as we have been able
to discover, has always been upheld
1.-THE opinion Is, published in the Law
Reporter, at page 11S. No. s. Vol. 25. and is
the unanimous opinion of the Court of Ap-
the authority Of the Commissioners to make
the regulation to be found on page AZ of
Police Regulations, as follows: Sec. ~.
Steam cars, trains or engines shall not
er rate Of speed than twelve miles an hour
1.-The prosecutions referred to by me were
instituted under. the above section" con-
tinued Mr.. Frizzell. IF Mr.. Thomas pros
ecuted them under the act of 1857 1t Is only
another proof Of his many derelictIons, as
the act of 16B2 had been in force for over
three years nHior to the arrest of the three
Moreover The shopping before crossing
ceses. which t@ere bthe cases directly before
the Court ocsAppsals. were not Instituted
for more than one. year after the three
cases referedeto@ hH me. and were upon the
Criminal Court calendar, and passed from
time to ime,sbefore the arrests were made.
under the regulation requiring steam cars
to stop before crossing rapid transit lines
rot accounted for In his interview Of yes
The opinfnn ofithe Court of Appeals In
full and coppleta, and was quoted from
largely by Judge, Kmball in the PoIiea
Court in passta upon the newsboys'
ssi awhy thssa!l 3D. plsstict Commissioners, -.
yokad their sregnlRtion relative to steam
cars stopping, before crossing rapid transit
lines have neyegsknown. The new board
Of Commissioners will probably bs. per-
suaded to re-enact the regulation. 1t is
the speed to twelve miles an hour. has
never been revoked =.