Evening star., 1900-02-07

grant the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
a portion OF Garfield Park. and. upon his
motion. the association expressed it's op-
position to the project.
Right of Suffrage.
Mr.. NJ. F. o'Donoghue, who believes that
the people of the District should be per-
mitted to enjoy the right of suffrage, in
troduced the subject, remarking that the
people Of the District should not be held
wholly subject to the wishes or opinions
of senators and representatives, some of
wnom are not much more than able to
read or write their own names. Mr..
ODonoghue, after speaking five or ten
minutes, in which he endeavored to pic
ture the alleged unfortunate condition of
the people Of the District in the matter,
was asked by Mr.. August Peterson to be
Kind enough to explain to the meeting just
what he CMr. ODonoghue) was talking
about. $50, -r-. = $3.50
Mr.. O'Donoghue replied by reading reso-
luton which called attention to bill pend
ing before Congress intended to restore
sell government to the people of the Dis
trict. his resolution proposing that the as
sociation favor the bill. Mr.. Peterson at
once offered a substitute for Mr.. O'Donog-
hue's resolution The substitute, after re-
citing the beneficent advantages of the ex-
isting form of. government in the District.
proposed that the committee of the asso-
ciation having the matter. in charge should
be instructed and authorized to express to
the members of both houses of Congress
the associations disappruyai of the bill re-
storing self-governu1ent to the people of
the District, and to take such other steps
as said committee may deem necessary to
prevent the passage Aof said bill. - -
motion to lay Mr.. Peterson's Subst-
tute on the table was made but was de-
feated by a vote of 2 to TO- several MEM
bers not voting. A long and at times
Mr.. Davis stated that he has yet to hear
one really satisfactory reason why there
should not be some form of self-govern-
ment here. He spoke of how he is COM
the right of suffrage, and regretted that
law similar to that there is not in force
here.
Mr.. Chas. S. Wilson said the fact that
city in this country decently governed
should be a good reason why the present
form of government here should continue.
He said that there is surely no better gov
erned city than Washington.
Better Results mt Less Cost.
Mr. Campbell said better results are OBJ
tanned here than anywhere else in the
country, at less cost, and that the authorf-
ties are generally amenable to public opin-
ion, which, he remarked, is hardly the case
elsewhere. He cited certain exhibitions
occurring here every four years as indfcat-
ing what would happen should suffrage be
restored. to which Mr.. Saunders replied
that such exhibitions were results of inn
perfect laws and regulations governing
such matters, or rather, he explained, the
absence of any law whatever on the sub
ject. He favored suffrage here, saying,
with Mr.. Davis, that he is actually ashamed
to admit that he lives In place where he
cannot exercise such a right.
Mr.. Peterson invited attention to the fact
that every man coming here knew just
what to expect and that If. after arriving
in the District, they did not like the situa-
tion, they could not be compelled to re-
main.
The debate was closed by Mr.. c. S. Bun
dy, who, in a forcible address, pointed out
that the District is place set apart by the
people as the seat Of their government, and
that as the Constitution gives Congress ex-
elusive jurisdiction over it, and Congress In
its wisdom having established the present
form of government, than which, Mr.. Bun
dy declared, none better or more satisfac-
tory can be shown, it should not be dis
turbed and he said he has no fear that it
ever will be.
At the suggestion of Mr. Simmons the
president Of the association, the matter
was postponed until the next regular
meeting of the association, the
9th of March. at which time, it is under
stood, each side will endeavor to secure the
attendance of every member favorable to
their respective sides.