Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-13
DISTRICT SUFFRAGE.
Present Government Serves the Inter-
ests Of Washington.
rom the Baltimore American.

rom the >Dkltluore American.
Henry B. F. mcfarland. president Of the
board of Commissioners of the District Of
Columbia. spoke the literal truth when he
said recently:
In form the present government OF the
District Of Columbia is an absolute autoc-
racy. not legally responsible to the people:
it is an exception to all other governments
In the United States in that It provides for
taxation without representation. and is au
tocratic in form"
For thirty years the District has been
governed by a non-partisan board appointed
by the President. All the laws are en-
acted by Congress- and appropriations come
from the same source. the powers OF the
Commissioners being purely administra-
tive. 1t is under this form of government.
unique in republic. that Washington has
grown to be great and prosperous and
one Of the most beautiful municipalities In
all the world. 1t was under the old ter
ritorial form that Washington dragged
along as city of no consequence. 1t
was unsightly, poorly kept decidedly COM
monpiace. and in the municipal govern
ment there was a succession OF scandals
and blunders that gave it bad name
all over the land. The change from that
form was due to an arbitrary exercise OF
power by the late Alexander Shepherd.
amounting to a more absolute control than
an autocracy. 1t was because Congress
recognized boundless possibilities in Wash
ington If government should be absolutely
divorced from politics that the present plan
was finally adopted -- ---...
Now the people Of the District are NOV
ing to have this system abolished and
their suffrage restored. To that end Presi-
dent Roosevelt has been petitioned to rec
ommend that Congress pass a law giving
the District right to representation in Con-
gress and in the electoral college The
mo ,Ia&s l., Drac 49,
hesitate about making. 1t is not that the
people of the District are not competent
to handle the ballot that suffrage should
be denied them. Higher and broader
grounds demand continuance of the gov
eminent as at present constituted.
The national government, while chosen
by. partisans. is essentially non-partisan.
1t Is the government of all the people,
and it is eminently proper that it should
be so located to be always free from
and beyond the immediate reach of parti-
san strife. This would not be possible IL
suffrage obtained in the District. The ma
tional government would then be drawn
directly into the politics necessary to
choice of that government. Complications
between the two would be inevitable. and
Washington would be the chief sufferer
should the municipal and national govern
ments ever lock horns. Autocratic as is
the present government, Ii is the best
conceivable for the District. A large por-
ton of the expenses is borne by the ma
tional treasury. because the District is the
ward of all the people. Scandals are most
infrequent, and never sufficiently serious
to impair the efficiency of the government,
while the material affairs of the District
are managed more expertly than would be
possible under any other.
1t is, of course, natural for the residents
of the District to seek enfranchisement
but they cannot really deny that their
best interests are conserved by the ruling
autocracy. President Roosevelt will also
see it in this light If he looks at the Ques-
ton squarely, and instead of recommending
enfranchisement he should advocate con-
tinuance of the present form.