Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-09
LAW AGAINST SMOKE
Commissioners Expected to
Suggest Amendment.
MEMBERS NOT A UNIT
MR.. MACFARLAND DOES NOT
FAVOR RELAXATION.
Mr.. West Believes in Modification
Statement Made of the
Views Of Each.
MEMBERS NOT A UNIT

1t Is expected that within a short time
the District Commissioners will make re-
port to Congress upon the proposed amend
ment to the District smoke law, which was
introduced in Congress at the last session.
Just at present, however, 1t appears that
there is a difference of opinion among the
members OF the Board of District Com
missoners as to just what report shall be
made on the proposed bill, and it is
may be sent to Congress on the matter by
Commissioner mcfarland and Commits
sioner West.
The proposed amendment provides that
the emission Of dense gray or black smoke
for continuous period of three minutes
from any smokestack chimney used in
connection with any stationary engine,
steam boiler or furnace In the District shall
be deemed a nuisance. and shall be pun
iShed by fine of not less than $40 nor
more than 800 for each violation. The
original law does not specify any limit as
to period of emission of smoke, but it is
stated that limit Of one minute has been
established by the health department,
which is charged with the enforcement of
the law.
Commissioner mcfarland and Commits
sioner West have both made statements
relative to the proposed amendment, the
former indicating that he is not in favor
Of relaxing the provisions of the original
law, while Mr.. West believes that a certain
modification should be specified. Mr.. Mac
farland in his statement expresses the opin-
ion that the present law has been effective,
while Mr.. West believes that 1t has fallen
short Of its purpose
The amendment to the smoke law was
hr-I f1ft two
Loudenslager in March last, and it was
ferred to the Commissioners for report in
April. Commissioner West expressed his
views on the proposed amendment April
10, and it was then referred to Commits
sfoner mcfarland. The Commissioners re-
port on the bill, however, was not forward
ed 10 Congress before the close of the last
session, and since the latter part of April,
until the present time. the amendment has
been before Commissioner Macfarland.
The Opposing Statements.
The smoke nuisance is considered as a
question commanding an unusual amount
of interest on the part of citizens of the
District, and the two opposing statements
of the two Commissioners are considered as
containing interesting information.
In his statement on the proposed law
Commissioner Macfarland says:
las the Commissioners say in their an
nual report, the present smoke law has
produced good results, securing the COM
pliance of a number of the plants affected,
believe large majority, which have
either changed so as to burn anthracite or
adopted understanding devices and
more careful stocking, without which no
understanding device will work salts
factorily. The owners of plants generally
sharing the universal desire to reduce the
smoke nuisance to a minimum, have CO.
operated heartily. Many of them have
spent much money to comply with the law.
Plants which do not comply, after que
init to do 60
have been prosecuted as effectively as was
possible, in view of the fact that Congress
provided no inspectors for the purpose OF
enforcing the smoke law, ana that tne
health department has been able to detail
only one inspector, sparing him from other
duties.
The Commissioners have again recon-
mended to Congress that special smoke-laW
inspectors be authorized, in order to make
more effective enforcement of the law.
Moreover, it is only just to the Commis-
sioners to say that they cannot control the
size of the fines or collateral exacted by
the Police Court, which does not impose
the maximum authorized by the law. Inc
Overwhelming public sentiment in favor OF
the enforcement of the smoke law finds eX-
preston constantly in complaints that the
Commissioners are not prosecuting Vlgor-
ously enough, and suggestions that more
drastic law with Imprisonment as well as
higher fines, should be recommended.
Not Regarded as Necessary.
II do not believe this is necessary, in
view of the great good that has been &C
complshed under the present law, but l
should certainly oppose any attempt to
weaken the present requirements, and l
am sure that the great majority of our citi
zens and visitors would want a stronger
rather than a weaker law. Washington is
q residence city and one of it's attractions
is its comparative freedom from the smoke
nuisance found in so many other places.
People come here to live for that reason.
among others. Any relaxation in our en-
deavors to abate the smoke nuisance would
be hurtful to our interests.
While the present law forbids any ennis
sion of dense black or gray smoke or Gin
ders from any stationary smokestack not
Oh a residence, the Police Court has held
that there must be proof Of an emission for
an appreciate space of time, in view of the
uncertainty of human vision and the diff
Guilty of estimating accurately. Therefore,
in practice no case has been taken to the
Police Court unless the inspector could show
that he had observed an emission for one
minute. In no other way could cases be
made satisfactory to the Police Court.
This seems to me a reasonable common
sense construction of the law, since no in
spector could be expected to prove an ennis
sion of one second or fifteen or twenty sec
Onds. But this would not furnish, in my
judgment a reason for amending the law so
as to give every plant in the District in
Guiding those now so carefully complying
with the law, authority to emit dense black
or gray smoke for three minutes or five
minutes at a time, even at intervals of an
hour.
That would mean, since there are So
many plants, that one or more of them
would be filling the atmosphere with dense
black or gray smoke every minute in the
day, and we would lose all that we have
gained. Moreover, 1t would be a great in
justice to those who have spent large sums
in altering their plants as to comply
with the law If the law were amended in
this way we would have to have an in
spector for every plant, because we would
have to watch all day in order to be sure
that it kept to the allowance within each
hour. This, of course, would be mpracti-
able"
Commissioner Vests View.
Commissioner Vests statement on the
proposed bill contains some interesting in
formation as to the manner In which the
present law has been enforced. He says
with the general statement as express
ed in the report of the District Commits
sioners, that the smoke law has produced
good results, l certainly agree. Conditions
have improved. 1t is, however, very SER
ious question whether the best results have