Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-18
FAIRGROUNDS GO OUT
Appropriation Eliminated From
the District Bill.
Mr.. GiLLETT'S VAIN FIGHT
Tries to Show They Belong to the
Educational System.
WILLIAMS SUGGESTS PARKS
Says Children Might Be Allowed to
Play There - Stricken Out on
Champ Clark's Point Of Order.

Representative Sf.s-L1p SldIh VI NnISSOuAA
secured the elimination from the District of
Columbia appropriation bill yesterday aft
ernoon on a point Of order of the item Of
$4,000 for the purpose Of Fairgrounds sites.
II am perfectly willing" said Mr.. Clark
in speaking upon his point of order, Ito
do anything that is reasonable to help
make what we all claim tbs capital is
destined to be. the finest capital city in the
world, and the events in connection with
the public schools of this city in the last
few years in this house have certainty
demonstrated that 1 am a good friend to
the public schools and the children.
when I first heard about this item I
supposed the money was to be appropriated
to enlarge the Fairgrounds in connection
with certain schools, but / was informed
today by a man who knows all about 1t
that this $4,000 appropriation Is for play
grounds in way connected with existing
school buildings in this city, and that it
is simply beginning, on the part of Con-
gress, to establish a multiplicity Of large
Fairgrounds in the various sections of
Washington, including Georgetown, which
have no particular connection with any
school. and that they are not to be located
In proximity to any of the public schools.
II was Informed by gentleman, who L
think has pretty good head, that this was
merely beginning, an entering wedge, OF
a scheme that would ultimately cC-t, In all
human probability, a million dollars. What
good will these general Fairgrounds at
various places all over the city do the
school children? 1 am not at all certain
that anybody would be willing for his
small children to go to one of them. Surely
he would not be willing for them to go tere
unless they had police supervision, particu-
larly with reference to these things. The
upshot of the matter is, unless my informa-
tion is absolutely incorrect, the $4,000 is
the beginning Of the establishing simply of
a new set of parks in tn city. If that Is
the case am opposed to 1t.
John Sharp Wilkins, the minority leader,
suggested that the children he permit 1 to
play In the public parks, and Mr.. Clark fell
in with the idea.
Mr.. Gillett's Vain Fight.
Representative Gillett of Massachusetts,
in charge Of the bill, thought that the point
of order should be decided by the chair on
somewhat different grounds than usual, ex-
planning that there is here a municipal
government for the continued operation of
which this bill provides, and 1t may be II
the same rules are applied that are applied
to other appropriation bills a great deal
that is in the District bill and which every
one would agree ought to be there might
be stricken out. The chair should consider
that a District appropriation bill appro-
PIRATES for work in progress-namely, the
municipal government-and all those phases
sarily appropriated for are in order on
District appropriation bill. Among those is
the school. 1t has been the custom on
every District appropriation bill to apprO-
pirate for new sites for school buildings
and for new school buildings. The educa-
ton of the children is one of the necessary
elements of a municipal government The
law of Congress provides that we shall pro-
vide schools, and l suppose that 1t is on
that general ground that it is held that
these appropriations for the purchase of
N0I
buildings are in order. Just as in An
napolis. 1t has been held with the school
at Annapolis that it was in order to buy
new ground and erect a new building there.
So it seems to me it is in order to buy new
land and erect new buildings for our school
system.
Part of Educational System.
Now, these Fairgrounds are, of course,
part of our educational system. 1t is meant
to be a part of the moral and physical
and intellectual improvement of the chill
dren of the District l do not think the
question of whether it is contiguous to a
schoolhouse not is Of Importance. If 1t
should be. it might be ruled that one of
these grounds was in order and the other
two were out of order, because one of them
is next to a schoolhouse and the other two
are not
Mr. Gillett denied Mr.. Clarks suggestion
that the Fairgrounds would be principally
used in summer when there was no school
at all, and said that the fact that the
schools were not in session did not mean
that the Fairgrounds were not just
much then part of the educational sys-
tenn of the District. There were not
enough regular parks at present.
THE truth is, retorted Mr. Clark, that
they warn the children off the grass in
those parks now, and instead of making
them Fairgrounds for the children, as they
ought to be- they are a kind of fashionable
resort for the people of the District
Mr. Williams interrupted sto say that he
was the father of many children and had
practical experience. He didn't know how
it was regulated, but in some of the parks
the children were permitted to play and in
others they were not. He wanted to know
who regulated this.
After several other members had spoken
in favor of the item, the chair ruled it
was subject to a point of order, and 1t
was therefore eliminated from the bill.