The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-19
AGITATION FOR ONE man RULE
CHANGEOFG OVERNMESTWANTED
IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

for o Change IL the Chance TO vote
That IL IL Hoped Any Change Would
Drlns-Negro Vote Might Dominate.
WARRINGTON, July Is. Residents OF the
District of Columbia are somewhat stirred
over q prolonged agitation in favor OF
changing the form OF District government.
II 10 now a government by commissioners.
There IL no voting here. All kinds OF argu-
ments are being made by the kickers to
demonstrate that a government by O Gov
ernor-one man rule would be preferable.
1t Is said by these agitators that a govern
ment by three commissioners 10 unwieldy.
slow, impractical and checks itsel! Try its
triple head. Just one commissioner to
boss the whole work would suit them better.
but a Governor lie what they want. They
are saying now that President Roosevelt
has come around to their way Of thinking
and that he believes a acknowledgements
for the District would work like a balance
wheel. At this suggestion there Is acclaim,
again, among the members who want a
change. for It must he explained that a
great many Washington people do not want
any change and do not quite understand
what all the fuss is about.
It is an open secret that what is most pop
tlar among the advocates of a change is
the opportunity to vote for somebody. or
something that it is anticipated any kind OF
change from the present order would bring.
They want to mix up in affairs, have a voice
In them, a hand in their manipulation or q
finger in the pie. There Is an element OF
~eninently respectable men in washington,
foremost citizens. men OF AFFAIRS, who have
q spirit for contest and no political vent
for It. often it has been said that all the
squabhles here over the school board.
school buildings and in all quasi-public
organizations. in which the whole dlstin-
guished section of the population a sides,
are not due to any abuses-at all. but simply
10 the non-existenceo Of political party strife
In which the activities Of these busily dis
posed people might be engaged and their
personalities Illuminated.
much thought about yet is that in the event
OF the restoration OF suffrage the negro vote
would dominate.
Washin gton has been. governed by. q
commission for thirty-four years. The
first four years of that time the govern
ment was temporary and experimental.
During this thirty-four years the District
has been singularly free from official scan
respect Of the public and hav been free
from criticism from Congress and the
President
Alexander r. Shepherd Boss Shepherd.
90 called was the last OF the Governors:
He and his Legislature were swept out Of
powor by a great public. cutlery against
eI~travaeanoe. MIR. Shepherd recovered
from the odiupt WHICH attached to his ad-
ministration bccausc of the expensive
s @so back from aF M esso to visit Washing g.
ton q few years ago he was the subject Of q 1
continuous ovation. Most OF the men who
had been loudcs. In criticising min for
burdens Of taxation were in time enriched
by the growth and beauty OF the city re-
sulting from the Shepherd regime. His
great scheme Of Improvement enhanced
property values beyond the dreams of |
owners. Boss Shepherd Is to nave a fitting !
erected to his memory in Washington. where
be was once so thoroughly disliked.
Nobody has yet proposed a monument
to the Feather Duster' Legislature which
went out Of power With Boss Shepherd.
cause Of its traditional grating. propensi-
ties when the Solons scudded before the
growing storm Of popular d%isfavor. They
are reported to- have carried away with
piece Of movable furniture belonging. to
the public. including inkstands. feather
busters, pens and ink.
AT the time Congress passed the statute
abolisbing the Governor and Legislature
and substituting government by CON-
m~issioners the feeling against popular
outrage in the District was very strong.
Elections had become a public nuisance.
One-third Of the population OF voting age
WaE mdu6 up OI HtgTOCS, phft VI dilotiSi
third were whites who were not sufficiently ]
strong In numbers to cope with worthless
whites, who Joined with the negroes to
control the District government and ,di-
vide the spoils. 1t was true then, and Is
probably true to-day, hat one-third, which
represents the remainder OF the voting
population In the District not accounted
For in the above enumeration, ID composed
OF people who hold a temporary domicile
In the District Of Columbia, but retain
their residences in the States for voting
purposes. So long as the memory OF the
Feather Buster" Legislature fingers in
the minds Of Neutrality-suspicious. there will
be no strong sentiment in favor OF q %restora-
ton OF suffrage.
Washington has been going along peace
ably under the government by commits
sion nj to all appearances has been a
thoroughly well governed city; Occasion.
It's civic institutions are punctuated by
individual demand for suffrage or a
shrek from some quarter to remind the
sleeping capital that here is a govern
ment without the consent OF the governed
This is really more Of a truth Of Washing
ton than it is of the Philippines, about
which so many good people are declaiming.
But II Is a question whether the governed
in Washin gton and the District would con-
sent to a government with the consent OF
the governed If that consent implied the
exercise OF the popular suffrage.
More acute, perhaps. and OF more imme-
diate concern is the question whether the
hall have a continuation OF gov
eminent by commission or be turned over
TO q one maj power centred in a Governor.
Without popular suffrage such govern
ment would be absolute. There would be
legislative restraints upon the execu-
tive authority such as are represented
BY a Legislature, as under the Shepherd
or d mayor anA city council, as
prevailed at an earlier period In the history
Of District government. II the President
appointed the Governor and then appointed
q council or legislature to keep watch
upon the Governor 1t would, in the final
amount to government by COM
mission again and be open to the same
objections, real or fancied, which are Of
against the present system Of three
Commissioners, namely, that there is too
division Of authority. A commission
or council appointed by the President in
the same manner in which he appointed a
Governor would give a government for the
thoroughly absolute and lacking
every principle Of representative govern
1t Ii not unlikely that the whole subject
Of q change Of government and Of a return
10 popular suffrage IN the District Of Co.
tYnbia will C0ma hafora tho paxf aaaainp