El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-12
IKE all other capitals Of nations. 7
Washington baS a form of gov

IKE all other capitals Of nations.
Washington has a form of gov
eminent differing from the other
cities of the country. The United
States started out by having its official
headquarters in Philadelphia, city
over which it had only general juris-
diction. When anything against the
dignity of the nation was contemplate
ed the government had to appeal to
the city and to the state of Pennsy1-
vanla for protection. Upon one ocea-
cion some soldiers of the Revolution,
growing tired of being unpaid for their
services, grew mutinous and threaten
ed trouble. An appeal was nads 20 the
city and the state to protect the con-
gress from intimida ton. but with in
different success. It was this which
led to the laying out of the District Of
Columbia and the establishment of the
seat Of government there-a place
where the authority of the United
States could be supreme and unques-
toned at all times.
The District Government.
The government Of the District of
Columbia has the president of the
United States as its electorate, the
three commissioners as its executive
officials, and the congress of the
United States as it's city council. The
three commissioners are appointed by
the president. and his choice is prac-
tically unlimited. Two of the COM
missioners are civilians and aside from
the requirement that they shall have
been residents of Washington for three
years before their appointment. there
is no limit upon the presidents choice.
The third commissioner is member Of
the engineer corps of the army, with
at least the rank of captain and with
IS years Of service behind him. AS
rule the president has chosen one of
the civilian commissioners from each
of the two big political parties. but
president Taft departed from that Gus
tom in the appointment Of the present
commissioners.
No Graft There.
That the appointment Of the COM
missioners by the president has result
ed in the choice of good men is recog-
nized by all. It is perhaps due to this
that Washington is one of the freest
from graft of all the cities Of the
country. With q system Of accounting
where everything must be under the
scrutiny of the treasury department,
there is little opportunity for graft If
there is any questionable money made
out Of the administration of Washing
tons affairs it is not traceable to the
CITY nan, UUI 10 COAS1cSS 0OulC
assert that the public service corpora
lions get more consideration than they
deserve at the hands Of the national
legislature. Others say that timely
tips as to what congress might be ex-
pected to do with reference TO street
extension or public Improvement, has
resulted in some gilt edged real estate
Investments being made, while others
are equally positive that these are
slanderous stories.
Under the existing arrangement con-
gress legislates for the district max
ing the appropriations upon the recon-
mendation of the secretary Of the treas
ury, who transmits TO it the recon-
mendations of the board of commits
sioners. In their recommendations. the
commissioners are held to a strictly
business basis. They are required to
forecast what the income of the city
is likely to be during the ensuing II
months. When they ascertain the
amount of this estimated income they