Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-25
The District of Columbia appropria-

tlOn Dill was taken up In the House OF
Representatives yesterday afternoon
following the passage Of the post office
appropriation bill. Four hours were
allowed for general debate
This was accomplished by unanimous
consent, and Is extremely interesting in
view OF the refusal Of the House Mon
day to recognize the rights Of the Dis
trict committee on the ground OF lack
of time and pressure Of business In
other words, the House, which on Mon
day was too busy to set aside four
hours for the consideration Of impor-
tant District legislation, had SO much
time to spare yesterday that it set
aside four hours for fruitless discus-
sion Of variety Of subjects.
The delights Of general debate are
well known. Members may talk on
any subject under the sun. Conse-
quently, although the District Of Co.
lumbia appropriation bill was under
consideration yesterday, Representative
Kopp OF Wisconsin discussed the Pan
anna canal at great length, Represent
alive Gillett Of Massachusetts spoke for
an hour on the general question OF civil
service retirement and Representative
Miller Of Kansas urged the fertilization
Of the Panama canal. Representative
Borland Of Missouri was the only other
speaker Of the afternoon. and he, being
a member Of the District committee,
was also the only one to mention the
District appropriation bill.
Deprecates Present Conditions.
Mr.. Borland earnestly deprecated the
present relations between the federal gov
eminent and the District Of Columbia.
II am firmly convinced after a brief
service on the District committee Of this
House." said Mr.. Borland, that a change
in the method Of governing the District
Of Columbia would be desirable We
have seen the District committee strug-
Cling here during the last session Of
Congress and during the present session
to get before the House matters OF neces-
sary legislation, and in each case. or in
almost each case. they were defeated.
has been, 1 think, but two District days,
and the time was greatly taken up on
those days by other matters.
Here is a great community. practically
lation equal to some states. wholly un-
der the constitutional jurisdiction OF
Congress, and it is our duty to provide
some adequate method Of government
satisfactory not only to the people OF
the District, but satisfactory to ourselves
and to the people Of the country.
This particular appropriation bill now
brought in contains a large number OF
items Of legislation. Some Ave or six
pages Of the report are made up Of state
ments of new legislation embodied in the
appropriation bill. 1 am not prepared to
say, and do not say. that this Legislation
is not wise or is not imperatively neces-
sary. Some Of it that have had an op-
portunity to study believe to be neces-
sary, but there should be some other
-
the lawmaking body than in the items OF
an appropriation bill.
Absence of Correlation.
IF this legislation is necessary, il
should have been brought in here by the
District committee. The power of gov.
erning the District is divided now among
three committees Of the House, absolutely
without any correlation. The great power
of the purse is lodged in the subcommit.
tee of the appropriation committee, the
only power worth speaking Of In legis.
lation. the power Of conducting the ex-
penditure.
THAT great subcommittee, having tina,
power of the purse, necessarily has forced
upon it's attention matters of general leg.
islation for the good Of the District, for
where else will men look for the power
over their lives and property but in the
purse?
District Committees Work.
Then there is a second body supposed
to govern the District, namely, the com.
mittee on the District Of Columbia, which
has the high prerogative Of passing upor
street-opening cases. Day after day ant
week after week 1t spends its time de-
Gliding as to what streets shall be opened
and what shall be closed and how wide g
particular street shall be. That commit
tee has performed patiently as it could
ably as it could, the thankless task O,
going through one street-opening cas-,
after another, only in the end to find
that their labors were useless unless an
other committee somewhere chose to pro
vide the necessary funds. Then a par
committee in its control over the court.
This bill carries with 1t an appropri-
alton of eleven million two hundred
and ffty-six thousand and odd dollars
A small fraction Of the appropriation
carried are said to be liked charges
against the District itself. and the rest
of the appropriations are, under a plan
Of government which relates back q
number OF years. divided equally be-
tween the federal Treasury and the
District treasury. The amount, as
stated by this report. which is required
to be paid out OF the Treasury by. the
general government is $5,6SS.41s.25. ]
pense OF governing the District Is ex-
cessive. although I have an idea that
| possibly that might be true. but ST.
OO0.O00 for governing a city of this kind
Is q great deal. of money. That five
million six hundred thousand and odd
1 a nly oh hn o,,A ,f tfA