Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-05
DENYING the Districts Danger.

Denying the Districts Danger.
y disposition is manifested in some
quarters To dcprecate the publication at
this time of the facts relating To the pro-
posed attempt at the next session of Con-
SrcsS to amend the organic act of 1878
and substitute for the han-and-ha
federal contribution TO the Districts
maintenance d lump sum appropriation.
and TO the plan to force the District TO
repay over S2o.W0.CeO to the federal
treasury. II is pointed out that there n
no possibility that these schemes will
succeed, that the organic act is secure,
and that Congress will not consent ito any
such imposition that said to be con-
templat ted by the chairman of the Dis
trict committee. To breach the subject.
it Is urged. is harmful to business and
tends to keep desirable newcomers away
from Washington. Why. il is asked. dis
cuSs SO improbable thing the viola
tion of the federal pledge given to the
District thirtv-three years ago?
The star is fully aware of the folly of
taking alarm at every hare-brained err
ratio scheme advanced in Congress af-
fectins the District If all the ihmical
plans proposed yl6 reference to the CAPT.
tai municipality were taken seriously the
District would be kept in ferment of
agitation unquestionably harmful to its
substantial interests. 1t would be wor
lied into municipal nervous prostration.
. But here is something different from the
usual project of freak legislation. a
serious suggestion oS organic act amend
ment advanced not by private members
INDUCING in their propensity to expert
ment, hut by responsible committee chair
men. tn" one head of the District COM
mittec of the House and the other of the
appropriation subcommittee which to a
great extent controls the financial for
tunes OF this community.
In these circumstances it is unwise. it
is dang arous, TO shut eyes TO the posi-
bility. even though it may not be
probability of organic act amendment and
of d twenty-million dollar refund. A strik
iRg. and it would seem convincing. parallel
is a hand in the disaster of last Saturday
at Austin, Pa. Let the case at that desc
lated town be stated little differently
from the facts they have been develop
ed. but they may have been in truth.
suppose some of the citizens of Austin
noting the cracks in the face of the dam,
and having raised an cutlery of protest
against the danger. had been told by
others to cease their clamor; that there
was no real danger. that the dam was
certainly strong enough. that the eminent
people who owned it had stake in its
security and would assuredly see to its
continued strength and endurance, and
that needless agitation about the chance
of the dams breaking was harmful to
business, driving away timid residents
and keeping newcomers from settling and
investing at Austin.
Such arguments are often made when
seeming daager menaces any commu-
nifty. They have been made when disease
has threatened community. Don't talk
about the typhoid fever cry the con-
servative business interests, for you
hurt trade. YOU keep people from COM
ing here YOU scare away visitors" But
silence does not cure the typhoid nor
reach the cause nor educate the ignorant
in the ways of avoidance.
Silence about the dam at Austin brought
disaster. Confidence in the integrity of
The structure and the good faith and the
good judgmenH of the owners and in the
efficiency of the law processes yielded a
harvest of death and destruction. For
every possible newcomer who might have
been prsEented from settling at Austin
by clamor against the old dam a hun
dred lives have been swept into eternity
For every dollar. worth of business in
terests conserved a hundred thousand has
been destroyed.
There are cracks in the organic act
dam today. cracks so palpable that every
one III Washington sees them. There is
behind that dam q food of uniformed
prejudiced sentiment in Congress against
the continued contributions of the United
States in the upkeep of the District and
its creation. The dam may be strong
enough to hold against such a pressure
bat if it should not be thefDistrict would
be overwhelmed in the flood resulting
is the District To sit in silence because it
Is afraid TO distress timid minds by talk
ing about the cracks in the dam, and by
trying To relieve the pressure behind it
by a process of education and proven
ton? Is it not by far the best of good
business To ask Congress to strengthen
the structure. pointing to the danger and
showing the consequences?
II the District is TO confront this peril
In d spirit of tenderness for the inter
esjS that maSe be injured by present dis
cusslon. II exposes itself to the infinitely
more serious menace of an uniformed
debate in Congress. which spread before
the country, * certain 10 create a false
impression and put this community more
definitely On the defensive than it is al
present. Now is the time to talk this
thing over. here at home, and understand
,:s ~a5s ss Of 'e' resistant. s@s to
thus preparta gainst not an imaginary
but substantial peril