Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-21
Evolution of the District.

The District of Columbia Of today.
an a municipal organisation. is the prod
uct of a process of evolution. Beginning
with the constitutional provision for the
exercise of exclusive jurisdiction in all
cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may be-
come the seat of government of the Unit
ed States" Congress has worked out a
method of administering the affairs of the
National Capital community. This course,
after various experiments and expedi-
ents, eliminated in the enactment, in
1878. of a law which established "a per-
manent form of government for the Dis
trict of Columbia based upon the prin-
cipIe of an equal sharing of the cost of
District maintenance between federal and
local revenues With occasional excep-
tons. incidental the course of local
legislation in Congress and not to be re-
sarded as amendatory or interpretive Of
the act of 1878, this principle has been
observed and still remains the basis of
the federal District organization The
Supreme Court of the United States has,
in a decision that has never been weak
ened by subsequent rulings by that body,
declared the act of 1878 to be an organic
act" and characterized 1t as the out
come of previous experiments and the
final Judgment of Congress as to the sys-
TEN OF government which should obtain"
in the District of Columbia.
Now an effort is being made in the
House of Representatives to repeal the
act of 1873 as respects the half and
half division of local municipal expense
between federal and District revenues.
y specific repeating bill has been favor
ably reported from the House committee
on the District of Columbia, and pro-
posals 10 repeal il by piecemeal are pend
ing. in provisions carried by the District
appropriation bill and by separate meas
ures, some of which have already passed
the House.
At this juncture an understanding of
the Districts governmental organization
and the processes through which it has
been evolved is desirable and essential
to a statesmanlike treatment of these
pending measures, in the interest alike of
the District and Of the United States. in
whose name and for whose exclusive pur-
poses 1t was created and developed from a
veritable wilderness into the capital that
now commands the admiration of the
world. To this end The Star prints else
where today a paper by Henry E. Davis,
leading member of the District bar,
exhaustively yet succinctly reviewing the
course of development in the making Of
the nations workshop" 1t is impos-
sible to read this summary of the various
stages in the evolution of the capital
without. realizing that this is the city of
the United States: that from the outset
Congress has SO viewed it: that it suf-
fered from neglect and finally. after ex-
periments which proved the essential need
of equal federal participation in it's up
keep. was granted a charter which,
though long belated, nevertheless stood
at the time of it's enactment and stands
today as the equitable mode of admins
tering its affairs.
Mr.. Davis has performed public serv-
ice in thus convincingly reciting the facts
and the law with reference to the CAPT
tails development. and The Star. trusting
that this review of the Districts career
will be thoughtfuily studied by all mem
bers OF the local legislature. is pleased to
present it for their guidance in dealing
with now pending questions