Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-23

II
faults. but smallness and meanness are
not among them; and It is inconcetvabie
that the reputation and confscauon pro.
posed should not be found, when the test
mating spirit Of fairness Of the Amer
Eican people.
Fair Play for Washington.
As Washington should subject itself to
a rigid self-examination to ascertain
| whether it has not been lacking in CRATE
ful appreciation. so should Individual
members OF Congress test the question
whether they do not fall short in just ap-
probation Of their capital constituency
and deny 1t American fair play, not mere
ly in specific legislation. but In general
attitude and theory Of action as leeis-
latOrs; not merely or primarily for In
stance in respect to the money exacted
from year to year In taxation. but in re-
spect to acts and words which traduce
the good name and bruise the sen-re-
spect Of the most misunderstood and
| most misrepresented OF American com
munfties.
What IL there In the past record or the
present condition Of the people Of Wash
ington to prevent their constitutional Leg
isla ,;o from viewing them with "a, spprs-
coed the population Of several of the
states They are drawn from and reflect
the spirit Of every section Of the Union.
Owing no divided allegiance to a state.
they arc American in q peculiar sense.
the most American and national Of all
Americans.
They are now generally recognized as
by far the largest contributors to the up
building OF the capital They gave OF
their own property that the nation might
national city. They donated to the ma
tfon five-sevenths Of the area Of Wash
ington. They gave the land from the
proceeds of the sale Of which the original
public buildings were erected. Nearly
all the work Of street Improvement and
capital making which was done for three
fourths of a century was done by them.
Through disregard by the nation OF It's
financial obligations to the capital the
Neutrality-suspicious. were in 1885 forced into
bankruptcy in the philosophical attempt
to bear alone the nations burden. In
the same spirit they endured in the sew
entities the travail of the birth of the new
Washington. They have paid their pro-
portion of every national tax, direct and
indirect. They pay as much per capita
in city taxation. the census reports show.
as the average taxpayer in the American
cities approximating Washington in size.
They have risked life and shed their
blood in every national war. AS a border
community Washington sent many of her
sorfs to the south in the civil struggle;
while to preserve the Union the first VOL
unteers came from the capital and WASH
ingtonians supplied more troops, in ex-
cess Of their quota than any state ex-
cept one. In the war with Spain they
sent to the front fine regiment, far ex-
ceeding their quota in numbers. They
have thus placed both sacrifice OF treas
ure and b1ood-sacrifice upon the nation s
altar. In modern times of peace the pub
lie spirit of the Washingtonian is equally
in evidence whenever sacrifices of time
or of energy or of money in the city's
interest are required. Our business and
professional men, the educa tional, scien-
tific. literary and artistic elements of our
population, our workingmen In public and
private employ. our department clerks
and other government employees, our win
ter residents in process of conversion
tute one of the strongest. most intelli-
gent, most public-spirited and most Amer
lean communities i'm the whole republic.
Our Great Local Legislature.
Applying the doctrine of an exacting
and far-reaching national responsibility
toward the capital, what is the obliga-
ton resting upon Congress when it acts
as local legislature?
Clearly it denies the justice when leg
islating for the District of disregarding
entirely local needs, conditions and
prejudices and using the capital as a
national experiment station, where dubi-
Gus legislative projects may be tested as
an example or a warning to the nation.
with no one injured but the District (as
apothecary's cat), if the experiment is
unsuccessful.
II forhids such legislation solely or pri-
marily from the point of view OF the
legislators home constituency, with the
posing as the grudging
dispenser of aims alleged TO be contrib
l.uted by his districtor state to the greedy
mendicants of the capital. =
| 1t makesSof the congressman as local
| legislator a representative under the con-
stitution Of his capital constituents as
distinctly as if elected by them and I'M
der the same obligations. as II thus elect
| ed. to consider. patiently and sympatneti-
cally their point OF view' TO crystaiiize