Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-23
Representative Kahn Intro
duces Two Bills in House
Providing for Change.
GOAT ALLEY AND SHOWS
COURT DESIGNATED TO GO
Woman's Welfare Department and
Associated Organizations to Urge
Passage of Measures.

The movement to clean up Washing
toms alleys took decided step forward
today when Representative Kahn of CAL
ifornia introduced two bills into the
House of Representatives designed to
blocks known as Goat alley and Snow s
court.
Identical bills will be introduced In the
Senate by Senator Pomerene. it is
planned. Meantime. a well organized CAM
paign has been started by the steering
committee of the committee of citizens
which is seriously proposing to ma .e
parks or minor streets of all the so-called
slum alleys. and to make 1t impossible
for the nations capital to fall under the
disgrace of the degrading underworld life
which has marred the beauty of more
than one big city Mrs. Archibald Hop
kins' subscription fund for building a
new set of sanitary alley homes reached
$6. 100 today.
Representative Kahns two bills are
short and follow the approved form or
other legislative measures for condemning
property for public use. They provide
that the Commissioners are authorized
and directed, within six months after en-
actment. to institute In the District Su-
preme Court condemnation proceedings to
take whatever land is necessary to make
interior parks In Shows court and Goat
alley. The bill specifies that the outline
plan of the parks and the engineering
details be preserved In the ONCE OF the
surveyor of the District Of Columbia.
Plan of Assessing Benefits.
The feature of the bill which has pro-
voked considerable discussion at the Cap
itol and In the District building Is the
method Of assessing benefits. After con-
sulting the Commissioners and others
those responsible for the bill have decided
that the cost of these two parks should
be divided equally between the adjoining
property owners. the District Of Columbia
and the federal government That was
the method followed in the case Of Will
low Tree alley. which will give way to
the first interior park in the capital.
Representative Kahn fs decidedly inter
ested in making Washington the finest
capital in the world. Speaking OF his
bills. he said today:
1.-THE people of the United States arr
anxious to know that their capital is cleaJ
responsible for any other conditions. The,
would be ashamed to have II known tha
vile slums exist here l am not at al
in sympathy with those who claim thai
the federal government nelp IN support
ing the District OF Columbia is merely a
matter of graft for rich citizens. ! dc
not think that is so-in fact, l know II Is
not
To Urge Passage of Bills.
Now that the bills have been introduced.
the Woman's Welfare Department. with
it's various committees and it's friendly
associated organizations. will be behind
the two measures and spend all its
energies on boosting those two projects.
The committee of citizens. of which Mrs.
Woodrow Wilson is a member, and which
met for the first time at the home OF Mrs.
Archibald Hopkins. has laid by for future
use a great big plan for the elimination
of all alleys. but it is found expedient
at this moment to put all its energies into
seeing that the Kahn bills become laws
This committee of citizens has a steer
ing committee. which met yesterday after
noon at Mrs. Hopkins residence. Oficers
elected then were Rev. John Van Schaick.
tary. Others present, in addition to Mrs.
Hopkins were William G. Henderson.
william H. Baldwin, arthur Jeffrey Par
sons, Col John Van r. Hoff and DIR.
George M. kOber.
These members decided that the alley
eliminating work had better concentrate
for the time being in the Goat alley and
Shows court project. After those have
been cleaned up the committees will go
to work on other portions Of the city.
The personally-conducted alley tours.
which have become a picturesque feature
of the work. are being continued.