Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-08

particular piece of legislation an in
justice.
| A resume of the work of the present
civilian Commissioners during the first
\ eighteen months of their stewardship.
which will be completed within a few
days. was given by Mr.. Siddons, who
began by praising the association for
| holding it's meetings in a house of
worship. He praised the church that
took an interest in civic matters. which
| come wholly outside of the church
| work.
Work of Mrs. Wilson.
| At some length the Commissioner
reviewed the work of Mrs. Wilson and
her daughters in civic matters. "They
could command agreeable society. but
instead gave their time and thought to
the needs of the District of Columbia.
went through the alleys and looked
| into the housing conditions There
she found conditions existing to which
she gave unstintingly Of time, thought
and means in an effort to ameliorate.
And her daughters, too, gave of their
| time and thought.
| Though she has gone to the great
| beyond, I feel that her spirit still how
|
higher endeavors. Not all civil Com
missioners had this sort Of inspiration
| to guide them"
Discussing some of the troubles
which confronted the Commissioners
| soon after they assumed office, the
| Commissioner spoke Of the charges of
| inequality in taxation.
Assessment Is Fairest.
| THE recent triennial assessment"
he continued, Is fairer, more just and
more equal in my judgment than any
previous assessment Some of you may
think that your property is assessed
too high. If your opinions are we'll
grounded all you have to do is to ap-
pear before a board of review. where
justice will be received.
| There has been the charge that GER
tain sections have been unfairly
treated so far as improvements are
concerned. The present civilian Com
missioners have tried to see that all
sections are fairly treated. When the
matter of improvements came up
those sections which showed that they
had been built up by the citizens were
given better streets. ETC.. rather than
those sections which were undeveloped.
where there were no houses, and where
| a map for a street.
Now. if there is any injustice in
| that. then the present board of Com
missiondrs plead guilty to the charge
ing the remainder Of their terms"
Discusses Legislation.
Commissioner Siddons then took up
the discussion of the legislation which
| was passed for the present board Of
Commissioners to enforce. First he
took up the public utilities act and
t-sutlined its purpose. 1t was Of wide
| scope. he said. and being a new law.
the commission had to go slow in issu-
| ing orders of any kind. for q new law
| usually causes irritation and vexation.
The sooner the spirit Of vexation is
downed and there arises that of CO.
operation between the public utilities
and the commission 1t will be the bet
| ter for all, he said.
1.-The commission" continued Mr.. Sid
dons, lis not unmindful of the desire
| of the citizens of the District for uni
versal transfers; but they must go slow
| and be sure Of their ground before
they issue an order. II you get that
stick and not be taken into court. Until
they are in possession of the necessary
| information in order to make the de-
cision stick you ought not to wish them
| to take action.
Must Obtain Results.
"The commission must go slowly and
| accomplish results. rather than start
litigation which will go over a number
of years. at the end of which you have
nothing and have to start all over
again
In other states the public utilities
commissions have nothing else to do
but look after the utilities. while here
| the Commissioners of the District of
Columbia compose the commission. In
Pennsylvania. for instance. the Com
a year each. while in the District the
civilian Commissioners are working
under a salary made for them in 1873,
and they have to be public utilities
commissioners also"
| Another law was the Kenyon red
light law I want to say now that within
an hour after 1t was known that the
President had affixed his signature to
close the houses in the segregated dis
trict had been published by the Com
missioners and the houses have never
been opened.
Strive to Wipe Out Evil.
But to say that that law got rid of
the evil cannot pretend to say. 1 can
only say that the police are doing all
they can to prevent its spread. and 1
| ask you, in all fairness. before you criti-
else, to ascertain the facts. The Com
missioners and the police are doing all
in their power to stamp out the evil
that the law is aimed to cure. If fail
| ure comes it will not be because the
Commissioners and police have been I'M
| faithful to their duty. To say that the
evil has disappeared would not be cor
rect. Don't be impatient. 1t will take
a long time.
| Another law is the eight-hour law
for women. There were difficulties in
the administration of that law. II
could not be done in day. 1t will be
enforced as quickly as possible without
depressing business Business will
gradually adjust itself to the new con-
ditions.
| Then there is that section of the re-
cent appropriation act which can hard
IIy be referred to by citizens except in
anger l speak of the so-called Bor-
land amendment.
Street Paving Costs.
| But you must expect that unless and
until the law is changed property own
ers must bear a portion of the street
paving costs You may call this Soc
ton an injustice. I am not prepared