Evening star., 1914-10-10
Former Senator Bailey Says
Present System in District
Should Continue.
TELLS HOW TO OBTAIN
DESIRED LEGISLATION
Also Suggests National Capitals
Representation in Congress in Ad-
dress Before Citizens Body.

the Brightwood Citizens Association
last night. former Senator Joseph w.
Bailey of Texas gave his auditors some
good advice on how to appear before
committees of Congress to urge particu-
lar legislation in which the association
is interested. Incidentally he defended
Representative Ben johnson. whom he
has known for twenty years. against
charges of unfair attitude toward the
District. He did not think that he nor
any other fair-minded member of Con-
gress would vote to repeal the organic
act of 1878.
HE said that he was one of those who
believed that the National Capital ought
to be nothing else than a national work
shop. Although he never desired it to be
the city that it is. still now that it has
crown to great proportions and become
one of the finest cities in the world he
believed the present policy should be
continued.
1T Is little short of crime" he con-
t1hued, Ito ask the citizens of WASH
ineton to make it what they want it to
be at the expense of the residents Of
th1s city. for the benefit of constituents
az nome There is no place in the world
nke Washington, he said. according to
all over the woSld. While some of the
large cities of other countries have
some things that Washington lacks
stin. taken as whole. there is no
other city like it in the world. he de-
Satared Therefore. he didn't think that
rae people Of this city should be re-
euired to keep it up.
e'For Representation in Congress.
The speaker thought that it would be
OF advantage to the residents of Wash
ington to have representative in
Congress. provided a man was selected
Who would be respected when he made
his appearance at the Capitol. He must
be a man of the type and character
and a man who Is qualified to present
the wants of the District residents in
the right way
My belief is" he continued, that the
who are governed least" He didn't ap-
prove of there being SO many federal
employees.
He alluded briefly to the ownership of
real estate and said he would like to
see every one in the country own his
own home If there was one kind of
property more than any other that one
should own it was real estate. Incl
dentally. he said that he didn't approve
of assault on any kind of property. He
spoke also of the position of the MEM
bers of Congress in relation to the Dis
trict, comparing the legislators as
mayor and council, which position they
occupy when they accept service at the
Capitol. He said there was not another
city in the world with so few vices
and SO many virtues The r1ch people
who have come here, he said, had ex-
eEted a good influence None OF the
rich people. from his experience, had
exalted the dollar above the man. He
was deeply interested In the peautfn-
cation and welfare of washington
which is rapidly becoming the great
ctfv n world.
He was interrupted several times dur
ing his address by applause ana was
given a rising vote of thanks at the
close
Address by President Shoemaker.
President Louis P. Shoemaker also ad-
dressed the meeting on matters anecune
the welfare Of the District and It's resi-
dents. He said that the taxpayers OF tne
District are not seeking generosity at the
hands of the nation, but are seeking JUS
t;ce. and the effort which is sometlmes
made to cause Washington. to become all
that it ought to be as the capital CITY o,
our country at greater cost to local lano
owners than to the nation at large Is
a hardship. 1t is apparent to every one
that city possessing all modern aoVah-
tages, affording every facility Tor the oo-
seryance of sanitary laws and regula-
tions, together with every other up-to-
date feature more necessary in Washing
tbn than elsewhere, should be estaDfsh-
ed and maintained not by and Tor the
few thousand taxpayers who happen TO
reside here, but by and for the nation
as the home of its government.
Continuing along the same lines, Presf-
dent Shoemaker said:
Necessity. independent Of national
pride and patriotism, demands that the
capital city, over which Congress under
the Constitution has exclusive jurisdic-
ton, should be well ordered, healthful,
modern and beautiful from every aspect.
In this the local landowners are inter-
ested as are other citizens of the United
States Our sewers must be large, deep
and well laid; our water supply must
be abundant and pure. and its source
kept free from pollution; our police de-
partment must be composed of a large
body of men. well disciplined, and COM
petent to exercise judgment and discre-
ton on numerous national occasions, be-
cause Washington people are constantly
entertaining thousands from all parts Of
the Union.
Burden Upon the Few.
who will contend that the mere local
taxpayers-that is. forty or fifty thou
sand landowners out of a population
of 3T5.OO0-should bear even half the
cost of these and many other national
Undertakings for the benefit of more
than eighty millions of people? Yet
we have to shamefully admit that Con-
gress even refuses to appropriate its
share. as it agreed to do, notwith-
standing the fact that the United States
ID a large owner of District territory
and is continually acquiring additional
land for national purposes, while Wash
i4gton is fast becoming the educational,
Political and social center of our coun-
Try. SO that eleemosynary. religious
and educational institutions are con-
s3antly, year by year, securing large
holdings of real estate, which. together
With all government property. is free
fnom taxation. 1t is a fact not gener-
ally known that our national street
extension plan alone. as dictated by
Congress, is fast removing and will
eventually remove from the tax books