Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-13

gate In congress. since lei4 no NotiIls
for any part of the local government and
no representation in the national govern
iment have been enjoyed.
The limited privilege of voting for some
, or all the branches of a municipal gov
eminent. operating by Sufferance OF con-
gress. though enjoyed from 1850 to 1874.
was rot viewed as constituting in the
smallest degree the American political
birthright.
As we have seen the un-American dis
franchiSement of the people of the capt.
tai meaning thereby their exclusion from
national representation. was complained
OF as grievance from $50" and from the
time of the occupation of the city by the
nation In that year. 1t was even then
proposed that the Constitution should be
amended to permit the District to have
one senator and one representative.
Washington was in existence only a
few months when its residents began to
bemoan their prospective disfranchise-
| ment. their exclusion from participation
corning the government of the territory
| or Columbia. published in 1901 by y. Il
Woodward. it is said; This body of
people IS as much entitled TO the enjoy
ment of the rights of citizenship any
other part OF the people of the United
States. There can exist no necessity for
their disfrancisement, no necessity for
them to repose on the mere generosity of
their countrymeu to be protected from
| tyranny: to mere spontaneous attention
for the regulation of their interests. They
are entitled to a participation in the gen
| er:l councils on the principles of equity
and reciprocity. And a constitutional
amendment was urged giving the District
one senator as well as representation in
the House. From the beginning of the
! century. too. members of Congress who
| have viewed the condition of the capital
with other emotions than that of indif-
| ference have either felt their hearts
| bleed over the enslaved condition of the
| people. or, have denounced the disfran-
lob tu.a1
| right for a mess of pottage.
| In a debate in the House, December,
| 1900, Representative Smile said: Not
| man in the District would be represented
| In the government. whereas every man
who contributed to the support of a gov
| eminent ought to be represented in It;
otherwise his natural rights were sub
verted and he was left not a citizen but
| a slave. 1t was right which this coun-
| try, when under subsection to Great Brit
ain, thought worth making d resolute
! struggle for. and evinced "A determination
to perish rather than not enjoy In 1s0:
| the 'unrepublican" condition of the Dis
| trict was again matter of comment, and
| 1t was proposed to recede to Maryland
and Virginia Jurisdiction over the parts
| OF the District originally coded by them.
John Randolph. jr.. in February of that
| year. said in the House: II could wish,
| indeed. to see the people within this Dis
! trict restored to their rights. This spe-
cleS or government is an experiment how
]
without rights: an experiment dangerous
| to the liberties of these states. But in
| asmuch as it had been already made, in
| asmuch as was not accessory to it. and
as at some future time it's deleterious eff
| fects may be arrested. 1 am disposed to
vote against the resolution" A PROPOSE
| ton to recede the territory of Columbia
| outside of the limits of Washington
caused Representative Clark to say in
1905 that he spoke of the inhabitants
whenever he had occasion to allude to
| them with pity and compassion and he
most devoutly wished to see them placed
feelings. and the feelings of every true
lover Of civil and political freedom Alex
andrfa was retroceded in 1886 her gall
| ing disfranchisement'' being referred to
| IN debate. Georgetown had sought retro
cession In 1888 but unsucessfully
During all these years Washington az
well as Georgetown and Alexandria had
been voting in their respective municipal
governments.
Views of the Presidents.
The first President to discuss formally
the political status of the District was
Monroe. who in his message of 1918
SAID: by the Constitution the power
OF legislation is exclusively vested in
the Congress of the United States In
the exercise of this power in which the
legislates in all cases directly on the
| local concerns of the District. AS this
Is departure for a special purpo sc
from the general principles of our sys-
tenn it may merit consideration whether
an arrangement better adapted to the
principles of our government and to
the particular interests of the people
may not be devised which will neithe-
n q frft
object which the provision in question
was intended to secure" In 1918
Washington. Georgetown and Alex
andria were enjoying by grace of Con-
gress municipal self government."
Washington. for instance elected civ
councils, who elected a mayor Nom
participation by the people in the con-
gressfonal power of exclusive legisIa-
tion was the departure from the gem
eral principles" of the American svs-
| TEN, of which Monroe suggested a cor
rection.
| Andrew Jackson was the first Presi-
dent to urge specifically the election by
the District of territorial delegate in
Congress. He made this recommendation
in 1880 and repeated and enlarged it in
1881 and 1875. In 1881 he said:
1T was doubtless wise in the trainers
of our Constitution to place the people
of this District under the Jurisdiction of
the general government But to accom-
plish the objects they had in view it is
not necessary that this people should be
deprived Of all the privileges Of self-gov-
eminent. Independently Of the difficulty
of inducing the representatives of distant
states to turn their attention to projects
of laws which are not of the highest in
terest to their constituents. they are not
individually nor in Congress collectively
well qualified to legislate over the local
concerns of this District. Consequently
its interests are much neglected and the
people are almost afraid to present their
grievances lest body in which they are
not represented. and which feels little
sympathy in their local relations. should
| in its attempt to make laws for them do
| more harm than good. Is 1T not
| just to allow them at least delegate to
Congress if not local legislature to
make laws for the District subject to
| earnestly recommend the extension to
them of every political right which their
interests require and which may be COM
patibIe with the Constitution.
President William Henry Harrison in
1sI1 discussed the political status of the
District sympathetically and earnestly,
saying:
| Are there indeed citizens of any
| of our states who have dreamed of
| bia? Such dreams can never be real
lied by any agency of mine. The peo-
pie of the District of Columbia are not
the subjects of the people Of the United
| States, but free American citizens. Be
| ing in the latter condition when the
Constitution was formed. no words used
| in that instrument could have been in
| tended to deprive them Of that charac-
ter. If there is anything in the great
1 ~ ~. wtH