Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-20
Believe Congress Will Have to
Repeal or Amend the
Measure.
CRITICISM BY MEMBERS
WHO OPPOSE Enactment
Confscation Of Property Among the
Charges-Entirely Different Leg
islation Had Been Planned.

That it will be necessary to repeal
the alley bill which has passed both
houses of Congress, or amend it radi-
cally, is the general opinion of men,
bers of the House who did everything
IN their power to prevent the passage
Of the measure. Members Of the Dis
trict committee of the House are
chagrined with the outcome of the
legislation. as they had planned to
throw the Senate and House bills into
conference SO that a perfected measure
would have resulted. AS it happened,
the plans of the men in the House who
disapproved of certain features of the
alley bill as it was passed by the Sen
ate failed at the last moment.
There had been we'll laid design to
put through the House a bill entirely
different from the Senate bill. That
would have made a conference neces-
sary. 1t could have been done by re-
jecting the substitute as offered by the
House District committee and by TAX
ing up the Senate bill with a radical
amendment on it, or it could have
been done in other ways.
1t Is quite safe to say that the House
District committee was extremely
a
acid.
Representative Borland, for instance,
was going to make strong speech in
favor of the original Commissioners
bill, although it is stated that one of
the Commissioners privately admitted
to a prominent member of Congress
in the course of this alley campaign
that in his judgment the measure was
unconstitutional
Their Plans Upset.
Using Representative Borland's ora
tory as an aid, members who wanted
to mix up the legislation so as to OBJ
tain a conference ana thus a perfected
bill. thought they could count on the
House passing the original alley bill
the Mrs Wilson bill" However. it
women interested in the campaign
called at the Capitol and said that
they would accept" the Senate bill
rather than have the uncertain pulling
Perhaps that visit became known
generally. Perhaps it was that the
members who stay in the cloakrooms
and emerge only when a vote is de-
manded forgot their cue; at any rate
the District committee found. much
to its surprise, that the House in COM
mittee of the whole voted the wrong
way. The plan had been to support
the original commissioners Dill or
to arrange to send the matter to con-
ference, but the plan went wrong.
One of the most plain-spoken objec-
tons to the alley measure, as 1t has
passed the House and Senate comes
from Representative Reed of New
Hampshire, member of the District
committee, who says the bill is nothing
but "a rank injustice" Mr.. Reed. as
mayor and alderman of Manchester, N.
H, for twelve years. had considerable
ov until ixio ,r0h
cially condemnation problems.
Representative Reeds Views.
II think that every one wants the
alley problem here settled" said Mr..
Reed yesterday, but there is no rea-
son in the bill, which simply confiscates
a persons property and pays nothing i,
return for it. 1 want to see the alleys
cleaned, for the sentimental reasons
which we all appreciate. l was one Of
the strongest friends of the alley clean
up movement which Mrs. Wilson made
SO famous. and yet l don't want to see
the alleys cleaned out by any such
rank and outrageous injustice as is
contained in the bill which passed the
House and Senate. There should be
amendments enacted for the bill before
it becomes effective four years from
now.
In mentioning this subject feel very
strongly that the Commissioners long
ago should have cleaned the alleys, to
some extent, at least. The alleys are
a part and parcel of Washing ton. and as
such should be treated to clean streets
and running water. just as the rest of
the town is"
The only objection to the bill voiced
by Representative Kahn of California
is that 1t is not comprehensive enough
Mr.. Kahn has no objection to the con-
n II
declares that it should have contained
some method for taking care of the
alley jewellers when ousted.
Mr.. Borland's Objections.
Representative Borland, who is op-
posed to the alley bill as it passed the
House, said:
Il say the bill does not go far enough.
| In my judgment, 1t ought to provide
not only for the elimination of the al
leys, but also for some workable scheme
articulating with the present law in the
District Of Columbia. by which some of
and by which something of a useful ma
ture can take their places. In other
| words. the alleys ought to be either con-
verified into minor streets or applied to
business purposes, and then the reaous-
ing Of the alley population ought to ac-
company the elimination of the alleys.
Those two features ought to be en-
braced in any legislation by Congress to
eliminate the alleys. But we have made
a fight for the elm nation of these
alleys, and we have gotten this far, and,
in my judgment every friend of the
| elimination of the alleys and the reform
| in the District ought to set a stake
down as far as we have gotten. and then
| let the forces of reform go on still
farther.
The Commissioners tell me that they
| aided In the preparation of bill
| which would very much prefer, the
so-called Commissioners bill 1t pro-
vided for the elimination of certain al
leys annually, and for an excess con-
domination of the land In the interior
of the blocks, so that the alleys might
be transformed. Proper machinery
would. of course, be provided to ac-
compli,h that under the general code
| of the District But when the clash
came between the friends of reform and
| those in the District, and possibly else
where, who are opposed to the elimina-
ton of alleys. largely, think, on sell
fish grounds, the friends of reform
|seemed to have met an insurmountable
obstacle. In other words. l think the
lreactionary element in the District
have fought the friends of reform to a
standstill. The alley committee have
succeeded in getting this bill. and they
say this is all they can get. That word
comes from the so-called committee of
fifty. which Is the alley committee Of
the citizens of the District. They feel
that they can get nothing more at this
time than this bill.
! thew feel that la frfYa than h ~ :.