Evening star., 1915-03-29


OF national necessity. and that by care-
fully ascertaining and giving effect to
local public sentiment the spirit OF Amer
tcan representative government shall. az
far as possible. in substance prevail.
though the forms be lacking.
No Unnecessary Sacrifices
To impose upon the washingtonian
hurtful determinations In respect to
his status before the national courts
clearly involves an unnecessary saori.
fee on his part and offends the rule Of
equity laid down by President Harri-
son.
Chief Justice John Marshans treat
ment of the District of Columbia when
the alleged rights OF Its citizens came
| in conflict with some claim of national
power develops vividly these judicial
Determinations:
In Hepburn and Dundas rs. EliZey e
Cranch, 445) Marshall held that the
of that term In international law. but
not In the sense of the Constitution.
anu that its citizens could not bring
suit as citizens of a state in United
States courts. In Loughborough agt.
Blake t5 Wheaton, S17) he decided that
Congress has the constitutional power
to impose direct taxes upon the unrep-
resented District. Notwithstanding the
words of the Constitution coupling rep
resentation and direct taxation, and
notwithstanding the principle asserted
In our revolution that representation
Is inseparable from taxation
John MarshallS Supreme Court
treated the District as d state when
taxes were imposed. but not a state
when representatives were apportioned.
though the Constitution apparently
couples the two things. 1t was de-
clared not to be a state whose citizens
can bring suit in the United States
courts. though the Supreme Court at q
later date pronounced it In the very
q = n No III a nj IN
!, OF the Union under treaty with
France comforting privileges on aliens
(Geofroy VS.. Riggs. 1873 Z. s.. 258D. In
! short, the District is a state when bur-
dens are imposed and not state when
privileges are distributed
Marshall recognizes deprecaungly tho
injustice and Inconsistency which on
grounds Of national necessity the SUI
preme Court, through him. dealt out TO
the District of Columbia. '.lt is. he
says in Hepburn and Dundas VS.. Ellzey.
Extraordinary that the courts of the
United States. which are open to aliens
and to the citizens of every state in the
Union. should be closed upon them Obs
trict citizens)." And in Lough boz ough w.
Blake he says: although In theory u
might be more congenial to the spirit OF
our institutions to admit representative
from the District, 1t may be doubted
! whether in fact its Interests would be
rendered thereby more secure: and cer-
tainly the Constitution dos not consider
gress as exempting 1t from equal taxa
tion."
The Washingtonian needs access on
equal terms with other Americans to the
federal courts; the same right to sue In
Ia fedei al court as that enjoy ed BY the
citizen OF a state. Either his status be-
fore the federal courts should be that OF
the citizen Of the non-sovereign state OF
Columbia. or for judicial purposes he
should be declared citizen of Maryland.
Congress and Electoral College.
The Washingtonians are clearly en-.
titled TO representation In Congress and
electoral college as national ta xpayePsp
potential national soldiers, in every re.
snect 20 far a. burdens are concerned
on the same basis with other AmeFl-
cans.
sentatfon D by act Of Congress ad-
mirtlng District of Columbia q dc.
fective, n0n-sOverefgn state. go Or hy
constitutional amendment II that 10
necessary to admission as quasi -st ate.
(SD u impracticable to secure admlaslOa
a. quasi-state, as separate communitys
citizenship In Maryland should be bo-
slowed by act Of Congress.
Under the power to admit new etato0
Congress has given a certain repre-
sentation in the national legislature
20 territories. embryo states not reo-
ognized at all by the Constitution In
1t would seem that under this provision
concerning the admission Of new states.
coupled with the power to regulate
territory belonging to the United
house to Judge the qualifications Of its
own members. Congress could admit to
representation In itself a quasi-state. In.
termediate between the territory and
the full-f1edged state The constitu.
tional provision that no state may with
out its consent be deprived of equal rep
resentation in the Senate suggests that
with its consent state could be de-
prived Of equal representation In the
Senate. and that q state could with
its own consent exist which was not
on an equal footing In representation
with the other states. If this infer.
ence is tustifab BILE constitutional
admit the District as q defective state
Of the Union with representation ac-
cording to Its population In the House
and with one instead of two senators.
accentuating the fact that II Is not on
the same plano in all respects with
the other states. Under this arrange-
ment the nation. through Congress.
would retain exclusive power of legis.
lation over the District and the District
would merely secure representation In
the body which governed IT.
Is Amendment Necessary.
There is thus raised a question for the
constitutional lawyers to study and an
swer: Is constitutional amendment
necessary to enable Congress to give
representation in the House and Senate
to the District Of Columbia as a statef
It has always been assumed that such
amendment is essential But Is III
Congress has power to admit new
states. One Of the rights OF such states
is representation In House and Senate.
Under this power Congress has adm tied
to representation without vote In the
House territories quasi-states. not con-
gress can thus grant to rudlmentaIy
state limited representation In one of Its
branches. can II not grant to a quasi
state Of higher grade full representa-
don in both OF its b. anches. without
granting to It all the 'wers on other
lines Of q sovereign state? Having the
power to bestow all the rights and privi-
leges of q sovereign state, may II NOT
bestow less than all? Does not the
greater power include the less?
The power of exclusive legislation In
the ten miles square given to Congress-
by the Constitution prohibits the evolur
ton of the District into q sovereign etate-
>. hile this constitutional provision le in
force the District as state could not
have all the self-govern. ng and inde-
pendent powers OF aaryland or virginiA
But can 1t not be treated as state. with
out amendment Of the Constitution. %
far as representation in the national leg
islature. its own exclusive legislature b
concerned?
Cannot Congress under Its power to
word state" as II occurs In certain 800
tons of the Constitution shall include
the District7 The courts have already
viewed the District as a state for some
purposes 1t has been pronounced q state
under q treaty with France. q eonstruo-
Hnu yrfx bs.t