Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-24
WASHINGTON MAKES FRIENDS WITH CONGRESS
BY Frederic j. HaSkin

dwel!er set any more than the moon touches
the earth
The usefulness of little contact between
these two separate organisms is becoming in
creaSingly apparent to the local people. Ii the
newly arrived congressman is socially more or
less at the mercy of the inhabitant, that indl-
vidual is politically very much at the ENERGY
of the congressman Both parties have to
grind, but the dwellerS ak is good deal
larger and in more urgert need of grinding than
that of the congressman.
1t is true that there are certain number OF
people in Washington with social aspirations
which take the form of teryld desire to en-
terrain government officials. But a large per
centage of these are reall, not inhabitants OF
the CITY They are of the sort who own houses
here and merely come "for the season" A
good many make this place their legal resi-
dence for the Sordid reason that Washington has
very low tax rate on intangible property One
wealthy man told a senator that he could pay
for the upkeep of his Washington house with
the money he saved in taxes on stocks and
bonds by making this his official residence.
He spends only few moths a year here.
And these wealthy social lights, who own
the long rows of palatial but generally empty
houses in northwest Washington, usually visit
their attentions upon ice-pre SldentS, CABINET
greSSmen Vice-President Marshall was once
asked what was the nature of his job, and
he replied that he the "official eater for
the administration. The president, of course,
cannot SpenQ fnuCn time attending DINNERS, anu
the vce-preSdent is regarded as the next big
geSt game. 1t is estimated that Mr.. Marshall
has consumed three times his weight in high
grade comestibleS to satisfy the social ambl-
tons of hoSteSSeS who aspire to entertain some
one in the "official family"
Thus of all The entertaining which goes on
in Washington, only a very small part is dl-
rected to the useful end of creating better
understanding between the congressman and the
people of the city.
The congressman have long been in the habit
of expressing themselves on the floors of both
houses very freely about Washington and its
people. They have seldom eulogized either
They have described Washington as a nest of
pirates and profiteerS and have called it dis
grace to the nation. The local people do not
deny that some profiteering has gone on here,
but they would like to deny that profiteering
is an inherent vice of the WaShingtonan. They
would like to explain that the profiteering is an
inevitable result of circumstances which con-
greSS alone has power to change. But since
they have no way of making this reply, it has
occurred to them that perhaps if they display a
more genial view of their city life to the con-
gressional eye, it will somewhat allay the con-
greSSional ire
1t should by no mea be gathered from all
this that the Federation of Citizens Associations
of the District of Columbia is a social organ
ization. 1t is not that at all. Its campaign for
the Soft-Soaping of congress is only one, and
a very minor one of its activities.
There about forty citizens associations
in the district, and all but four or five of them
belong to the federation. The federation has
total membership of about ten thousand, and
this is expected to be doubled this fall AS
each member represents family, the aSsocia-
ton will soon express the will of very large
part OF the white population of Washington.
The federation has a council composed of
two delegates from each association. These
delegates bring up matters which have been
discussed in the meetings of the separate asso-
Citations, and which are considered to be of in
tereSt to the whole city. The federal council
acts upon those which it considers worth while
For example right now it is workin for a
merger of the two street car lines in the dis
trict. 1t is also working for better pay for the
Washington police force, for more SchoolhouseS
and for the passage of the Ball rent bill to pre-
vent profiteering in rents 1t does not repre-
sent any section of the city or any che class
of people. Union labor is we'll represented in
its ranks. 1t exerts its influence by appearing
before the district commission and before the
district committee of congress and telling what
it thinks the city needs and why. 1t is the
only organization of its kind in the United
States, because Washington is the only city in
the United States whose citizen have to depend
exclusively upon argument and influence to get
what thy need from the men who govern them