Evening star., 1919-03-27
D. c. VOTEEFF0RT
Winning SUPPORT
Keen Interest Throughout
Country Expressed in Let
ters and Papers.
FACTS BECOMING KNOWN

Washington's campaign for nationa
representation is attracting attention
and receiving support in the states
Letters are being received from diff
fcrent parts of the country showing
that a keen interest is taken in the
movement for the enfranchisement OF
the people of the District and mem
hers of the citizens committee are re.
ceiving clippings from newspaper.
indicative of a cordial support of the
demand of the people of the National
Capitol for the rights of citizenship.
Editorial Comment.
Recently the Memphis Commercial
Appeal printed the following editorial
comment under the caption Wash
ington Wants the Vote"
while Congress is on the job OF
amending the Constitution il might
give consideration to the plea of the
District of Columbia for the vote Th.
request of the citizens of Washington
that they be allowed some share in
the government of the country has
h
frs and an effort will be made to Sc
cure some action on constitutional
amendment resolution at the next SeS-
sion. Although the citizenship OF our
National Capital are in more intimate
touch with Congress and congressman
than any others of the country. when
II comes to having voice in the de-
liberations and decisions of this body
they are as impotent as the convict.
the lunatic Or any others who are
deliberately barred from such inf1u-
1nce. Even in the selection of her
own municipal officers. Washington
has no say. The city is governed by
. commission named by Congress and
the citizens have not a single voice in
this selection. In the same manner as
We are told that charity should begin
at home. so also should justice make
its start from the same source
Not Understood Outside City.
It is interesting to note that the
manner in which the District is admin
istered is not understood generally
outside of this city. Thus in the ex-
tract just quoted it is to be observed
"the city is governed by commits
sion named bwCongress."
The Sacramento Bee. commenting
upon the enactment of the law ex-
tending the Reed bone-dry amend
ment' to the District of Columbia,
speaks of the poor District of Column
bia, The foot ball fanatic, Kicked
hither and thither without say as to
whittier" 1t continues:
Here in these United States is a
territory of siXty-four square miles.
inhabited by more than 100000 people,
who have no vote. They have no rep
resentative who shall obey their die
tum. They are people. but not The
People. Here in this self-determina-
tionaless No Mans Land in the repub-
lie Of the free they are at the mercy
of congressional whim, of the caprice
of men who are not responsible to
them. Talk about self-deter- :
mination for the small nations. A lit
tie of that same would help in this
huge nation
In the course of the regular Wash
ington correspondence of the Boston
Transcript w. J. Brigham lately point
. ed to the efforts of the District to Sc
cure American rights. in an extended
article summarizing the local situa-
tion and concluding:
Ten years ago the District would
not have dreamed of pressing the is
sue of local suffrage. A few citizens
have favored suffrage on general prin-
ciples. but the mass were fairly well
contented. as men Of broader minds
tire since 1919. Today suffrage is a
burning issue here. with the leading
men of the city strongly organized in
is advocacy. and. as the governors
and mayors have Just learned. reach
ing out into the states for help"
Cooperative Publicity.
One result of the use of Ietter-head
slogans and Stickers has Aeen to at
tract the attention of b,O ness men
and through theAA Of nel@papers in
different parts of the country. through
the spread of circulars comprising
the text and the purposes of the pro-
posed constitutional amendment. An
example of this cooperative publicity
is at hand in recent issue of the
davenport Iowa) Daily Times. which
tolls the story of the Districts cam
paien and recites the purposes of
the amendment for the adoption of
which the citizens committee is to
press at the coming session.
Frederic j. Haskin. in the early
part of this month. incorporated in
his daily feature service a letter tell
ing the story of the Districts fight for
national representation. and thus Sc
cured wide statement of the case.
Clippings are a hand comprising this
article from the following papers
The Decatur Tll) Herald, the Zanes-
vile 'Ohio) Times-Recorder, the Co
1umhia IS. c. State, the Muncie Und.) }
star the Louisville (ky) Herald the
Sacramento tCalifD Bee. the Esgin
GliD Courier. the Allentown CPa.)
call. the Huntington (W. Va Herald,
the Boston Record and the Denver
times.
The subcommittee of the joint citi-
zens' committee is now organizing for
the work of carrying on a campa ign
OF education in the newspapers of
the country. utilizing various means
for reaching the American people
through the columns of their local
press. to inform them of the fact of
the Districts lack of franchise and
its present efforts to become Ameri-
canized.
ANTI-DROWNING CAMPAIGN.