Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-24

XXTASHINGTON, D. c., Oct 2O-A new cor
w diality is .sprnging up between Capitol
Hill and the rest of Capital City. Con-
greSSmen and senators are being invited fire.
quently to address citizens associations on all
sorts of subjects, from the price of milk in the
district to the League of Nations, And those
applause, smiles, handShakeS and other evil
denceS of friendly appreciation During the past
summer more congressman and senators than
ever before have been observed sitting on
front porcheS, other than their own, engaged
in neghborly confab with local inhabitants
washington has no citzenS) Some congress
men are beginning to believe that Washington
is not after all inhabited exclusively by prot
teerS, rent sharks and "cave dWellerS," but
contains a certain percentage of real human
people
This new entente cordale between the men
who make the laws for Washington and the
voteleSS inhabitants who have to obey them, is
not a spontaneous and unaccountable thing 1t
is the result of delil crate propaganda set on
foot by the Federation of Citizens Associations
of the District of Columbia under the leader
ship of its president, w. B. WeStake. This
propaganda is conducted the plausible theory
that you catch more congressman with
honey that you can with vinegar. After the
congressman is caught, or at least captivated,
the object of the federation is TO induce him
to vote for an amendment to the constitution
of the United States, permitting the inhabitants
of the capital to elect a member of congress,
and be sued in the federal courts.
For Washington today as Mr. WeStlake will
tell you with Junction. is the only city in the
civilized world the inhabitants of which have
no voice in the making of the laws which gov
ern them. 1t is the only place in America where
still exists that ancient wrong of taxation with
out representation.
If the citizens of Washington want a new
school building or more policemen or new
park they can Wheedle congress to give them
| IL. that all ~
even a representative of their own in congress
to introduce bill providing the money for
building school One SchoolhouSe in the city
of Washington, for instance, has been over
crowded for many years. Boys who went to
school when the agitation for larger building
began are now young men starting out in bust
ness. The school has since then overlooked
into a church, residence and several smaller
buildings, but no money has yet been appro-
priated for the new building And every school
in the northwest section is in somewhat the
same fix
But the Washington people, led by their
Joint committee of $50 leading citizens, do not
care SO much about airing their domestic diff
ficultieS. What they want to emphasize is the
fact that it is wrong for the capital of great
nation not to be represented in its congress.
They appeal to all the citizens of the United
States to pull them out of this hole; for-it is
only the citizens, through their congressman
and senators, who can do it.
is being .uSed as an adjunct to the appeal to
the country at large, and the federation cam
paign of friendneSS and appreciation is a part
of that direct appeal
1t is not meant to imply that the relation be-
tween the legislators and the local people have
heretofore been notably unfriendly, but they
have undeniably been distant and in spots some
what vinegary. Washington has been in the
past socially disappointing to a good many
congressman. The teri "cave dwellers" which
has been SO often applied to the local social
set, suggests about how cordial it has been to
the recently arrived. And this lack of cordially
has been felt the more because a good many
congressman come to Washington with the idea
that they are about to embark on an impressive
social career. Perhaps this idea is entertained
by the congressional wives and daughters more
than by the congressman themselves, bu. the
net effect is the same. If Mrs. Congressman
thinks the Washington people are a lot of
crabs, Mr.. Congressman usually comes to agree
with her The average congressional family
which arrives here equipped with new gowns
and large expectations finds nothing to greet
t out number of other congressional fam
lilies, similarly equipped. Hence congressional
circle has grown up which revolYes in its own
orbit and does not touch that of the cave