Evening star., 1921-04-08
EIGHT NEW MEN
SLATEDFOR HOUSE
D. c. COMMITTEE
All Proposed Members Of
Body Are Deeply Interested
in Local Affairs.
REPRESENTATIVE FOCHT
is THE NEW CHAIRMAN
Best Possible School System Fav-
ored to Be Model for
Nation.

ANabAOA.
Eight new republican members Of
the House have been assigned to the
committee handling District of CO.
lumbia legislation. on the slate which
is TO be reported to the republican
caucus tomorrow afternoon by the
committee on committees. of which
House Leader Mondell is ex-officio
| chairman.
All OF these new members are deep.
iy interested in the National CAPITAL
! and during the last week or two have
been giving special study to the rela-
tions that exist between the national
government and the residents of the
District. They have been studying
| the needs of the National Capital and
In Interviews given today declare
their intentions to work earnestly to
supply those needs and to lend their
influence toward building up a great
er capital.
For Best School System.
Ii They are emphatic in their state.
ments that the city of Washington
| should have the best possible school
| system. one that will be a model for
all the rest of the country. They
strongly favor an adequate water
supply. pointing out that the federal
F, government, Uncle Sam himself, is
the biggest consumer.
| Some of them have already strongly
! formed convictions that the residents
of the nations capital should be
"Americanized" by being granted ma
tional representation. and all of them
have open minds, favorably disposed
toward granting the people. of the
federal city every American right.
Mr.. FOcht In Chairman.
/ Representative Benjamin X. Focht
of Pennsylvania, the new chairman
/, of the House District committee en-
! tiers upon these duties with strong
s ambition to do big things for the
! nations capital and has been work
ing among his colleagues to. get such
a committee as would cooperate with
him in these plans for greater capi-
tai
/ He is well pleased with the character
of men assigned to the committee and
believes that much important legis-
lation of benefit to the District viii
be enacted.
New Pledge for Schools.
! I'VE are congratulating the commit
! tee on committees on giving us pro-
{ gressive legislators of business ex-
! perience and keen mentality who are
interested in doing a big work for
4 the NdtiOHdi Sdpitdi. SdiQ SudiI uld
Focht today, after he had been in
| formed regarding the majority per-
sonnel for the District committee.
I'VE intend to end the disgrace of
having inadequate school facilities in
the District" he continued Where
| ever money is available We will use ii
! first in building schools so that every
child may have an opportunity to
get an education"
Schools and hospitals are to be given
every necessary facility as the first
step of the District committee. Mr..
| Focht said. If the s4.000.000 surplus
| to the credit of the District in the Ma
| tional Treasury is needed to provide
adequate school facilities. Chairman
! Focht said that he would advocate its
use. and believed he would have the
earnest support Of the majority OF
/ the corlmittee.
Veterans who Remain.
+ Veteran republican members who re-
! 4. in their places on the District COM
mittee in the order of seniority. are:
Representatives Benjamin X. Focht.
PENNSYLVANIA. chairman; Loren r.
Wheeler. Illinois: Stuart F. Reed
West Virginia: Frederick n. Zihlman,
/ MARYLAND: Floran Lampert, Wiscon-
sin. and Anderson H. Walters. Penn
! sylvania.
b The new republican members are:
RaDreSe nlatlNcS usual %.
Paul. Mimi; Roy o. Woodruff. Bay
! City, Mich: Elliott w. Sproul. Chi
cago. ILL.,: Charles l.. Underhill. Som
! erville Mass; Warren l. Lee, Brook
lyn. n. y Roy G. i5sg Ei5sgerald' Dsyton. syton
Mo. and Joe Brown. Chattanooga.
Tenn.
When the five-miilion dollar school
building program for the District OF
/ Columbia comes up for consideration
III will have
i more staunch supporter in the House
than Representative Elliott w
! Sproul. representing the third ILL.,
nois district
Wants Schools Best in World.
REPRESENTATIVE Sproul is an enthu-
siast for making the schools OF the
National Capital the best in the world.
ar1 says that the only way TO save
When it comes to planning new school
buildings here. Representative Sproui
will be glad to cooperate with the
District Commissioners and school
authorities. and can give expert ad-
vice. He has been a building con-
tractor for more than forty years,
land has erected more public school
buildings than any contractor In the
state Of Illinois. He believes that
Congress should do everything pos
sible to put the public school system
here on the strongest possible foUh-
datiOn and that there SnOulo %
desk in a properly built and main
tanned school for every child in the
District of Columbia.
Representative Sproul is also ready
10 assist in a larger way in building
up the National Capital He believes
ii is the finest city in the world and
should constantly be improved. For
one thing. he says that all govern
rent activities should be adequately :
housed in government-owned build
;ngs, and that there should be a sys-
tematic grouping of these buildings
with view to utilitarian purposes
and artistic effect. I'll
Urges Congress- Onal Action.
Congress should hot parsimoniously
weigh the dollars that go into such
buildings, Representative Sproul be-
lieves. and cites as an illustration of
the broader vision that begets pros
nerity the work done by the Central
Manufacturing District Club, of which
he is a director. With 2o0 members
composed of business leaders the club
has erected more than $4,000, 900
worth of buildings, bringing a tre-
mendous industrial growth on the
prairie. He is a member of the Build
ers' Club, ex-president of the Build
ers Employees Association, of the
Mason Contractors Association and
other builders and contractors' Or
Eanizations.
Representative Sproul also feels
that Congress, which under the Con-
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