Evening star., 1921-11-19
Mny Report to Congress.

but be able to follow up their convic-
tons by a vote.
Under existing conditions, when any
or our civic organizations or others
having the welfare Of the community
at heart desire to have a bridge re-
placed or repaired. to develop its wa
ter power or desire the enactment
into law of some humane provision for
the care of mental incompetents, the
construction Of a school, the creation
OF parks or reservoirs, or, indeed, any
thing affecting the welfare of the Dis
trict. we must seek the good offices Of
some member of Congress, with no
particular interest in the District, to
introduce bill. and then, by personal
solicitation, and often at great incon-
venience and sacrifice to the member,
endeavor to enlist his support in q
matter of no particular interest to his
constituents at home. There is no
member Of Congress to whom the Dis
trict may appeal as a matter Of right
to father any piece OF legislation for
its welfare, with the result that time
and again its rights have been de-
MED.
t Asks Only Rights as> Citizens.
III. therefore, representation In the
Senate and House is provided for the
District. We submit that while in the
first place it does no more than to ex-
tend right and privilege guaranteed
to every citizen under the Constitu-
ton, it will offer relief and tighten the
burden and labors Of the members of
Congress and enable them to better
exercise the power of exclusive juris-
diction. including taxation and the ex-
penditure Of public funds
Under the Constitution as inter-
preted by the Supreme Court OF the
United States, we are today denied the
same rights in United States court
that are guaranteed to citizens Of the
States. or for that matter even to an
alien.
"The amendment Of the Constitution
proposed in the Jones bill gives us the
same right in this regard as the citi-
xens of any Of the states. Is it pos
sible that any argument can be found
to support continuance Of the pres
ent discrimination between citizens Of
the District and the states so far as
rights in the United States courts are
concerned? As the law is now inter-
preted we have even less rights than
an alien. because under the Constitu.
tion an alien may enter the United
States courts. Before this right can
be granted a citizen Of the District
the Constitution must be amended as
set forth in the Jones resolution.
why should we, the citizens Of the
right to vote for the President and
Vice President? Why should we be
denied the right to speak through
our chosen representatives in the
House and Senate as to the manner
in which we shall be taxed and az
Why should we not be permitted
through our chosen representatives
in Congress and the President of
the United States to say whether we
should go to war or remain at peace?
Why should we not have the right
government to determine whether our
sons shall be taken from our homes
to be offered up as u sacrifice in con-
tests as to which we have had no
say? To none Of these questions can
a satisfactory answer be given.
q. 3. Stand Unique.
1T is a singular fact that Of all
the governments Of the world the
United States Is the only one which
denies to the people of its capital
the same national representation en-
joyed by the people Of tho other
cities Tho three nations who have
copied our constitutional provision
for q national capital in 4 federal
district controlled by the nation are
Argentina, Brasil and Mexico. Not
withstanding this control by the ma
ton, they have found no difIioulty
in giving full national representa-
ton to tho people residing in their
I'm conclusion. therefore. we sub
NIT that. a. we ask no change In the
local form Of government. no sound
objection can be advanced for re-
fusal to enact into law and submit
to the states the JoneA resolution"
Senator Ball asked Mr.. Branden-
burg how many representatives he
thought the District ought to have,
to which the reply was that the num-
ber should be based on the popula-
tion the same as Is done in the states.
Az to the number of senator's. he
said. he and his associates believed
that this matter mat should be left 70