Evening star., 1922-12-03
NEW SYSTEM IS PROPOSED
FOR ENACTINC D. C.. LAWS
Would Place Iniative With Commissions
ers, Congress Retaining the
Power of Veto.

the membership of the important CONF
mittees and when the House District
committee will have a new chairman
and ten or more new members, some
forward-looking members in both
House and Senate are stressing the
| advantages of joint committee con-
sideraiton of District measures and
urging that this is particularly ap-
propriate time to try it out.
Four Pending Proposals.
The resolution for a joint commit
tee instead of the present Standing
| committees of the Senate and House.
introduced by Representative Moore.
i is the first OF four propositions. The
others are:
A more liberal allowance of time in
| the House for consideration of Dis
trict matters.
Estimates to be prepared By the
Commissioners and submitted to Con-
gress, instead OF by the budget bu-
reau.
Vesting in the joint committee au-
J thority to report appropriations. in
| stead of continuing that authority in
the single committee of the House, and
at the same time permitting legisla-
| tion on the Distric. appropriation bill.
The justification for exceptional pro-
cedure with reference to the District
lies in the fact that the District sit
uation is itself altogether exceptional.
Check ON Extravagance.
1T is easy to see how much
/ simplicity, directness and expedition
| would attach to the procedure
| Moore. "At the same time it con-
tains no menace to the public interest.
Extravagant estimates by the CON-
| missioners would be resented by the
taxpayers, as well as by Congress.
! The joint committee would be able 10
give quick consideration of all mat
! ters. including appropriations, and
! would be able to save injurious de-
lay in the enactment Of legislation
! by Incorporating legislation In the
appropriation bills. Every report
| made by the joint committee would.
OF course. be subject to the security
and disapproval of either or both
| houses Of Congress, and, Of course.
. open to amendment, as are other
! measures.
Unless there is some change"
Representative Moore predicts, I'VE
are likely To go from bad to worse.
! 1t will necessarily take considerable
! time to try out the effort to secure
a constitutional amendment, giving
! District residents national representa-
tion, and meanwhile new processes
of legislation are needed. It is a
delusion to think that the presence
of a District delegate in the House
would affect the situation very ma
terially without a reform in the pres
ent procedure"
Urges Joint Committee.
! Representative Luce devotes an en-
| tire chapter in his book to recon-
| mendation that Congress adopt the
| joint committee system. for all but
the procedure commuters which do
! not pass judgment on The merits Of
bills-such as rules and engrossed
bills. He believes that joint COM
! mittee on District affairs would prove
to Congress the desirability of eA-
tending the system.
He points out that the state Of
Massachusetts, uses the joint COM
mittee system for the bulk Of its
legislative work, with some of tho
ways and means business and the
judiciary business transacted in
] separate meeting. Connecticut also
uses the system to a considerable ex-
tent. Rhode Island. New Jersey and
| Wisconsin legislatures do part OF
their work through joint committees.
Several states have them on matters
| of finance.
! Trials Have Been Successful.
| The present joint committee on D.
/ trict school inquiry, which has recon-
mended a comprehensive program Of
legislation for the school system Vt
the National Capital. is an encouraS-
| ing sign.
Representative Luce emphasizes
that in April. 1922. standing COM
mittees of Senate and House came
| together for hearings on the Presi-
dents proposal for ship subsidy.
which has just passed the House. The
! recent report from the joint congress
sfonal committee on agricultural in
quiry, which will be of particular
| value when President Harding makes
| his address to Congress. urging i'm
proved farm credits. is another recent
illustration of how time and money
can be saved. and duplication of
hearings and reports corrected
through the joint committee system.
Many members of Congress are i'm
pressed by the many and forcefui-'
arguments made by Representative
Luce as a result of ten years study.
recommending the use of joint COM
mittees for the bulk Of legislative
work