Evening star., 1922-01-12
SEATS IN CONGRESS
URGED BY CITIZENS
AT SENATE HEARING
continued from First Page.l

ocontinued from First Page.)
OF the District as any other citizens
of the nation. he said. whether it. i
matter of taxes. independence o
the Philippines or war and the.
should be heard on these matters b,
their representatives as the people
OF the states now are.
Views Almost Useless.
The fact that citizens cannot par
ticipate in elections and have thei
views known makes it almost use
less to have any views at all, h
added.
Congress he said. is the Legislature
for the District, determining all mat
tiers affecting it. He referred to ar
Chaic methods in certain court pro
cedures. pointing out that it is diff
cult to get them changed under thu
present order Of things. Congress.
even has the power to make munici
pal ordinances. delegating only th'
power of police regulations to thu
District Commissioners. he said.
Would Not Cut LegfsIatIOn.
There is no proposal in any Of thu
mea sures pending to take any OF th'
powers of legislation away from Con
grSSs. the speaker said. Control o
legislation is left absolutely Will
Congress. he added.
Mr. Lesh said that only one judg,
Cf either the Supreme Court or of th'
Court of Appeals Of the District o
Colu mbia is from the District Of Co
lumbia. The remain are from tlII
states. Even the Police Court ha
Cne Judge from outside of the Dis
trict. he argued.
However. Mr. Lesh said to the com
mittee that many Of the judges ap
pointed from the outside hecOme Dis
trict citizens and remain here. One o
them. he said. now IS advocating tn
suffrage measures for the District
But Mr.. Lesh said that appointment!
to the bench here should be mad
from the local bar.
Could DEMAND Patronage.
Representation in the Offices here. h.
said, can be obtained only after th'
District obtains representation il
Congress and its delegation in Con
Gres< could make the same demandi
for patronage AS the delegations from
the states
Election of the Commissioner woult
rot give local self-Eovernnient. b,
said. because the Commissioners onl,
have supervisory powers. The rea
power lays with the President ans
Congress.
Senator BAH said the Commission
ers are In q better position to know
what lis best for the District. bscaus,
they are unbiased.
'f think your Commissioners woul.
act on their Judgment. They mus
take the responsibility for their acts
he added. "'
Opposed CltfzepA' Stasd.
William Mex Clarion interjecte "a
here that there were cases where tn.
Commissioners had taken directly np
pOSfte stands on propositions on which
the people Of the District had taken s
unanimous stand. :
The Jones resolution is what i.
needed to give the District its right
full status, and nothing less will bt
acceptable. he said. He asked thu
committee to make report even Il
it il not possible to get It through
Congress at this session.
Prof. Kelley Miller followed Mr.
Lesh. He went into the coaored vot.
question and secuted the fears of .
domination Of the vote here by the
colored race. States were cited where
there were many colored voters. but
where the character or tone of gov.
ernment was not affected by theil
ballots.
scouts .Black Belt.''
The city Of Washington. he said. i,
not any BLACK belt" and the sur.
rounding d. territory is not thickly
populated with negroes: Washington
he continued. is not an industrial city
and therefore there is not the dan.
ger of attracting many cOlored folk
here.
Senator Ball said that owing to the
fact that there were a large number
Of officeholders here who must -retair
their state connection in order to hold
their Jobs. the colored vote would bs
much larger in proportion to the
white vote, in his opinion.
ArSunsnt Of Theodore ". Nsyes.
Theodore w. Noyes chairman of the
joint citizens COMMITTEES for national
representation for the District Of Co.
iumbia. following q recess for lunch.
opposition to the pending bills and
In support of the proposed constitu.
tional amendment empowering Con.
gress to grant to the District the
right to vote for presidential electors
and for representatives in Congress
In answer to the suggestion that pas:
almost impossible, and that 1t may bt
wisely put aside to strive for some.
thing else easier, Mr.. Soyes declared
that 1t should be easier to set two.
thirds of Congress to approve the
amendment than a majority to ap.
PioNS aAy oehSA pShNIno PAOPSo.A
He based this upon two reasons
First, because the amendment pro.
vided merely that Congress should
be given new constitutional power
without committing 1t as to when II
shall exercise that power; second, be
the future exercise this power 81
will bestow upon the District Amer.
leans the highest privilege. right and
power Of national citizenship and will
relieve the nation Of the shame Of
un- American, totally non-representa'
tive government In the Capital city
under the nations exclusive control
control in the least. without creating
a new state, without altering the
form of local municipal government
and without the surrender by Con.
gress of a single power in respect tc
the capital which It now possesses.
Contfsverted Issues Postponed
After stating the terms Of tht
amendment and pointing out Its pur'
pose, Mr.. Noyes said that all Of thu
ccntroverted issues concerning thu
makeup Of the focal electorate, thu
ilar questions upon which Washing
tonians radically differ are postponed
to be decided by the majority vot(
Of Congress after the great and vita
question Of the Washingtonian's CON
stitutional status has been assured
He stressed the point that the amend
ment proposition was 20 stripped o.
every strffe-breeding feature snd s<
centered upon q single principle o,
undeniabie equity. that it has behint
II the support OF practically I'll O
organised washington. including or
ganfzatfons which divide ana lwrangl,