Evening star., 1922-04-05

resentatiyes among the several states
and the District of Columbia i'm
mediately following the decennial
census under such rules and regula-
tions may be prescribed by Con-
gress. 1T also has this provision,
which is attracting much attention
and some opposition, but which 1
think is one of its best features"
explained Representative Wood 1T
does not change the number of SEN
ators, but it specifies that the House
shall at no time be less than twice
the number of senator's and never be
more than four times their number.
Il believe it would be the very
best thing for the country" he con-
tinued- 1T is shown every day that
the larger the number in Congress,
the less individual responsibility
there is A Congress of $50 will be
more representative of the interests
of the country, because of the great
er individual responsibility than in a
Congress of twice that size, on ac-
count of lack of individual RESPONSE
bility."
The Wood bill also provides that
the members of the House shall be
divided, as nearly as possible. into
two classes of equal size, one class
to be elected every two years and
the term of each member to be four
years. Thus, one-half of the men,
bers in each Congress would be hold
overs. which Representative Wood
believes would be great advantage
for stable legisla ton.
II think that with the extension of
the term for each member of Con-
gresS there would come more inde-
pendence of action by the individual
member" Representative Wood ex-
planned. They would then not al
ways be thinking Immediately after
one election about their reelection"
Omits Long Interim.
He includes also a provision that
the new Congress shall come in-or-
ganiz-on the first Tuesday after
election. The reason for this he gives
as follows: THE House of Repre-
sentatives is supposed to be repre-
sentative of the Will of the people
and ought to have an opportunity to
express these wishes by legislation
as soon as possible after election. As
1t is now. members do not take their
seal in the House for more than a
We r after they have been elected.
when the entire sentiment of the peo-
pie is apt to change and often has
changed in the interim. So that wEe
Congress comes in it is not repre-
sentative of the will of the people
when they We're elected.
The enfranchisement of the resi-
dents of the National Capital, Repre-
sentative Wood believes to be one of
the strongest features of his measure.
He provides that there shall always
be at least one voting representative
of the residents of the National Cap
ital in Congress and such others as
Congress may apportion with the in
crease in population, just the same as
in any state. He would give the peo-
pie of the District the same right to
vote for President and Vice President
as the people in any state.
1T is unthinkable," he emphasized,
that the people in the National Cap
ital, now numbering more than 437,-
500, have no representative in Con-
gress that makes the laws and no
voice in the selection of the executive
head of the government. They are
penaIized because they happen to be
residents of the National Capital. The
proposed constitutional amendment
would put them on the same plane as
the citizens of any state occupy
Representative Wood throws some
interesting light on why this situa-
tion has been brought about.
status Explained.
"The reason why provision was not
made originally FOR representation
for tie D:c.-:st i'll Congress-" he says,
was because it was not the inten-
ton that the federal city should be
other than a temporary home for
those engaged in transaction of the
governments business Therefore, it
was not contemplated that there
would ever be any real residents in
the National Capital. but that all
those temporarily living here would
he residents in their home states.
That purpose was carried out by the
men who retained their voting
residences in the home states and
returned there to vote no matter how
long they have been in Washington.
But with the growth of the city
of Washington to it's present size, ]
venture to say that there are not now
10 per cent of the people who actually
live in the National Capital who vote
anywhere.
TT was never the intention. either,
of having any mercantile or manu-
featuring business in the capital city.
The necessary provision for taking
care of those temporily here on gov
ernment business was to have been
furnished by government depots, such
as the Army Quartermaster stores.
That would have been an ideal plan if
it had been carried out. That was
why the National Capital was put in
a district all by itself, entirely re-
moved from the commercial centers-
and is the only capital in all the
world built purely for government
purposes"
Representative Wood Is determined
that tardy justice must be done in en-
franchising the residents OF the Dis