Evening star., 1926-06-17
D. c. OFFICIALS HELD
NOT j s. EMPLOYEES.
Sargent Files Opinions Of
Predecessors at Request
!, of House Committee.

Several opinions of preceding At
torneys General of the United states
holding in effect that the District OF
Columbia is municipal corporation
distinct from the Federal Governments.
and that it's officials and employees DO
not come within certain United States
statutes, were submitted today TO the
subcommittee on Judiciary OF the
House. which is handling the tennlhs
impea chment charges, by Attorney
General Sargent.
The citations were furnished at the
request of the committee, 10 be USED
in it's consideration of what 1t consld
ers the primary question or law In the
present caSe--that is, whether or not
Commissioner F'ennng comes WITHIN
the impeachment power of Congress.
Representative Rankin of Missis
sippi, acting as the proponent OF the
Fenning charges since Mr.. Blanton
of Texas left town has been given
an extension until midnight tonight In
which to file his brief in reply TO that
of counsel for Commissioner Fenning.
MIR. Rankin said that he had com
pleted his brief, but that it would re-
uuire some time for the stenographers
10 complete its preparation, and that
he will have il at the Government
Printing Office tonight to be present
ed in the Congressional Record tomor-
row morning. The original time limit
given Mr.. Rankin for filing the brief
expired at noon today.
Number of Opinions.
A number of opinions of Attorneys
General on the question of hte status
Of the District and its officials were
cited in the brief filed by counsel
for Mr.. Fenning Monday. Some or
these were mentioned by the Attorney
General today.
One Of the most important of them
was that of former Attorney Generai
A. II. Garland, dealing with the case
involving an assistant corporation
counsel of the District OF Columpla.
In that case il was held that the us
trict of Columbia is a corporate agent
through which the United States ad-
ministers certain executive functions
over the locality, which includes the
National Capital, and the chief eXecu-
tice authority is vested in three com
missioners 1t was specifically held In
this opinion that an assistant District
corporation counsel was not Federal
official because of his connection with
The municipal government and there
fore did not come within prohiDltory
statutes affecting Federal employees
Another opinion by former Attorney
General Griggs held that officers ana
employes of the District of Columola
we're not officers and employees OF the
general Government of the Unlted
States. but of a municipal corpora
ton known as the District OF Colum-
hia. Such officers and employees, ac-
cording to this opinion, are as dls.
tinct from the United States civil
Service as would be the officers of any
citv government in one of the States
cf the Union from the civil service of
that State itself. At that time it was
held that the civil service act of Janu-
arv IS. 1888. cannot be lawfully APP
rlied to officers and employees or the
District of Columbia.
In an opinion by former Attorney
General George w. Wickersham. re
lating to the transfer OF the ONCE OF
recorder of deeds of the District or
Columbia to the control OF the De
partment Of Justice. it was said that
whatever may be the true nature OF
the District of Columbia in some acts
at least it constitutes separate po'
utical community and by reason
thereof it's strictly municipal functions
are in a sense to be distinguished from
those that belong solely to the opera
tions of the general Government,
Will Bear Some Weight.
On the other side of the question
there is another ruling by Mr.. Wick
ersham in which il was held that
commissioners of deeds OF the Dis
trict of Columbia are prohibited. un-
der the District criminal code, from
acting as agents or attorneys in the
prosecution OF pension claims against
the United States. He ruled that such
ofFicials were Federal officials.
While none of the opinions bears
strictly on the point which must be
decided by the committee. it was
pointed out that of course their
weight would be taken into consld-
Grafton on the matter of law involved
in determining whether the House
has the authority to impeach Dis
trict Commissioner. 1t is further
pointed out that the opinions OF the
Attorney General do not carry the
weight of court decisions. which may,
10 some extent, effect their considera'
ton.