Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-17
lARR AND NOONAN
ASK VOTE FOR D. c.
Views of Business Interests
and Organized Labor Pre-
sented Over Radio.

Urgent appeals to the Seventy first
! Congress and the peoples of the States
to give washington residents the po-
| litical rights enjoyed by other Ameri-
| cans were made in radio addresses last
night over WRC by Charles w. Darr,
! president of the Chamber of Commerce,
and James j. Noonan, president of the
| Central Labor Union, who presented
! the views of the business interests and
organized labor in the National Capital.
Speaking under auspices of the Citi-
! ZenS' Joint Committee for National Rep
resentation, they asked Congress to sub
init to the States the proposed conSti-
tutional amendment which would en-
power Congress to give inhabitants of
the District the right to vote for P-esi-
dent and Vice President and to be rep
resented In the House and Senate.
Labor Supports Movement.
The time has come, according to Mr.
Darr, to make the Declaration of indie
pendence mean something to Washing
tonians and to demand that they be
made free Americans. The 5000 men,
bers of organized labor. representing
nearly half the population of the Dis
trict. are Squarely behind the move
ment, declared Mr.. Noonan.
The addresses last night were part
of a radio campaign to acquaint the
country, and particularly the new mem
bers of the Seventy-f1rst Congress, with
the political disability of the residents
of Washington and urge remedy. The
campaign will be continued May 81 ard
June IL in the coaSt-to-coaSt network
of the National Broadcasting Co.
Mr.. Darr spoke. in part as follows:
Taxation without representation IS
tyranny Whether it is practiced on
the people of Petrograd. by Russia. or
practiced upon the citizens of the Dis
trict of Columbia by the United States,
it means the same, 1t feels the same
and it is the same
I'VE are called citizens of the United
States and so We are. So are the
citizens of the great State of New York.
They are no better than We We pay
the same internal revenue taxes. We
pay all taxes levied by the Congress of
the United States upon the people Of
the District of Columbia just as the
citizens of the States pay the taxes
levied by their State Legislatures. They
respond to the call to arms in defense
of our country and themselves and give
their boys to die for their country. So
do We. They suffer all the ills and
misfortuneS that befan our country. So
do we.
Discrimination Is Emphasized.
"They must obey the laws made by
the Congress of the United States. So
must we, and so do we.
They are citizens of the United
States, and so are we; but they are
something more. because they are SOW
ereign citizens, and we are not They
are citizens of a sovereign State. We
are not. They help by their ballots to
make the laws they must live under
and obey, whether national, State, city
or county. We do not help make the
laws we must live under and obey, local
or national The people of the State of
New York and all the States elect their
governors, mayors, aldermen and other
public servants. Why? Because they
are sovereign citizens. We do not elect
ours. We are not sovereign citizens of
a sovereign State.
I'VE do not help elect Presidents or
members of Congress because we, not
being sovereign citizens, have no right
to take part in the election of Presi-
dent, whose appointments to fill our
local Offices are made, says the Consti-
tuition and the law. by and with the adj
vice and consent of the Senate, no. by
the advice and consent of the citizens
of the District of Columbia. The Senate
is body elected entirely by the people
of the sovereign States, none of whom
owe the people OF LI1c DlSJTlCL VI TO-
lumbia any consideration whatever,
none of whom represent the people Of
the District of Columbia.
Criticizes Appointments.
"True, we are granted the right of pc
tition and supplication, but such petit
lions and supplications are in the main
unheeded. both by the President and
the Congress, and appointments and
combinations are made of men who
could not receive the Endorsement of
one hundred men or women in Wash
ington all because We are not sovereign
citizens.
This criticism is not directed to
any specific administration, either DEM
ocratic or Republican. Both have
sinned to the same extent, and it, has
ever been so in my recollection. And 1t
will always be SO until Congress passes
an enabling act submitting to the
people of the States the question of
amending the Constitution so that cit
liens of the District may be given the
right to have national representation
through the ballot.
Claims d. C. Ready for Vote.
"Are we ready for the ballot? Are
we qualified to exercise the right of