Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-21
GIBSON APPROVES
D. c. VOTE APPEAL
Public Order Committee of
Board of Trade Hears
Representative.

Approval of the plea for District rep
resentation In Congress. made by Rep
resentative Ernest w. Gibson of YER
mont, and an emphatic denial by Ed
ward c. Snyder, United States marshal
for the District, that prohibition Is
responsible for increased crime, were
heard last night by more than a hun
dred members of the public order COM
mittee of the Washington Board of
Trade at a dinner in the Raleigh Hotel.
Il have come TO the conclusion that
the conditions made it essential that
the 100000 people in the District of
Columbia should be represented at the
Capitol" Mr.. Gibson asserted.
Actual legislative work is but a, small
part of what every Congressman is
called upon to do" he continued, ex-
planning by telling of number of per-
sonal experiences that there are many
things a member of Congress should
and must do for his constituents, such
as distributing information, helping
them in their personal difficulties with
the Government, advising them and
the like.
Governments Duty Cited.
"The Government has duty to every
individual citizen" he declared and
for this reason the people of Washing
ton should have some one TO serve them.
You are entitled TO and ought to have
some one on the Hill to represent you"
In condemning those who make of
prohibition the root from which springs
most of the crime, today, Mr.. Snyder
appealed for return to teaching re-
Spect for law and the Constitution in
the home and school.
Crime comes of the age-old factors
that have always produced 1t. he said,
which are poverty, desire for riches and
attempts to keep up with the JoneSes."
He said that Washington is the best
governed and policed city in the United
States. that there is less crime here
than anywhere else in the country and
that there is no underworld in the Dis
trict as the TERMS understood in New
York, Philadelphia, Chicago and other
large cities.
The picture painted by Mr. Gibson
of the crime conditions in Washington
and the country at large was less SAN
guine. While not offering any remedy,
he pointed out that there were approx
mately so homicides in this city during
1923. as compared with II in London.
Against less than 40 homicides in Eng
land in 1927 he said there were 1850
in the United States.
Police Pay Raise Favored.
The committee voted to indorse the
recommendation of Maj. Daniel J. Don
ovan, District auditor, that compensa-
ton for the police be increased, but
tabled the proposed resolution urging
members of the Board of Trade to in
form the city authorities of all instances
of cars equipped with smoke screens
which came to their notice. 1t also was
decided to support the bill in Congress
for the regulation of the sale of fire.
arms in the District.
Odell Smith, chairman of the public
order committee, presided. Among the
guests of honor were Maj. Donald A.
Dawson, assistant engineer Commits
sioner; Maj. Cary Brown, assistant di-
rector of public buildings and public
parks; Edwin B. HesSe, former superin-
tendent of police; Inspectors Ernest
Brown and Thaddeus Bean, Assistant
Director of Traffic Eldridge and Judge
Gus A. Schuldt of the Police Court.