Evening star., 1932-06-26
Legislating for the District,

The following verbatim extract from
the Congressional Record for Friday
contains an enlightening commentary
on the business of legislating for the
District of Columbia:
The bill Is. 3053) to promote safety
on the streets and highways of the
District of Columbia by providing for
the financial responsibility of owners
and operators of motor vehicles on the
public highways in the District of CO.
lumbia; to prescribe penalties for the
violation of the provisions Of this act,
and for other purposes, was announced
as next in order.
Mr.. Blaine Let that go over.
Mr. Kean. Mr.. President, I hope
the Senator will withhold his objec-
tion for a moment. This bill seems
Almost every day when we take up the
newspapers we see where children and
other people are killed in the District
of Columbia as a result of accidents
involving automobiles, and it appears
to me that for the protection of the
citizens of the District of Columbia the
bill should be passed.
Mr.. Blaine. Mr.. President, q great
many of the provisions of the bill ought
to receive considerable and serious at
tention, and it is very obvious that we
have not the time to give that con-
Sideration this morning. ask that
the bill may go over.
Mr.. Kean. Mr. President, the bill
has the approval of all the public ON
cials of the District of Columbia.
Mr.. La Toilette. Regular order.
The President pro tempore. The bill
will go over.
And some time later:
The Joint resolution III j. Res. 154)
to authorize the merger of street rail-
way corporations operating in the Dis
trict of Columbia and for other pur-
poses. was announced as next in order.
Mr.. Blaine Let that go over.
The President pro tempore. The
joint resolution will be passed over.
Everybody will concede the impos-
sibility Of having such measures passed
on the unanimous consent calendar, as
well as the right and the duty Of Sen
ators who have some well-founded OBJ
lection to prevent their passage. The
thing works both ways. Generally con-
demned bills are prevented from hasty
passage as well as generally approved
bills.
The point is that when local legisla-
ton, relatively unimportant to the
Nation at large, but tremendously i'm
portant to the local community, is left
to take its turn with the run-of-the-
mill matter that passes through the
congressional hoppers in a busy ses-
sion 1t is passed over and continues to
be passed over indefinitely. The merger
resolution affords a striking example
of the practical futility of expecting
any expeditions treatment Of local
legislation by Congress. Senator
Blaine's objections to that resolution,
in which he is joined by Senator Cap
per, are admittedly sound. These Sen
ators should object when failure to
object means surrender of a point of
view that deserves careful considera-
tion. But the Senate has little time
to give TO discussion and debate of a
mere local bill enabling two trolley lines
to merge their operations. When there
are objections, their existence is enough
to doom the bill. Yet everybody will
agree that merger Of some sort, fully
protecting the interests of the car
riders as well as the corporations
should long since have been authorized
by Congress. And the reason that II
has failed to get that authorization is
that Congress does not have the time
to give it adequate consideration.
| So it is with the automobile financial
responsibility bill and with countless
other bills. They fail because there
was no time to study them.
Legislating for one municipality by
a National Congress is an unwieldy
process at best, and becomes a physical
impossibility when Congress is unwilling
to conceive itself, even for only few
hours In a long session, as local
! legislature.
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