Evening star., 1934-04-27
ARTICLE NO. 2.


National representation for the
people of the District in Congress and
in the electoral college is naturally
the keystone Of any program for re-
organizing the District government.
For, no matter how perfect a form
of municipal government might be
worked out for Washington by study
ing the experiences Of other cities
if it left the half-million residents of
the District still without voice in
the legislative bodies that make its
laws. it would violate the fundamen-
tai principle on which all American
government is based.
Some of the suggestions now being
put forward for changes in the Dis
trict government have as their object
the vesting of more power In the
present board Of three Commissioners,
or in some modified form of local gov
ernment. And these suggestions arise
largely from a belief that the busy
members of Congress, engrosSed in q
multitude of national problems. could
be spared the necessity of devoting so
much of their time to many of the
minor bills that must be passed at
every session, by delegating general
power over these less important mat
ters to their agents at the District
Building
May Confer Authority.
OF course. Congress may confer
some general authority on the Com
missioners to make miscellaneous reg
ulations, to change the names of
streets and do similar things, but it
is safe to assume at the outset that
the National Legislature will-very
properly-find itself still in posses
sion of the ultimate and real govern
ing power which the founders specified
when they wrote into the Constitution
that Congress shall exercise exclusive
legislation" over the Capital City.
Assuming for the moment that it
will be found legally possible for Con-
greSs to make the Commissioners its
agents to exercise some of its legisla-
tive power. there is little likelihood
that it would relieve Representatives
and Senators from any appreciable
part of the labors they now perform
in their capacity as city councilmen
for the National Capital. 1t is in
evitable that if any of the ordinances
adopted by the Commissioners under
a grant Of general power should meet
with any substantial opposition, the
groups affected would turn instantly
to CongresS-the real source of power
for redress or relief.
Or, on the other hand. opposition
might develop in Congress to some
step taken by the Commissioners un-
der their general new powers, and
Immediately a bill would be intro
duced to change the step taken or
alter the power given.
Responsibility Remains.
The point Is that, while the Com
missioners undoubtedly could, by
municipal regulation, pass on a va
riety OF. routine questions now dealt
with by act of Congress, such a
change would not lessen the constitu-
tlonal responsibility of the House and
Senate to keep a hand on the reins
OF local government in the Federal
CITY,
Cne of the basic reasons why Con-
gress was vested with exclusive leg
islative control over the District in
the Constitution was to make sure
that the National Government would
have unquestioned control over the
place where Congress meets and
wher he Federal Government func-
tons
And one Of the strongest argu-
ments in support of the constitutional
amendment for national representa-
ton is that it would extend to the
people who live here a voice in their
government without interfering with
the absolute control of Congress over
the city.
The delegation of too much power
to a Board of Commissioners, or tc
some alternative form of municipal