Evening star., 1934-05-08
Prettyman's Opinion Up
holds Favorable Report
by Commissioners.
SENATE COMMITTEE
TO MEET TOMORROW
Urgent Need of Authority to
Make Changes in Laws Cited
in Statement.

With a meeting of the Senate Dis
trict Committee called for pm. to-
morrow, the District Commissioners
today laid before Chairman King a
favorable report on his bill to confer
far-reaching general powers on the
Board of Commissioners to make new
municipal regulations or to modify
specific acts of Congress.
Accompanying the Commissioners
report was a lengthy opinion from
Corporation Counsel E. Barrett Pretty
man quoting from various court decl-
sions to show how the powers of the
Commissioners are limited at present,
and advocating the pending bill so the
Commissioners could accomplish by
regulation many of the changes in
local laws which now require acts of
Congress.
Urgent Need Cited.
Prettyman, after referring to court
decisions limiting the powers of the
Commissioners, concluded with this
statement:
1T may be apropos to state that
there is ample authority in decisions
throughout the country for the dele
cation of the power to make purely
local and municipal regulations
However, some of the cases indicate
that this may not be true with respect
to the power to levy and collect taxes
If the body to which the authority is
delegated is one in the appointment OF
which the people have no voice"
oro,1aI thot tho odJi-
tional powers sought to be conferred
by the pending bill are urgently
needed 'in the interest of practical
legislation" Among the arguments
he advanced we're that Congress is in
session only part of the year. is oc
cupied with numerous measures of ma
tional Importance, and cannot there
fore be expected to turn its attention
to local questions that are at times
comparatively unimportant."
Courts Enforce Limits.
The power heretofore granted the
Commissioners. he wrote, are police
powers. and the courts have been
careful to see that those powers are
strictly limited and that no admins
lLdGlNC 1uIlSlAOllo "ClC u1l0Ci IdhCi
that were not precisely confined to
health, safety, comfort and quiet.
He also pointed out that the powers
of the Commissioners have been fur
ther diminished each time Congress
legislates on some specific subject, be-
cause the courts have held that when
Congress deals with a particular sub
ject by law, it removes that subject
from the general powers of the Com
missioners.
Cne of the most far-reaching fea-
lures of the pending bill, however. is
that the Commissioners could issue
regulations modifying these specific
acts of Congress Referring to this
part of the BILL Prettyman said that
while the authorities touching upon
the validity of the granting of such
power to a municipality are not
numerous. there are several decisions
which bear directly on the subject.
He then cited several court cases in
various parts of the country.
May Be Up Tomorrow.
This bill may be considered along
with other matters at tomorrow
meeting, although Senator McCar-
ran, Democrat, of Nevada, already
has authority to report it with
amendments.
The Commissioners also sent to
Senator King a new bill designed to
relieve an anomalous situation where
by persons who had entered and re-
mained on unoccupied property with
out authority were not subject to ar
rest, although such action is an Of
fense under the present code if the
property is occupied"
The Commissioners also reported
favorably on bill to provide for the
conservation and settlement of estates
of absentees and absconders in the
District of Columbia.