Evening star., 1938-04-28
National Representation
For District of Columbia
BY MRS. RICHARD HOGUE,

President, Washington Branch of the Amer.
lean Association Of University Women.
was for woman suffrage, I might
say, from my birth. 1t was one of
the earliest causes" in my life. I went
through high school and college max
ing stump speeches on the subject, and
meeting adversaries in debate on plat
forms. Now when I come to express
myself on the subject of suffrage for
the District of Columbia I cannot
think Of any new or fresh arguments
All the reasons that were good for
woman suffrage are good for District
suffrage, and all the reasons are the
same Nor have I encountered any
opposition that does not sound remi-
niscent of the opposition of woman
suffrage days. SO elemental is the
right OF suffrage for free people that
1t seems one would not have to make
arguments in support of it. Man.
hood suffrage was won on such i'm
memorial sentences as Taxation with
out representation is tyranny" which
ring out with as much high truth
today as they did when the colonists
used them in defense of their rights
against infringement by the British
throne.
The right of local self government
and the right to be represented on
whatever taxing body there is are in
herent in the principles underlying the
United States Government. Yet this
is the only Democratic country in the
world where citizens of the capital
city have no voice in their local affairs
and no voice in questions of taxation.
Residents of other capitals participate
in municipal matters.
Buenos Aires Cited.
In Buenos Aires the mayor is as
sisted by council elected by the
voters. This council votes on measures
relating to the city finances, public
works and general administration, and
its decisions are carried out by the
mayor. In Canberra, capital of Aus
tralia, there are no municipal taxes.
This is because title to all the land
rests in the government and the land
is leased. There is also an advisory
council on which are three elected
representatives This council advises
the minister of home affairs. who is
the administrator of the federal cap
ital territory, on matters Of local con-
cern.
In all other countries which have
federally coptrolled district, except
Australia, the residents of the capital
have national representation as we'll
as participation in municipal matters.
This applies to Mexico City, Rio De
Janeiro and Buenos Aires. The fed
eral district is represented in both leg
1slative houses just as are other states.
1t is interesting in this connection to
note that Washington is the only
capital where the increase of local
taxable resources is discouraged. Only
capital cities under monarchies and
relationships have no participation in
municipal affairs.
A careful reading OF the works of
the founding fathers leaves one strong
in the belief that they expected the
citizens Of our Capital City to take
part in their government so soon as
the city outgrew its infant status as
a wilderness outpost of officials whose
homes were elsewhere. And the val
liant fight for the rights of the citi-
zens of the District put up by Old
Hickory makes him eligible in very
special way as our patron saint.
Old Dialogue Sounds New.
An excerpt from an old Congress
sional Record of the decade immedi-
ately following the Civil War (un-
earthed by DR.. Carrie Weaver Smith
in research on the history of the Ma
tional Training School for Girls has
some dialogue that sound like "only
yesterday" I want to put this in
here, to conclude, because it shows over
how long a period of time good people
of the District of Columbia have been
beseeching the throne of Congress for
the particular right to voice in their
own affairs. The dialogue is between
Representative ingalls, of Kansas Che