Evening star., 1938-05-02

Of Massachusetts,, another member Of
the House District Committee, said:
1T was not surprising to me that the
$4,000 disfranchised residents Of the
District expressed themselves in favor
OF national representation and self
government. That fact alone augers
well for. good government and 1t
showed, too. how the people Of WASH
ington feel about being disfranchised.
Il believe absolutely in the princi-
pie Of self-government. I could not
do otherwise after having been mayor
for l3 years of Salem, Mass.-the first
city in the country that had civil
government under q charter granted
by England"
Representative McGehee, Democrat,
Of Mississippi, also a member Of the
District Committee. said: II have some
very pronounced views on the subject
and will make them public . little
later"
Representative Dirksen, Republican,
Of Illinois, ranking minority member:
1.-THE balloting In the referendum was
certainly impressive and indicates the
people OF the District want to vote.
I believe it will constitute the initial
step toward a large degree Of home
rule for the District. That will only
follow out a suggestion made some
years ago that an enabling act should
be drawn up whereby a large measure
of home rule would be granted"
Representative Shafer, Republican,
Of Michigan: "The impressive vote in
the unof1icial referendum Saturday
should bring forcibly to the attention
Of Congress that steps should be taken
without further delay to give the
people Of the District voice in the
operation Of their own government"
Representative Kennedy, Democrat,
Of Maryland, ranking majority men,
ber: THE result Of the referendum
simply bears out my views that the
people Of the District want local suf-
frage as we'll as national representa-
ton. They ought to have both.
have been striving for some time to
give them form Of home rule. That,
of course, will have to come first.
National representation will take
longer because it will require q con-
stitutional amendment. The way
Congress has neglected its legislative
duties toward the District also shows
the need Of national representation"
Representative Treadway, Republic
an, of Massachusetts,, ranking minority
member OF the Ways and Means Com
mittee: THE volume Of voting seems
to show that the people Of the Dis
trict want the right of suffrage and
will use it If given the opportunity"
Representative John w. Mccormack,
Democrat, of assachusetts. member
of Ways and Means Committee:
Il want to compliment and con-
gratulate the people Of the District
for the tremendous interest they evil
denced. 1t was an impressive sight
and clearly showed their civic zeal. I
have always regretted that there is
not some voice directly responsible
to the people OF the District to which
could listen in the House. My ex-
perience is that nine times out of ten
the members of the House follow the
Representatives in the House of the
several Territories and insular pos
sessions, principally because they
realize that those spokesmen repre-
sent the sentiments Of their people
Invariably we follow them. I have
long felt that the people Of Wash
ington. if they desire it, should have
some form of local self government.
I have felt that the District of Co
lumbia should have at least two Rep
resentatives in the national House.
just the same as Alaska, the Phil
lipines and Puerto Rico, to the extent
of having their voice heard on the
floor Of the House. If possible, I
would give our Territories and the
District Of Columbia full voting rep
resentation in the House. For that
reason I would support q constitu-
tional amendment. Any move, how
ever, to obtain representation in the
Senate would be unwise, because it
cannot be obtained. The Senate is
composed Of the representatives Of
States in the nature of ambassadors
from their sovereign States to the
Federal Government"