Evening star., 1939-07-07

NCPIuICS kVnyiCSS
As Governing Body
Unified Agency Would
Give to District More
independence Of Action
The report prepared for House
consideration By Representative
Kennedy to erplqin his bill to
carry out the District reorgan-
izdtion plan tolloWS, in part.
The bill is drawn to provide a
single, unified agency of local gov
ernment for the District. In this
agency would be brought together
all the functions of local govern
ment in the District, with few
minor exceptions, now exercised
separately by numerous local, Fed
eral and nondescript agencies.
All these functions would be vest
ed in the Board of Commissioners,
which would appoint an expert ad-
ministrator. The administrator
would be responsible to the board
for the general conduct of the ad-
ministrative affairs of the District
in accordance with the policies pre-
scribed by law and the ordinances
of the Commissioners.
IL Administrative Departments
Under Administrator Control.
Under the Commissioners re-
sponsibility for carrying on the ad-
ministrative affairs of the local gov
ernment would be divied among IL
administrative departments under
the control of the administrator and
two separate establishments under
the control of separate boards. The
functions would be grouped by de-
partments according to kind, those
activities which can best be eXer-
cised together under common su-
pervision being placed together in
the same department.
In each department the organiza-
ton and procedures would be laid
out to provide for integrated opera
ton. and the most effective mod
ern procedures and businesslike CO.
ordination of the operations of the
several departments would be estab-
lished.
The existing local courts would
be combined
The results, if the provisions of
the bill are made effective accord
ing to their purposes, should be a
ting a pattern of efficiency and
economy beyond any heretofore es-
tablished for other cities through
out the country to follow.
The bill provides for utilizing the
existing municipal corporation of
the District of Columbia, with its
Board of Commissioners as its gov
erning authority, as the nucleus
for the unified local government,
with broadened powers, that is
deemed essential for meeting the
local government problem effec-
lively.
Congress Would Surrender
None of Its Authority.
This municipal corporation would
be, of course, creature of Con-
gress, as is the present corporation
1t would be the chosen instrument
tality of Congress for making ef-
fective the will of Congress as ex-
pressed in the statutes, not an in
dependent entity to which Congress
would surrender any authority that
it now has.
The local government would re-
lieve Congress of an endless burden
of detail, but would not deprive Con-
greSS of any power, since the ulti-
mate authority must continue to
rest in Congress, and the local gov
ernment could operate only under
authority of Congress. 1t could ex-
ercise only such power as Congress
might choose to vest in it and could
operate only in accordance with
such policies, and subject to such
restrictions as Congress might i'm
pose.
The powers that the bill provides
for conferrlng upon the District as
municipal corporation, by grant Of
Congress, are such powers as are
deemed essential to provide for an
effective local government. The
powers so granted would include,
among others, specified powers to
levy and assess taxes and special
assessments according to law; to
acquire, hold and transfer property;
to control the property and finances
of the District and to appropriate
and expend the money of the Dis
trict; to provide and maintain public
works; to administer laws of specia,
application to the District, and to
provide such local services, exercise
regulation and control over such
matters, and do such other things as
are reasonably necessary and proper
to provide complete, harmonious
and effective government serving the
purpose of promoting and safe
guarding the rights, interests safety,
morals, health, comfort, education,
convenience and general welfare Of
the inhabitants of the District. All
such powers now vested in existing
agencies, with specified exceptions,
WOUlo DC u Gu w GllC
pal corporation and the additional
powers necessary to provide for d
elf-contained, well-rounded local
government for the District would
be provided.
Trivial District Affairs
Not Intended for Congress.
This grant of powers, If the bill is
enacted into law, would involve ex-
ercise by Congress of its constitu-
tional power of exclusive legisla-
ton" over the District, not delega-
ton Of any of that power. The
trainers of the Constitution obvi-
ously did not intend that Congress
should take time from national
affairs to legislate, by means of its
own processes, on every trivial detail