Evening star., 1939-03-03
Griffenhagen
Plan Hearings
Wednesday
Another D. c. Group
Opposes Abolition
Of School Bourd

Ut School bOurd
Public hearings on the Griffen-
hagen plan for reorganizing the Dis
trict government were set for 10
o'clock Wednesday before the House
District Committee as another
Washington civic organization voted
against proposal in the plan which
would abolish the Board of Educa-
ton.
The Washingtonians last night
recommended that the Education
Board be retained as an independ-
ent organization.
Meanwhile, Chairman Kennedy of
the House District Committee was
arranging for the public hearings on
the plan, to be held in large cau-
Gus room in the old House Office
Building because of the large num-
ber of witnesses and spectators ex-
pected.
Discussing the Griffenhagen plan
before the Washingtonians last
night, Malcolm McConihe, District
Democratic National Committeeman,
said its adoption will mean either
suffrage for the District or it will
mean the loss of what little liberty
we now have. The critical point is
whether the administration officials
will be appointed by the Government
or elected by the people"
Plans AuthOrS Fret
The first witnesses at the commits
tee hearings will be the firm Of
Griffenhagen & Associates, which
developed the plan, and District off,
cials, followed by representatives of
various organizations, Mr.. Kennedy
said. Permission will be sought of
the House to have afternoon hear
ings while the House is in session.
Mr.. McConihe was one of the four
honor guests present at the March
meeting of the Washingtonians,
which also heard L. A. Carruthers,
president of the Federation of Cit
liens Associations, explain the me-
chanics of that body and make sug-
gestions for its Improvement: Seton
Darr, president of the District Bar
Association, and Maj. Ernest w.
Brown, superintendent of police. In
its business session, the group. which
is headed by Miss Eta L. Taggart,
passed resolutions on seven subjects
affecting the interest of greater
Washington.
Mr.. Darr classified himself as a
pure" Washingtonian, one who in
a lifelong residence in the District
had cast only single vote, and that
in the referendum of 1888. At that
referendum, he said, the citizens
OF Washington had given Congress
a clear indication of their will to
have the vote"
Urges Demand for Vote.
Referring to the question of how
the administrators of the Griffen-
hagen plan would be chosen, Mr..
Darr urged the citizens to "go up to
Capitol Hill in force and demand
that right, the insignia of liberty,
the right to vote"
Mr.. Carruthers emphasized the
difficulty Of making members Of
Congress understand the position of
the citizens associations when they
were approached by groups who
urged upon them original viewpoints
which had met with defeat in the
Federation as a whole He also
pointed out that the matters taken
up with Congress were mostly COM
plants and suggested as a possible
remedy for the flow of criticisms a
rule requiring two-thirds or three
fourths of the Federation delegates
to pass upon subject before it was
referred to the District Committee
Of Congress.
Maj. Brown, after indorsing the
suffrage movement, described the
beginnings of the Police Boys Clubs.
Dispensary Plan Opposed.
The Washingtonians went on
record, at the motion of Mrs. Eliza
beth Sullivan, as opposing the estab-
lishment of Government dis
pensary system in the District.
Action followed the expression of
conflicting views by Mrs. Sullivan
and by John ]. Grim, president of
the District Liquor Dispensary Asso-
citation.
The Stars Music Appreciation
Campaign was commended by the
group at the instance of Mrs. Helen
Wagner, who praised the campaign
for Its advancement of music in
the District, especially from a cul-
| tllral noint"
Other resolutions introduced and
approved were by Mrs. Sullivan,
indorsing the Overton plan, but
favoring a larger Federal share
OF District expenses; by Miss
Taggart, indorsing the Capper-Ken-
nedy bill; by Mrs. Wagner, favoring
abolition of right and left turns at
busy intersections, and by Mrs. Olive
Madden, commencing Maj. Brown
for his work with boys, especially
IN reducing the work of the juvenile
courts"
George Happs was elected delegate
to the Federation to succeed j. B.