Evening star., 1942-04-23

Press service reFeA1eG lE6t several
features Of the bill before the House
District Committee to give the Com
missioners fsr-reaching wartime
powers, including authority to requi-
sition, take possession Of and use
private property of every kind,
follow closely England's drastic
emergency defense laws.
Corporation Counsel Richmond 3.
Keech, at whose request the measure
was introduced by Chairman Ran
dolph of the House District Commit
tee. said he was unfamiliar with the
English defense act which gives
agents OF the government authority
TO requisition private property for
war purposes and pay rent for its
use
At the same time, he expressed the
opinion that no municipality In the
United States had yet given it~ ofi-
cials the broad grant OF enefe .cy
power the legislation awaiting COM
mittee consideration would vest in
the Commissioners.
Sees Powers as Necessary.
But, Mr.. Keech declared, the Com
missioners must have such authority
to avoid the possibility Of being
"hamstrung'' In their efforts to give
the civilian population Of Washing
ton adequate protection In event Of
enemy air raids
He does not see anything "dicta-
toriap or unconstitutional in the
plan since, he points out, the legis-
lation provides that due recognition
must be given property rights.
"All that is intended" he said, ''is
TO fortify the Commissioners with
authority they now lack to deal with
serious emergency situation and to
remove any potential question of In
validity in connection with some Of
the things they have already done
in establishing units and organiza-
tons for civilian defense.
THE so-called 'blackout act which
gave the Commissioners authority to
establish a civilian defense organi-
Zation was written before Pearl
Harbor Many things have hap
pened since to justify revisions In
that law"
Rental Plan i'm England.
In England, all private property,
except that which is "consecrated,"
is subject to requisition for war use.
The property is not seized or con-
fiscated, but is rented and the owner
paid rental based on the current
market value"
Substantially, that is what Mr..
Keech proposes to do in Washing
ton. His plan, as embodied In the
bill, does not contemplate either
conflscation or condemnation of
private property. On the contrary,
it merely outlines two fundamental
procedures by which the Commits
sioners can take possession of and
use such private property they may
regard as necessary for war pur-
poses, or the protection of the civil
ian population.
First, according to the corpora
ton counsel, the Commissioners
would be authorized to accept a
voluntary offer of the owner of the
property to use 1t gratis. Second,
If the owner wanted compensation
for the use Of the property, he
would be paid. like under the Eng
lish plan, q "just" rental. An argu-
ment over the amount of compen-
sation would not prevent the Com
missioners from taking immediate
possession, however. In such an
event the owner would be paid so
per cent of the amount offered and
given the right to sue the District
to recover the rest.
Section Grants Authority.
No specific machinery is set UP
in the bill for requisitioning private
property, but Mr.. Keech said the
authority to establish 1t when the
need arises is provided in a section
which reads:
During the existence of state
of war between the United States
and any foreign country or nation,
the Commissioners of the District