Evening star., 1945-09-25

years ago in this country that OBJ
iections based on that point of view
are untenable
Decision on Merits Urged.
II have no doubt that substantial
citizens in all parts of this country
occasionally express doubt AS to the
wisdom of letting people vote-more
specifically, perhaps, the wisdom of
letting people vote as they do
Mr.. McKelway added that men,
bers of Congress had suggested
Washingtonians turn on the heat
to get the vote This could be done
If you have the money to hire the
right organizers he said, but back
ers of suffrage have always felt the
decisions should be on the merits of
the case alone, and not through artl-
fetal pressure. The only hope Of
the District. he concluded, is to find
Congress members with genuine
"desire-not merely the willingness
to right a fundamental wrong"
Strong pleas for favorable action
also were placed before the sub
committee by Wilbur S. Finch. pres
ident OF the Federation of Citi-
zens' Associations; Melvin D. Hill
dreth. vice chairman of the Demo-
cratic Central Committee for the
District; Edward F. Colladay. Re-
y,,,hIicop national cor,r, II ear, q N
for the District: James R. Kirk
land. attorney and professor of law
at the George Washington Univer-
sity Law School; Guilford S. Jane
son. attorney, former clerk Of the
House Judiciary Committee and a
Committee on National Represen-
tation and the Forest Hills Citi-
zens' Association. and Mrs. Louis
Gutenberg. speaking for a number
of national organizations. includ
ing the League of Women Voters
and its 'voteless" District OF Co.
lumbia Chapter.
Mr. Suter, who was one of the
first witnesses, turned to the United
Nations Charter to support the pc
tition of the voteleSs District.
Ray of Hope in Charter.
Citing declara tionS IN that docu-
ment regarding the right of all peo-
pie to f-government, Mr.. Suter
said:
The voteless and unrepresented
Americans of the District, with other
degraded people of the world, see in
the promises of the Charter a bright
ray of hope. Our country is now
definitely committed to helping put
these high ideals into practice.
Can the leading Nation of the
entire world consistently undertake
such a task while maintaining at
the very heart of the Nation a
complete despotism entirely out of
line with the professed commitments
for other peoples?"
One of the declaratio he cited
from the Charter states that mem
bers of the United Nations are
pledged ito develop elf-govern-
ment, to take due account of the
political aspirations of the people
and to assist them in the progress
sive development of their free polit-
lcal institutions, according to the
particular circumstances of each
territory and its people and their
varying stages of advancement"
Might Question Sincerity.
Failure to remedy the un-Amer-
ican status of the permanent resi-
dents of the National C>pital, Mr..
Suter continued, would open to
question the sincerity of the Con-
gress and the American people in
their professed belief in funda-
mental American principles.
1T would challenge the sincerity
Of the United States Senate, which
so promptly ratified the United
Nations Charter. 1t would chal-
lenge the sincerity of the Demo-
cratic party national platform,
which has twice recorded its ap-
proval of an American political
status for these voteless and un-
represented Americans in the Dis
trict."
Mr.. Suter quoted from a state
ment made by Mr.. Moves in sup
port of national representation for
the District % years ago. which he
held to be as forceful and applicable
now as in 1916, though the language
of the proposed amendment is some
what changed.
1916 Statement Quoted.
In that 1916 statement, Mr.. Noyes
declared:
This constitutional amendment
which we favor does not propose
the admission of the District as q
sovereign State: it does not pro-
pose the destruction of the 10 miles
square provision of the Constitu-
ton; it does not lessen in the
smallest degree the control by the