Evening star., 1945-01-07
Il District Bills
Given Senate
In Single Day
Slum CIeoronce
And New Housing
Among Proposals
By DON s, WARREN.


Three members of the Senate Dis
trict Committee yesterday intro
duced q Washington measures.
Two bills offered differing plans
Tor slum clearance and rehousing.
3 Senator McCarran, Democrat of
Nevada, introduced his new bill
which he hopes will prove a COM
promise between advocates OF free
enterprise" and of public housing I"
1t would abolish the National Capt.
tai Housing Authority, create a new
agency with loan authority Of
s3o,0o0,000 and establish a formula
for giving private developers "a year
Of first opportunity" to do low-cost
housing work.
Slum- Clearance Bill Reoffered.
: Senator Capper. Republican, of
Kansas, who, like Senator McCar-
ran, is former chairman OF the
District Committee, reintroduced
the urban redevelopment 'slum-
clearance bill, favored last year by
the planning body and the NCHA.
"A revised draft of the. Capper bill
now is under study at the Budget
Bureau, 1t was said, and may be
substituted later for the one offered
yesterday by Senator McCarran.
One OF the revisions contemplated,
1t was said, would require the Dis
trict Government to bear a por-
tion of the lum-clearance and re-
housing costs.
! Among the more important other
bills filed in the Senate yesterday
were two by Chairman Bilbo' of
the Senate District Committee.
One would authorize the Commis-
sioners to build twin spans Of four
lanes each to replace old Highway
Bridge, and the other to strip the
Board of Public Welfare of its ad-
nninistrative powers and transfer
them to the Commissioners.
! Twin Bridge Bill Opposed.
!, The twin bridge plan, for which
there is companion bill before the
House. is opposed by the Planning
Commission and Interior Secretary
Ickes. advocates of conflicting
proposal to build a six-lane single
span. The welfare bill was approved
last session by the House District
Committee, but its passage was
blocked in the House.
Senator McCarran also reintro-
duced his home rule" bill to give
Washington a council-manager
form of government, with seven
councilmen to be elected by wards
and the chairman and vice-chair-
man to be appointed by the Presi-
dent. This was approved last year
by District subcommittee but not
by the full committee
He also reintroduced the bill he i
drafted last year to reorganize the
District Water Department to end
its hydra a-headed" control by Gre
ating National Capital .Metropoli-
tan Water Administration. This
new agency would consist of the
Commissioner of the Dis
trict, who would be chairman; a |
member to be appointed by the
President and public member to
be named by the Commissioners. 1t
would manage the supply as we'll as
the distribution, billing and collec-
ton units.
Other d. C. Bills Presented.
Other measures reintroduced by
Senator McCarran would substitute
a gas chamber for the electric chair
as the method of capital punish
ment in the District; determine by
referendum what day of the week
District barbershops shall be closed
"a plan blocked last session by OBJ
jections from Seventh Day Adven-
fists; and bill amending the Dis
trict Liquor Control Law, to ban
licenses for places within 500 feet
of churches, schools and Fairgrounds
and to prohibit liquor price adver-
tising.
Chairman Bilbo introduced total
OF l3 measures, one of which was
his resolution for the Senate to di-
rect the District Committee to study
the gasoline shortage here. The
remaining II, offered at the request
of the Commissioners, included the
following:
To authorize use of District funds
to support the Metropolitan Police
Department Band; to increase the
number Of District appointments to
the military and naval academies
from to IL for West Point and
from S to Is at Annapolis; to
amend in many respects the Dis
trict's Life Insurance Act; to amend
the District weights and measures
law; to set up additional protec-
ton for the purchasers of small lots
of coal. coke and charcoal; to re-
quire under some circumstances that
patients at the District Training
School for Feebleminded shall pay
for their care; to permit appoint
ment Of temporary public school
teachers for a whole school term;
to turn surplus funds of District
license boards into the District
treasury; and to permit the gift of
war dogs to the servicemen who
train them, when the dogs are dis
charged from the war.
Senator Capper also reintroduced
his bill to have the District acquire
Villa Rosa and permit the Children's
Museum to continue to operate
there.