Evening star., 1946-01-21

not only the right but the RESPONSE
bility of the franchise"
John Russell Young, president OF
the District Commissioners: Pres
ident Trumans recommendation
should greatly hearten all of us
who have been asking for the right
which is due every American citizen
His official approval of District
suffrage at this particular time
should be great spur to the
movement which has been under
way, so patiently and so long. Pros
poets for success now are better
than ever. There is no doubt in
my mind that the Presidents words
definitely can be interpreted as
! direct support for the Summers,
Capper resolution"
Jesse C. Suter, vice chairman,
Citizens Joint Committee on Ma
tional representation, and vice
chairman of the Board of Trade
Committee on National Representa-
ton:
The Presidents statement should
give powerful stimulus to the move
ment for national representation as
embodied in the pending Summers
Capper resolution for a constitu-
tional amendment, empowering
Congress to grant to citizens of the
District of Columbia representation
in Congress and the electoral college
The franchise of citizens of the
United States, now denied to citi-
zens of Washington, is the right of
voting representation in the Ameri-
can Governmental right which the
Summers -Capper resolution is de-
signed to restore, without impair
ing the constitutional status of the
District of Columbia as the seat OF
Government under the control of
Congress"
Wilbur S. Finch, president of the
Federation of Citizens Associations
and acting chairman of the newly
formed Central Suffrage Confer
ence: GAS clear cut statement as
you can find for complete suffrage
for the District. AS 1 interpret it,
it means representation for the Dis
trict in Congress and the right to
vote for President as we'll as mu-
nicipal government. 1t Is a
most heartening development.
If the President had mentioned
only municipal self-government. il
would have meant that he only IA
vored the District having the vote
to choose its city officials. But he
went much farther than that. BY
asking for a greater measure OF
local government, in my mino
the President meant that the Dis
trict had the right to have its own
representatives in Congress, the
same as other cities have repre-
sentation in their State Legisla
lures. The Congress of the United
States is the Districts Legislature
and local self-government would not
be complete unless we had the right
to select our representatives in
Congress and to vote for the Presi-
dent of the United States"
Seton Darr, chairman Of the
Steering Committee of the Central
Suffrage Conference: "A fine state
ment. BY asking that citizens not be
denied their franchise merely be-
cause they live in Washington, Presi-
dent Truman undoubtedly means
| that WaShingtonians are entitled to
national representation. His mes
sage is very strong Endorsement of
this inherent right and the people
of Washington should be very happy
with this latest development. With
the backing of the President we
should get national representation.
Let us all unite to attain this goal"
James c. Wilkes, chairman of the
Republican State Central Commit
tee: The Presidents statement fol-
lows closely the position that our
organization has taken for long
time. The citizens of the District
are entitled to the inherent right
of choosing their representatives in
Congress and of voting for Presi-
dent. The District should have
full and complete suffrage, just as
any other city"
Harry S. Wender, former presi-
dent of the Federation of Citizens
Associations: President Truman is
to be congratulated for his state
ment. His years of residence here
as a Senator, Vice President, and
now President, have convinced him
! that the District is entitled to COM
plete suffrage in every respect"
/ Robert E. Wise, president of the
Junior Board of Commerce: Il am
delighted that the President has
seen fit to comment on a matter
which has been of interest to the
Junior Board for more than 10
years. l am pleased in this connec-
tion to have led the first formal
delegation to the Hill in support of
the Summers Capper resolution
which is designed to provide meas
ure of that self-government which
Mr.. Truman advocates"
James S. Beattie, chairman of the
National Representation Commit
tee of Central Suffrage Confer
ence; THAT the President, in such
DuSy times, has found time to de-
vote his attention to the District S
suffrage program should be a source
, of qualification to every one We
! of the conference interpret Mr.
Trumans words to signify his sup
port of the Sumners-Capper reso-
luton, passage of which we are
currently campaigning for"
Hugh Obear, president of the Dis
trict Bar Association: The District
Bar Association has always been in
favor of full suffrage for Washing
ton. President Truman's clearcut
statement is very welcome, indeed
1t is most heartening."
Mr.. Hildreth, speaking as vice
chairman of the Democratic Gen.
tral Committee of the District OF
Columbia: The Presidents recon-