Evening star., 1946-03-05
|McCarran Backs
'Se|f-RuIe' but
Warns Of Limits
Congress Must Keep
Final Control Under
Constitution, He Says

Constitution, He Says
Proposals for drafting a self
rule" charter for the District and
It's submission to the people In an
official referendum drew praise to-
day from civic leaders and a word
Of caution from Chairman McCar-
ran Of the Senate Judiciary Com
mittee.
The Nevada Senator gave prompt
Endorsement to the policy contained
in the District chapter of the La
Toilette -Monroney report on reor-
ganization of Congress but added
there was one important conting-
ency to be kept in mind-the final
control that the Constitution gives
to Congress over the National Cap
ital.
While. describing the report as
"commendable so far as it goes
he declared Congress must never
lose its control over the District
because 1t is the seat of the Fed
Cl oil 1ONcTIlIIl6IlC.
Bill Lodged in Files.
His bill to give Washington home
rule" through tn, election of seven
of proposed nine-member city
council, he said, recognizes the Fed
eral interest and congressional con-
troll but still would serve to re-
neve Congress of many of its tasks
relating to the operation of the
municipal government.
The McCarran bill has been lodged
for nearly two years in the files OF
the ODaniel Subcommittee of the
Senate District Committee.
Wilbur s. Finch, president of the
Federation of Citizens Associations
and temporary chairman of the Gen.
tral Suffrage Conference, hailed the
referendum feature of the La Fol-
tte-Monroney Joint Committee re-
port as a means of obtaining an
official expression of local opinion
Referenda in Past.
ANY referendum should be .offi-
cial," he said. I'VE have had sew
eral unofficial referenda, and it has
been established that the people of
Washington want the right to vote. >
Being lifelong resident of the
Capital and unfamiliar with ballots
Mr.. Finch said he did not know
whether both self-government and
national representation could be
placed before the public in the same
vote but would approve such a test
if practicable.
He emphasized that any official
referendum would require registra-
ton of prospective voters and there
by would give the first authentic
estimate of voting strength here.
There always have been some on
Capitol Hill who have said only a
handful of people here want to
vote; that the rest vote in home
States" Mr.. Fitch said. An official
referendum would show just how
many citizens don't have the vote
and want it."
Wender Sees Mandate"
Harry s. Wender, Federation past
president and a member of the
Executive Committee of the Central
Suffrage Conference, saw in the
congressional reorganization propo-
sails "a clear mandate" for reorgan-
ization of the city government to
relieve Congress of many District
details while letting the people run
their own affairs to the degree that
Is constitutionally possible"
He agreed that some powers can
not be given to any form of city
government here but argued that if
the District had an elected council
it could relieve Congress of many
duties and serve as formal express
sion of the will of the people.
He lauded proposals for creation
of a charter commission and the
submission of its self rule" plan to
District residents, and praised the
congressional reorganization report
as "one more step forward" that
results from responsible, dignified
and impartial" study.
Representation Real Objective.
Edward F. Colladay, Republican
national committeeman, commented: :
While we have an excellent Dis
trict Government, if Congress has
come to realize the importance of
no longer handling the problems of
that Government, and is willing to
delegate it to some form of local
government, which may or may
not be change from the commits
sion form, the citizens of the Dis
trict will finally function as citizens
Of all other cities of the United
States do"
This word of caution came from
Melvin D. Hildreth of the Demo-
cratic Central Committee of the
District:
= I'VE have seen a series of plans in
recent years, all of which seem to
tend toward calculated delay in OBJ
tanning our real objective of COM
plete suffrage and national repre-
sentation. I fear this is merely
another. If the demand of suffrage
had no merit, it would not have
been pressed for $50 years. We are
simply carrying on what those be-
fore us did. If our hopes are not
realized, it will mean that another
generation will have to carry on
the fight"