Evening star., 1947-05-07
Letters to The Star
Gulf Between Commissioners
and Schools DepIored


garding the teachers pay bill wen IL
lustrates the confusion Of responsibility
in the District government.
Congress asked the Board OF Educa-
tion to prepare bill which would be
equitable for the present teaching stan
and which would provide incentive for.
entrance into a field which, it is gen-
orally admitted, needs greater induce
ment. In opposing the bill, whose judg-
ment are the Commissioners rejecting?
Certainly not that OF the parents of
school children, the citizens most closely
affected. Certainly not that of the
Board Of Education which is charged
with the administration of the school
system
In the opinion OF the league 1t is dis
turbing that there should be so little
apparent understanding between the
Board and the Commissioners on prob
lem so far-reaching. Congress has to
be the arbiter. All citizens who care
about the future OF Washington's school
children should urge members OF the
District Committee to support the bill.
ZELLA D. LEONARD, President,
D. G. League OF Women Voters.
More on Daylight Saving
To the Editor Of The Star:
One curious aspect OF the daylight
saving law recently passed for the Dis
trict is the oft-repeated "home-rule"
argument. Actually, Congress gave the
Commissioners more power than any
other locality has: The power to change
the standard time OF the District. tIf
you doubt this, get copy of the law
itself and read IT'D
The law requires that standard time
be used for all common carriers in in
. terstate commerce. Thus, the buses
that operate between Washington and
the Pentagon will have to publish sched-
ules giving Eastern standard time for
the Virginia end and the fast D. c..
standard time for the Washington end.
The bus drivers will have to set their
watches every trip, or use two watches.
No doubt the hackers OF the change
count on the bus companies to break the
Also, the railroads will have to issue
new time tables, using for Washington
time that is an hour faster than they
use anywhere else. ! suppose that
people travelling to New York are used
to having the natives use time an hour
faster than the railroads-but now they
will have to learn that Washington
differs from other cities In this respect.
No doubt the hackers Of the law count
on the railroads, too to break the law.
Also, the law requires that standard
time be used by all Federal officials In
all laws, rules and regulations. Conse-
quently. the working hours at the Penta-
gon still would have to be stated in
Eastern standard time. The kind of
time used for conferences between the
Secretary of War and officials of other
departments would depend upon which
side OF the river the conference was
held. No doubt the hackers expect the
Secretary Of War to break the law, but
that hardly is a sound basis for ad-
vocating {. far-reaching change.
We need less confusion about time, not
more. There has been much loose talk
about how Congress regulated the time
during the war, and then turned it back
to the localities. 1t was no such thing;
the obligation to use the time pre-
scribed by Congress is no more and no
less now than 1t was during the war.
However, by use OF the catch phrase
daylight saving" they induced the rural
areas to consent to it during the war.
Actually, not one minute of daylight
was saved by daylight saving; what
saved it was the fact that people went
to work earlier, which could have been
done just as well by changing working
hours. And now, it would be much
simpler for President Truman to change
the hours OF Government employees and
invite private employers to follow suit.
Congress should adopt whatever time
standard suits most Of the people the
best, and then put enough teeth into
the law to enforce its use. Such a
standard might even involve the use of
more or fewer zones than the four now
used. n. H, HOWE.
To the Editor Of The Star:
If the action Of Congress on daylight
saving is an example Of home rule I
say, "No, thank you" / wonder how
many Congressmen would like their
home district committeeman to hold q
one-day hearing and then decide who
should represent their district in Con-
gress.
No, Congress has not given us home
rule but rule by poll, pressure and
propaganda
The only way to prove that an "over-
whelming majority" favor D. S. T. is
to have referendum. I doubt very
much if even a bare majority favor it.
MRS. M. S.
Action Against Milk Monopoly
To the Editor OF The Star:
The humiliations imposed upon this
voteless community seem to be without
end. The latest Is Dairy Boss Derrick's
perennial a-la-Lewis theme song, "No
toll, no milk"
The economic strength of Mr.. Der
rick's Producers Association lies in the
fact that 1t irresponsibly enjoys a
privileged monopoly. Consumer strategy
should be directed at ending this unfair
monopoly and to open this milkshed
and milk market to fair competition
between all producers and distributors
of safe and healthy milk. regardless of
its place of origin. Boss Derrick con-
tinues to dictate unfair prices because
the price level LIS not determined by the