Evening star., 1947-11-10
District Residence

To the Editor of The Star:
have weathered many years OF controversy
over citizenship rights in Washington. have
participated in straw baloting. waded through
newspapers, editorials, letters to ye editor, sur
vived many private conversations on the sub
ject
Periodically have heard, "Well, maybe
something will be done about 1t, now" The
now" has acquired such a sense of timeless-
ness that it has lost even hint OF futurlty.
The question of District citizenship is merely
a dug-up bone of contention paved at and
gnawed at for time then buried again to
ripen some more.
The fact that Federal employees refuse to as
sumo citizenship in the District may not be
ignored Why do they refuse?
They refuse for the same reason that any
one would refuse to surrender a sound apple
for Windfall.
In the first place, 1t is not matter of bare
vote. Votes that give you two powerful Sena-
tors in the upper chamber, and effective Rep
resentatives in the lower are a worlds differ
ence from prospective cheap votes that give
you but talking, voteless delegate in the
House of other Representatives. vote for
nothing Is nothing. In the State the Federal
employe has two Senators and a proportionate
number of Representatives, to whom he may
60 for backing in the hour of need. He is not
going to barter them for a talking delegate.
In the second place, and this is to him most
important, it is not to the Federal employees
interest to lose priority on civil service regis
ters by transferring to District citizenship.
The District quota, reputedly is usually, If not
always, full to overfowing. For District legal
resident to maintain decent priority on civil
service registers or even to enter the competi-
tive service, or 60 from one bureau to another
by original examination, Is one with riding
dromedary through the eye. of cambria
needle.
This second deterrent to District citizenship
Is all-important to an employe in the competi-
tive service Why it has received no attention
do not know
Until the District can ungrudgingly and un-
reservedly be given full statehood in national
affairs, and the civil service quotas be rectifed
in fairness to all, there will be no inducement
to assume District citizenship. Local citizen
ship is healthy form of political life.
Under present conditions or conditions that
can now be reasonably foreseen, who from out
lying territory would voluntarily become a
citizen of the District of Columbia? What ad
vantage is there? "CORAM NOBIS."
City Housing Authority Proposed
To the Editor of The Star:
Washington follows the familiar pattern Of
growth which Is common to American munic-
ipalities. The beginning is a nucleus of
houses and stores with possibly some small in
dustries, arranged either with reference to a
more or less defined plan or as chance dictates.
Expansion occurs, the city grows and for
time, there is definite relation between the
center, the industrial heart and the residential
section lying on the outer edge of the city. But
as expansion continues, development jumps to
ing behind what was once the primary resi-
dental section which falls into stagnation.
Dwellings are turned into business locations,
what were once private homes become board
ing houses and because this area is a low in
come producing section and taxes remain at
high level that Is not related to income, i'm
provements are not made nor are even the es
sential repairs attended to. One has only to
survey those old parts of the city which have
been left behind in the development OF Wash
ington from the neighborhood surrounding the
Capitol to the northwest, to see what this
change has meant It would be an oversim-
plifcation to say that as the city grows out
ward, it leaves growing core of slums behind
but we must face the fact that an area OF
deadened, stif1ed decadehce Is the product OF
suburban development.
Not only does this area afford poor housing
but also insufficient housing particularly dis
turbing to Washington whose employment