Evening star., 1948-04-12
Home Rule
Continued From First Page.)

decide for themselves whether they
want what this bill offers.
IF there still are people here who
think Congress should not pass the
home rule bill, as amended, they
must in fairness to the people OF
this city make plain the reasons Tor
their opposition.
Critics Assailed.
Against the principle of home
rule. the critics SO far have produced
nothing better than a sort OF 'Whls-
pering campaign. They have
damned with faint praise, sniping at
the fringes of something they could
not openly and conScientiously OPP
pose.
One group thinks this situation
should end. The AuchincloSs bill
would give the people OF Washing
ton one chance-possibly their last
to accept or reject the democratic
right to rule themselves. Obviously,
it is better for us to make this de-
cision as, ,a.community than to, have
it made forsus by Congress-sgainst
home rule.
Our committee confidently chal-
lenges any group of individuals
still sitting on the fence here to
debate with us publicly against this
proposition
Atwood Renews Plea. -...
Meanwhile, Albert w. Atwood,
president Of the Board of Trustees
of the Public Library, reiterated his
contention that under the proposed
home rule the library should be
continued under an independent
board, as at present.
IF we had to choose, however
between being put under a Board
of Public Education as provided in
the original home rule bill, or under
the city manager, as provided in
the revised bill, we probably would
prefer the latter
The main point is, however he
emphasized, that We would much
rather have the library under an in
dependent board Our study of
library administration throughout
the country has shown that it is
better to have a library managed by
an independent board.
Il testified at length during hear
ings on the Home Rule bill on the
advantages of an independent board
Nothing has happened since to
change our opinion"
Changed Bill Supported.
Two leaders of the Federation of
Citizens Associations generally ap-
proved the revised Auchincloss bill.
The Federation previously had in
dorsed the original bill in principle.
John H. Connaughton, Federation
president, characterized the revision
as pretty good bill"
He said he would refer the meas
ure to the Federation Local Suf-
frage Committee, headed by Wilbur
S. Finch, former Federation presi-
dent, who also is president of the
Central Suffrage Conference.
Mr.. Finch told The Star he liked
the new bill better than the original
measure but would make a more
careful study of it with his commit
tee. He doubted If report could
be completed in time for presenta-
tion to the Federation at its next
meeting Saturday night
Proposal Is Praised.
The proposal for a nom voting
al 70 10
the District was characterized by
Mr., Finch as excellent"
The provision for an official refer
endum on the home rule plan was
characterized by Mr.. Finch as a
decided improvement" over the
original Auchincloss measure.
Another suggestion made by the
Federation of Citizens Associations,
now included in the Auchincloss
bill, is the requirement that candi-
dates for the elected city council
must be residents of the District.
The original home rule measure
would have permitted residents of
nearby Virginia and Maryland coun-
ties to be members of the city
council
Reilly Approves Revision.
John A. Reilly, president of the
Board of Trade. noted with approval
some of the changes made in the
bill but said he still believed that
any home rule plan not providing
for voting representation for the
District in Congress was unsatis-
factory.
He said he was glad to see that
the Auchincloss Subcommittee had
provided for an official referendum
on the plan, as had been recon-
mended by the Board of Trade,
Another change he listed as a
step in the right direction was to
require Affirmative action, instead
of the veto plan, on legislative pro-
posals from the city council He
said he noted with satisfaction
also that the maximum amount of
eoeded debt had been cut down