Evening star., 1949-02-20
They Are Insepuruble


District government reorganization in
wolves a number of considerations. bill
providing for Home Rule alone would be
much simpler measure to manage in de-
bate It would have the advantage OF
sharpening the issue of local voting, with
out loading it down with so many other
controversies over reorganization: One
thing that begged down debate on Home
Rule in the House last year was the size OF
the 151-page bill. Opponents of the bill
. could have slowed it up indefinitely by de-
= manding detailed consideration OF any one
of scores of its provisions.
From the standpoint of time, therefore,
q Home Rule bill that contained little be-
yond establishing a new elected form OF
local government would be advantageous.
But in avoiding one set of complications
such bill would create others. The Auch-
inclosS subcommittee reached the conclu-
sion that the problems of Home Rule and
reorganization are "inextricably tied to-
gether."
In 1929, for example, DR.. Lawrence F.
Schmeckebier made study of the District
government and found thirty -one Federal
agencies participating in its administra-
ton The Auchincloss subcommittee, near
ly twenty years later, found that these
thirty-one had increased to forty-eight.
Some of them are financed through the
District appropriation bill, yet the Com
missioners have little control over how
they spend their money. Others are paid
for services rendered and the Commission
bou
of such services. Still others are financed
by separate appropriations, in the consid-
Grafton of which the Commissioners do not
participate. A Home Rule bill which did
not clear up some of this muddle in
launching a new form of local government
would leave any elected City Council facing
q chaotic situation. 2'3.''-'F
A question of great importance in con-
nection with Home Rule is the financial
relationship between the local community
and the Federal Government. A satisfac-
tory solution of this question, written into
Home Rule legislation, is an absolute
necessity 1t is as important part of
Home Rule as the determination of who
can vote here and how. But as soon as the
financial relationship is defined and in
cluded in a Home Rule bill 1t becomes
necessary to accompany it with other pro-
visions for the future status of the agencies
to be financed.
AS convenient as it might be, therefore,
1t is extremely difficult to write a satisfac-
tory Home Rule bill without going into the
details of reorganization that would be-
come effective with Home Rule There
may be some merit in the suggestion that
reorganization can be left to the President
who, If given the powers asked for in the
Hoover Commission reports, could send to
Congress complete plan for reorganiza-
tion of the local government to take effect
simultaneously with the approval and effec-
. tiveness of Home Rule legislation. That
: procedure should be thoroughly explored.
: But residents of the District would want to
see its details spelled out in advance before
deciding whether it is practicable or sat-
isfactory.
Unless something of that sort is done it
would be unwise to separate the considera-
tions of Home Rule from the reorganiza-
ton that necessarily must accompany so
fundamental a change in the character of
local government.