Evening star., 1949-06-28
Home Rule Battle Is Pressed
At Subcommittee Heorinq

support given home rule by Sen
ator Kefauver. His bill Is identi-
cal with the Kefauver bill passed
by the Senate.
Senator Kefauver filed a pre-
pared statement and then dis
cussed many features Of the bill
informally. He stressed that un-
der the Constitution only lin
tied" suffrage could be granted
the District.
He emphasized that in the face
of the "situation in the world
today. we are trying to set an
example OF democracy in the Ma
tion's Capital"
with the sesquicentennial
coming up next year. in voteless
Washington. we will be plagued
with this issue II we continue to
deny suffrage here" he added.
Authority Delegation Weighed.
Mr.. Harris, with the aid of Rep
resentative Abernethy, Democrat.
of Mississippi. pursued at length
questions about the constitution
ality Of Congress delegating pow
er to an elected city government
at the seat Of the Federal Govern
ment.
Senator Kefauver contended
that authority for Congress to
grant such power is contained not
only in the Constitution but also
Is found In many decisions of the
Supreme Court. The court, he ex-
planned. has held that Congress
has authority over. the District
similar to that over the territories
which exercise considerable local
autonomy.
Senator Kefauver. in his state
ment. reminded the House sub
committee that the Senate passage
OF the home rule bill was IAN ac-
knowledgment Of platform pledges
Of both the Democratic and Re-
publican Parties"
Passage of the bill by the SEN
ate on q voice vote. with no OBJ
jections registered after two days
Of debate. he added. expressed IAN
emphatic approval of the merits
of the measure from both parties.
Sees Vote Curb Inconceivable.
Outlining major advantages of
the plan. Senator Kefauver said:
1T is inconceiyable that in the
Capital City Of the leading democ-
racy Of the world that the resi-
dents are denied the right to gov
ern themselves"
One of the benefits OF the local
suffrage plan, he added, was that
Congress would be relieved las
much IS possible" of its burden
of legislating on District affairs
without surrencering its consti-
tutional powers" Of final con-
trofS.
On this point. the Tennessee
Senator recalled that this year Al
a time when attention was focused
on measures Of great national i'm
port, congressional committees
nevertheless were literally
begged down" by such minutiae
as to whether rockfish weighing
over Is pounds should be per-
mitted to be sold here and wheth-
er the District government should
be authorized to cut weeds over 4
inches high.
Senator Kefauver also struck
out at the hodge podge" of more
than 100 agencies. some District,
some Federal and some of both
characteristics, now having some
controls over city affairs. Only
rs OF these agencies have any
plenary powers, he explained. But
under the reorganization sections
Of the bill passed by the Senate.
he added, this array Of agencies
would be reduced to l2s city de-.
partmentS. all under the control
Of . city manager named by the
city Council.
Schools would be under the
control Of an elected school board
which would be autonomous ex-
cept for budget controls by the
city Council.
| Except for purely local city