Evening star., 1952-03-30

VI OpeTdCIO1. LII SuCn cases, Cne
control is exercised in the name
of the public interest. And the
public, so far as any government
us concerned, means specifically
the people whom that government
represents.
Not Just One Government.
This same setup applies with
variation in detail to every large
city n. the United States. Why,
then, should it be a cause for
complaint here?
The answer is as simple as the
ioea that you can't tell the other
fellow how he should spend his
money or run his business. In
stead of one government, repre-
senting the whole metropolitan
area, Washington is ruled by a
number of governments, each rep
resenting the special interests of
its people.
The District, Of course, is under
the jurisdiction of the Federal
Government. Ultimately. the
money that is raised through
taxes in the District, the services
for which they are spent and the
control which is exercised over
those services rests with Congress.
Control Is Divided.
On the other hand, for the part
OF the city which lies outside the
District limits, the Jurisdiction of
the Federal Government is strictly
limited. The great majority of
services are supported with money
raised by municipal, county or
State governments. The control
over these services is divided along
the same lines.
The result is that Metropolitan
Washington, instead of being a
tightly knit community, has re-
mained a loose and ravelled one.
1t is significant that most of the
agitation for integration has CEN
tered around the problem of serv-
ices. 1t is also significant that
most Of this agitation has origi-
mated with citizen groups, a good
part of them outside the District.
The feeling is growing that the
loosely Joined community is not
satisfactory any more-that, in
terms of service, the taxpayer is
no longer getting his moneys
worth.
And As Many Cures.
Ideas for curing Washington of
its growing pains range from the
conservative to the very drastic
They start with the proposition
that area problems can be worked
out on basis OF friendly in
formality. The thought is that is
key Government people in the
District and surrounding areas
get to know each other and each
others problems, they would atl
least be more likely to think and
act for the good of the whole COM
munity. The recent proposal for
council composed of top area
Government leaders is a good ex-
ample of this school of thought.
Other cures are of a more for
NAL kind. They call for special
laws authorizing binding agree
ments between the District, Mary
land and Virginia. Here again,
there is wide variation in theI
scope Of the proposed laws. Some
are limited to the job of investi-
eating the problem. Others seem
aimed at setting up special COM
missions with real power to f.
nance. control and operate one orI
more Of the public services on anl
area-wide basis.
Favor Operation.
Finally, there is the school of |
thought which sees no hope of al
solution without radical POLITICAL
surgery. The ultimate alternativesI
are ID to give the Dis
'rict back to Maryland, or (2) ex-
END the area of the District andt
,he jurisdiction to the Federal
Government into Maryland and
Virginia to include the whole met
'opolitan area. At this stage of
he game, most observers are in
LINED to look on these two solu-
ions as fanciful.
Later stories in this series will
AXE up in more detail the diff
erent area services and the pro-
'osals to integrAte them. The
hottest potato of them all-the
question Of Washington's trans
'ortation service-will come first.