Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-25
Cleanup Cumpuiqners

Lillian sinclair Large mas
hit the nail on the head on
more than one occasion. /
think, however, that she is
off base in her letter on
Our Untidy City"
With her. and with Vera
E. Adams, I thoroughly agree
that our city. except in GER
tain sections, is dirty, Uttered
and messy to the point Of
being a national disgrace. I
do not agree, however, that
the fault lies entirely at the
doorstep Of the D. c. gov
eminent for failure to keep
the city clean. It would be
such a stupendous job that
an army Of highway depart
ment employees would have
to be added to the payroll.
and I presume the cost would
have to be borne by D. c.
property owners through in
creased taxes. My portion Is
enough already. I agree even
less that the clergy. before
their captive" audiences,
should undertake a campaign
to eliminate littering. I would
have no conjunction about
walking out Of a church
should a member of the
clergy follow the suggestion
Of Lillian Sinclair Large that
he give his audience some Of
Harry Humans old fash
toned hell about ittering our
streets. stores. cars. ETC." The
place would be inappropriate,
and the method obnoxious.
Heaven knows the clergy
have a more important mis-
sion than to go on an anti
litter crusade.
It may or may not be COIN
cidental that Negroes out
number other races in resi-
dence in the District Of Co.
lumbia. Let them now as
sumo greater civic RESPONSE
bilities along with other peo-
pie who live here. It seems
to me that some good results
would come from active citi-
zens' groups. PTAs, individual
and federated. through a pro-
gram of education of the
principal offenders (children)
based on common courtesy
and consideration. I have
seen streets traversed by
groups Of children homeward
bound after school covered
with all sorts of debris. dis
carded cartons, wrappers,
bags. and soft drink bottles.
OF course, there are adult
offenders, too.
II some District parents,
aided and abetted by civic
groups and associations.
would drum into the skulls Of
their offspring that 1t is only
common courtesy and de-
cency not to litter public
and private places. and then
practice what they preach,
there would be an amazing
Improvement in the appear
ance Of the Nations Capital.
r. NJ. Shank.
HH .
Miss Large has not aimed
her shots very accurately,
and they have fallen wide
Of the mark. The theme Of
my letter was not "the con-
dition of our streets trash
wise" It was inspired solely
by the Commissioners threat
to bring a tax lien against
owners of vacant lots who
failed to clear them of weeds,
and I made it clear that this
was inconsistent so long as
weeds were allowed to grow
tall and thick all over the
city in areas which are d.
rectly under the control of
the District government. The
local authorities have never
been able to prove that side
walk space belongs to prop
erty owners or occupants,
and any care given to such
space by individuals is en-
tirely voluntary. and, con-
sequently. comparatively
rare. Our sidewalk parking
and tree plots are not legally
the responsibility Of prop
erty owners or tenants, al
though there are instances
where they take pleasure in
improving and beautifying
such spaces.
Miss Large cites her
pleasant experience" with
various officials of the Dis
trict government, but we
note that all Of the incidents
she mentions were in the ma
ture Of what might be called
emergencies, and indicated
prompt attention. On the
other hand, the growth Of
the rank weeds to which I
referred was the result of
months and months Of neg
lect, and testified to a COM