Evening Star Newspaper, June 12, 1935, Page 7

WASHINGTON HELD " POLTICAL CRPPLE Senator Capper Makes Pleaf to Shriners to Assist City Get Vote. BY SENATOR ARTHUR CAPPER. Nobles and other visitors to Wash- fngton during the Shrine convention are sure to be impressed with the beauty and the charm of our Capital City and the magnificence of the Government buildings. Theys will come in contact with the fine body | of people who make up the permanent residents of the National Capital com- | munity and are sure to be impressed R o oo with their being g . the equals of any Americans in the land. While Washington be- longs to the Na- tion this is their home town. Visitors taking in the sights and studying the Na- tional Capital « should not over- look a peculiarity * here not found elsewhere in our “ country. Here the residents in & community of more than half-a-mil- lion Americans have no right of par- ticipation or representation like other Americans in their Nationai Govern- ment. They , pay both local and national taxes and bear all other burdens just the same as ‘citizens in the States, but they have no repre- sentation in the Congress which governs them and cannot vote for the Prerident and the Vice President. Omission in Constitution. This political - disability of these citizens is clearly due to the omission by the framers of the Constitution of a provision for their representation in the councils of the Nation and to participate in the selection of the Chief Executive. The Constitution gives Congress the power of exclusive legislation in all cases Wwhatsoever over the seat of the Federal Govern- ment and this is a wise provision. But there is no valid American reason why the citizens permanently residing in the District and claiming residence nowhere else should not have the right to be represented in the Con- gress by some of its own citizens of its own choice. It seems to me only right and proper that these fellow Americans should enjoy this privilege which elsewhere in our country is denied only to convicts and to those of unsound mind. For a century and a third these po- litical cripples have sought to be made whole Americans. In 1846 that part of the original District of Columbia which had come from Virginia was ceded back to that State after a fight of many years. The people in that section were thereby restored their American citizenship. The present movement for national representation for the District of Co- Jumbia is well organized and sup- ported by practically all of the civic, trade ana labor bodies of the District and by a number of the great ma- tional, State and regional organiza- tions. Senator Capper. Anymdment Proposed. It has been my privilege to intro- duce in the Senate a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Con- | stitution of the United States empow- ering Congress to grant voting repre- sentation in the Senate and House of Representatives to the people of the District. This proposal will not disturb the existing relations between the Congress and the District, but will simply give the people of the Dis- | trict the same fractional participation | in the running of the National Gov- | ernment which is possessed by all other citizens in the States. ‘With just pride our organization can point to its work for the cure of erippled children and these political eripples of the National Capital should arouse our interest, our pity and our determination to help them. You may say that a community 135 years old cannot be classed as a child, but compared with national capitals Washington is a mere infant when | one thinks of Rome, London and | Paris. [ & As & Noble of the Mystic Shrine #nd as an American, the justice of this cause appeals to me as pure fun- amental Americanism. I appeal to u, my fellow Nobles, to look intb matter and lend the weight of ur influence in making ‘these peopie r equals as national Americans as ! ey are our equals in other respects. g il :!iy District, *Tis of Thee| ¥ Tune: “America.” { My District, 'tis of thee, ¥ Land without. liberty, ©Of thee I sing. Where Nation's laws are made, ‘Where income tax is paid, Yet, when all's done and said, lom can't ring. Land of the Congress folk, Citizenship & joke, At it we fling. We scorn -our shackled right. ‘We mean some day to fight, With all our main and might, And suffrage bring. Why should the District be Black sheep in land of free, Her spirit galled? We send our sons to die, Heed the republic's cry, ‘With all patriots vie, ‘Whene'er we're called. 5 t t i Voteless District Laid Before Visiting hriners', The District of Columbia, With Its Half-Million Population, Has No Voice in Its Own Government or in National Affairs, Though the Fight for the Ballot Has Been Waging Greater Population Than Eight States, Paying Greater National (Internal Revenue) Taxes Than Any One of Half of the States and Giving More Than Its Share of Men and Money in Every Right of Voting Representation in Congress and the Oppo ington Urges That the Shriners Think Deeply on This Undemocratic Condition, Lending the Weight of Their In- fluence to Those Seeking Its Removal. 1 HAVE HEARD OVERFLOWING PRAISE OF YOUR WORK FOR CRIPPLES, CAN'T YOU HELP ME Over a Century. The Capital of the Nation, With a War, Asks for Its Citizens the rtunity to Sue and Be Sued in the Federal Courts. Wash- THIS PATIENT IS POLITCALLY CRIPPLED---HE LACKS THE STRENGTH oF REPRESENTATION IN HIS GOVERNMENT; HE WILL NEVER WALK ON HIS OWN FEET UNTIL HE HAS THE YOTE! Shrine Finds Cap Since 1923, But Still Voteless, BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Since the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine were' last here in their color- ful legions 12 years ago, Washington | has undergone many and mighty | changes. Architecturally it is mnre‘ than ever the Capital magnificent, with an array of Government: build- | ings dazzling in their beauty and im- pressive in their extent. Politically, too, of course, it is a vastly different Washington from that which the | Nobles surveyed in 1923, for the New Deal is enthroned, giving to the Gov- ernment of the Republic an aspect | which in countless directions repre- | sents drastic breaks with American tradition. | But in one vital respect the feazed invaders find the District of Colum- Its half-million law- 48 States of the Union are making merry in a community of men and women who, politically, have yet to be Americanized. U. S. at Large Unkmowing. Washington! humiliating disability, rejoice at the opportunity to draw it to the atten- tion of so representative a group of Americans as Shrine conclave Nation, at large, to you ‘We raise our cry and hue; Hear our fair plea. ‘Tax without voice or vote BY' WALT MASON. ital Changed Residents Call Attention of Convention Visitors to District’s Taxation Without Representation. v was when the Thirteen Original Col- onies went to war with Great Britain and declared their independence of & system that held freemen in sub- Jection. Population Exceeds Eight States. ‘Washingtonians constitute the sole community in the United States from which representation in the Netional Goverrment is withheld. They suffer this discrimination despite the fact that the District of Columbia, accord- ing to the census of 1930, outnumbers in population no fewer than eight of the States. In 1931 the District con- tributed in Federal taxes more than 27 different . States, including those of | | more than 11 States combined. Dur- ing the World War the District fur- nished 17,945 men to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, a total exceeding | that of any one of seven States. In population of voting age (over 21) the District’s total in 1930 (341,465) was | greater tlian that of 10 of the States. Pigures talk. These speak eloquently in favor of a square deal for the dis- franchised District of Columbia. Every gress to grant to its residents voting representation in the House of Repre- sentatives, the Senate and electoral college, and access, as citizens, to the courts of the United States. Washingtonians refuse to believe that their rights will be denied per- petually. They are confident that the injustice of which they are the victims be abolished sooner or later by the Constitutional Amendment Here is the text of the amendment which would empower Congress to give to the District fundamental American rights: | JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for national representation for the people of the District of Columbia, Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each house concurring therein), That the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States be proposed for ratifica- tion by the islatures of the several States, which, when ratified i by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the States, shall be valid jasa 3, e IV, the following words: “The Congress shall have power to admit to the status of citizens of a State the residents of the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States, created by Article I, | section 8, for the pu of representation in the Congress and |among the electors o President and Vice President and for the | purpose of suing and being sued in the courts of the United States, | under the provisions of Article III, section 2. “When the Con shall exercise this power the residents of such District shall be entitled to elect one or two Senators as ;Iccol'dln( to their numbers as determined by the decennial enu- | meration, and presidential electors equal in number to their aggre- :gnm“r’eprmnuuon in the House and Senate, or as Congress may provide. : “The Congress shall provide by law the qualifications of voters and the time and manner of choosing the Senator or Senators, the Representative or Representatives, and the electors herein authorized. “The Congress shall have power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing power.” “OUR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT. L What it is and does: By enabling Congress to give the District of Columbia voting representation in Congress and the Electoral College, it will become possible to— 1.Make Americans of a half million people—soon to be a million—whose sent political prospects are less than those of allens elsewhere in America. 2.Put into force (though tardily) the principle of “no taxation without representation” at the center of the American Republic. 3. Add representative patticipation in government, now denied, to the duty, llnyldb:m:fi;t supporting that Government and moral and t political City is the - national government. II. What it is not and does not: Our constitutional amendment— % 2 - 1.Does not the admission of the District of Columbia o St 1 st o e il vlmmmu the Nation over the District. provision the Constitution . theeolhphtemt.r‘dhot Does not disturb in way_the financial relation of Nation and c»ml.w b‘y‘»t.hz'n.bomfin or -tion of the definite proportionate contribution law. Aid to th ho Live in e Voteless | of said Constitution, namely, insert at the end of section | determined by the Congress, or such other representative in the | Senate as Congress may provide for, Representatives in the House | Washingtonians Self-Sustaining BY FRED A. EMERY. Many of you may remember the | observation of Dr. Oliver Wendell | Holmes that the Boston State House | is the hub of the whole solar creation. | Dr. Holmes, you know, was a Bol-; tonian. | We have the same pride in our | home town of Washington, not that | it is the hub of the universe, but the center of the world. We believe that every one should have loyalty for his own habitat. The axis of the unhl may not pass right through the center of every town, but to every patriotic | American his own community, native | or adopted, should be like his domicile | —the best of all, ! It is this home-town spirit that motivates all loyal Washingtonians. It is an affectionate loyalty that fuses naturally with that great national | sentiment of all red-blooded respon- | Proud of Genius of People. Their own citizenship traces back | provincial times, through trying days of both peace and war. And today wwe are proud of the genius of our own through whom t up the great Keep Up Ci_ty But Lack Share in Its Rule |Emery Denies D. C. Residents Live Here by Indulgence of Congress but Are in Every Way. six months of every vear. Few officials | and clerks in the great variety of the new Federal agencies in Washington pay any taxes to the city whose bene- fits they enjoy. But the Washington taxpayers carry on, bearing the fiscal | burdens of a great community which is their home and their pride. Metropolis of Hall Million. Washington is not merely a Fed- eral Capital. It is a local city. a metropolis of upwards of half a million people. Vast areas in it are occupied by Federal buildings and all Federal buildings are exempt from taxation. Every tax exemption naturally cuts down the sources of local revenue. Hundreds of thousands of people from every State and from every land come to Washington annually. We welcome them to the benefits of a great municipality. They go through | the magnificent buildings which the PFederal Government has built here. I| would remind them that we, too, here in Washington, the voteless taxpayers, helped pay for those buildings. Those mammoth Federal structures were provided by a bountiful Govern- ment not for Washingtonians at all, as some people seem to think in telling what the Government has done for They were built for , for Federal activi- ties all over the United States. Washingtonians paid their part of the costs of construction and main- tenance -of those Federal buildings, the same as taxpayers elsewhere. We even paid a greater part of the costs of all the expense of the Federal Gov- ernment than each of many States. ‘We paid more than a combined group of some of the States, toward all these Federal costs that are mounting into billions of dollars. Washingtonians Pay Share. ‘Washingtonians have paid their share and more toward the pay rolis (VS POPULATION EXCERDS § STATES ‘Senator Copeland Also Cites i U. S. Taxes Greater Than ! Nine Combined. BY SENATOR ROYAL S. COPELAND, The eyes of the Nation are con- stantly turning to Washington, D. C., and there is much known about our National Capital by people through- out the land, but there is one very vital thing about it which is generally unknown. There is wide ignorance on . the part of the American people, perhaps a majority, that the citizens: of an American city are denied the* right to vote. They have no part in. the election of a President and they have no part in the deliberations of Congress. In an area occupied by a half a million of our country- men, an over- whelming major- ity of whom were born in the United States, the inhabitants have no part or parcel in govern- ing their city. They must take what a grudging Congress decides shall be spent at their doors to pave and light the streets; to give health, fire and police protection; and to maintain all other activities; but they have no voice in determining these matters. Their only participa- tion in local affairs is to pay their taxes, and the tax rate, even, is fixed for them by men and women repre- senting every other part of our beloved | country. Strange as it may seem this is precisely the anomalous condition | which prevails in our National Capi# tal which has been referred to as the Senator symbol of America. In many way§ | it is truly a symbol but it is an ime | perfect one until those inestimablg rights proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence are enjoyed here s} the very heart of our great Republie. Population Exceeds 8 States. There are some other things about the District of Columbia not generally { known throughout the country. The population according to the last | United States census was 486,869, ex- | ceeding ‘that of eight States of the | Union —New Hampshire, Idaho, | Arizona, New Mexico, Vermont, Dela- | ware, Wyoming and Nevada. The | District’s population exceeds that of Delaware and Nevada combined; Delaware and Wyoming combined; Wyoming and Nevada combined, | Vermont and Nevada combined. The population of voting age, according to the 1930 census, 341,465, exceeds the population of voting age in 10 of the States. The idea prevails that most of the people in the District are voters in the States and either vote by mail or gg home to vote. This is by no means the | case for the same census reported only 15,105 who claimed to possess the voting privilege in their home State, Local political leaders claim a largeg number of voters and these claims, some of them unreasonable, run as high as 80,000. Giving these claimants the benefit of the doubt and deducting | that number, and also deducting all unnaturalized foreigners, there re- | mains 251,439, a potential voting | strength greater than that of 10 | States. Another wrong impression regarding the Capital community is that it is a tax-free paradise. Nothing could be farther from the truth, for in the payment of national internal revenue taxes the District last year paid an amount greater than any one of half | of the States and more than was paid by nine States combined. Of course, | these citizens also pay local taxes, just as the citizens of any munici- pality, but their tax money all goes into the United States Treasury and can_only be expended through appro- priation by Congress. These local taxes last year amounted to more than $27,300,000. Amendment Is Sought. These are facts which our fellow countrymen should know and espe- cially our fellow Nobles. And it should also be known that these long- suffering fellow Americans are far from satisfied with their voteless and unrepresented lot. A well-organized movement supported by the civic, business labor forces is under way to obtain™ these American rights through a constitutional amendment introduced by my friend and fellow Noble, Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas. This amendment will give Congress the power to give District residents the right to elect one or two Senators, Representatives in.the House according to the pogulation and vote for the President and Vice President. The amendment also will permit these citizens to sue and be sued in the Federal courts. Senator Capper has referred to these residents of Washington as “po- litical cripples” and in this way has sought to arouse the interest of the Shriners. I join in this appeal for these cripples. As a physician I have carefully diagnosed the case and am satisfied that it is curable and that the effective remedy is the Cupper amendment. Fellow Nobles, I plead with you on behalf of these political cripples to study their case and when you go home tell the folks about it and give this worthy American cause your support. provided that Ccngress meet here, We are proud of Congress. But we would like to remind the visitors that it is a city hewn by the taxpay- of Washington, who are denied a vote which their constituents have ;:: that everybody else in the land Play and Pay Their Part, Remember that Washington tax- payers play their part and pay their part. They pay their own way and more. ‘They pay all the Federal taxes s: | 4 E