I think it has been pretty well established now that giving an area as small as the District such general powers is contrary to the Federal interests.

Mr. ABERNETHY. I do not want to prolong this any further, except to just say this: You do feel, though, that the people here are entitled to the same right to govern themselves as the people over in Maryland, Virginia, New York, and other sections of the country? Mr. WHITE. Yes, sir.

Mr. ABERNETHY. So then you do not feel that anybody should have any control whatsoever over this, that they should have the same right as the people in Maryland and New York and so on have? Mr.WHITE. Yes, sir; as is compatible with the Federal interests in the District of Columbia.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Of course I get a different answer when I ask you that question. How do you feel about receding approximately 90 percent of the District back to Maryland and just letting the Government keep the Capitol and monuments and main buildings around here?

Mr. WHITE. I would be against it.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Why?

Mr. WHITE. Well, partly, sir, out of a feeling of identification with the District. I may say that I also reside in Maryland and have a voting privilege in Maryland and intend to preserve it; but I see no reason for retrocession

Mr. ABERNETHY. As a citizen of Maryland you would not object to having this great city a part of your great State, would you? Mr. WHITE. I think there are a great many questions involved in the matter.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Would you object?

Mr. WHITE. I personally would not object from the point of view of a citizen of Maryland; but I believe the District people have a right to consider the question of taxation, whether their taxes that they would have to pay as citizens of Maryland, whether a large portion of them would be voted to their city.

Mr. ABERNETHY. You do not think they would get as much for their taxes over in Maryland, if they become a part of Maryland, as. they do in the District?

Mr. WHITE. No, sir; I do not.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Then they had better stay here.

Mr. WHITE. I think it is probably true.

Mr. HARRIS. Who is the head of your organization?
Miss SPIRO. Of the Washington chapter?

Mr. HARRIS. No.

Miss SPIRO. Mr. Francis Biddle.

Mr. HARRIS. Is he called the chairman ?

Miss SPIRO. He is the national chairman.

Mr. HARRIS. And your offices are where; national offices?
Miss SPIRO. At 1341 Connecticut.

Mr. HARRIS. Your national offices are here in Washington?

Miss SPIRO. Yes; and also the Washington chapter.

Mr. HARRIS. Who is the head of your District chapter?

Miss SPIRO. Mr. Wolinski, Mr. Louis Wolinski.
Mr. HARRIS. Is his office at the same place?

Miss SPIRO. No; the Washington chapter officers do not work for the chapter. It is a volunteer organization. He is in business in Washington.

Mr. HARRIS. How many members of your Washington chapter do you have?

Miss SPIRO. About 700, sir.

Mr. HARRIS. What are your annual membership dues?

Miss SPIRO. $5 and $10.

Mr. ABERNETHY. What State does Mr. Wolinski live in?

Miss SPIRO. He lives in the District.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Is he a native of the District?

Miss SPIRO. I do not think so.

Mr. ABERNETHY. How long has he been here?

Miss SPIRO. Several years, sir. He was here during the war; then I believe he was out of the country for a year or so.

Mr. ABERNETHY. What is his business?

Miss SPIRO. He is an economist.

Mr. ABERNETHY. You live in the District?
Miss SPIRO. Yes; I do.

Mr. ABERNETHY. How long have you been here?
Miss SPIRO. Since 1943.

Mr. ABERNETHY. You work for the Government?

Miss SPIRO. I did work for the Government.

Mr. ABERNETHY. And you live in Maryland, Mr. White?

Mr. WHITE. I have two residences. I lived in the District since 1937 and in Maryland since this year.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Do you live in Maryland and belong to the Washington chapter of ADA?

Mr. WHITE. Well, sir, I have a summer residence in Maryland and a voting residence there.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Do you pay dues to the Washington chapter? Mr. WHITE. There is no chapter in the section of Maryland in which I live.

Mr. ABERNETHY. That did not answer my question. Do you belong to the ADA in Washington?

Mr. WHITE. Yes, sir.

Mr. HARRIS. You pay your taxes in Maryland, though?

Mr. WHITE. I pay taxes both in Maryland and the District.

Mr. HARRIS. Do you vote in Maryland?

Mr. WHITE. Yes, sir.

Mr. HARRIS. Thank you very much.

Mr. Don Parsee, did you want to testify on home rule?

Mr. PARSEE. I do not think so this morning, Mr. Chairman. I ap

preciate the opportunity.

Mr. HARRIS. Dr. G. E. Dawson.

STATEMENT OF DR. GILES E. DAWSON, FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE CONNECTICUT AVENUE CITIZENS' ASSOCIATION

Dr. DAWSON. My name is Giles E. Dawson, and I am the first vice president of the Connecticut Avenue Citizens' Association. The Connecticut Avenue Citizens' Association, which I have the honor to represent, is the second largest of the citizens' associations in Washington.

2

Mr. HARRIS. Dr. Dawson, do you have a rather lengthy statement that you plan to read?

Dr. DAWSON. No, sir; 2 minutes.

Mr. HARRIS. Very well, you may proceed. I hope you will understand the reason I asked is because we have already had more than one representative of the Connecticut Avenue Citizens' Association here.

Dr. DAWSON. Yes. It has 1,947 paid-up members, and its meetings are attended by from fifty to several hundred.

In 1950 this association strongly supported the Kefauver home-rule bill. Last year it strongly supported the Kefauver-Taft bill-with one dissenting vote at a well attended meeting. This year, on March 17, the present home-rule bill was approved by a unanimous vote. A copy of the resolution is in the hands of this committee.

Every home-rule bill is criticized as faulty in one detail or another. We are told that this bill will not provide true home rule; that the terms of office are too long, or too short; that proposed salaries are too high, or not high enough.

The membership of the Connecticut Avenue Citizens' Association is by no means in full agreement on all details of the Case bill. What we agree on unanimously is the principle of home rule-that home rule ought to be enacted without delay in the best form obtainable.

Complete agreement on details is impossible to obtain, and the insistence upon a bill which will eliminate all conceivable faults-down to the last comma-is simply a way of putting the whole thing off indefinitely.

Had the framers of the Constitution of the United States insisted upon complete accord on every clause, that document might well be waiting for the signatures yet. Meanwhile the Connecticut Avenue Citizens' Association deplores the fact that nearly a million citizens of the District of Columbia are denied any voice in their own government a state of affairs no longer tolerated in Puerto Rico, that other stepchild of the United States Government.

Therefore we strongly urge the passage of the Case home-rule bill in the present session of Congress.

Mr. HARRIS. Does that complete your statement, Doctor?

Dr. DAWSON. Yes, sir.

Mr. HARRIS. Are you a medical doctor?

Dr. DAWSON. No, sir, Ph. D.

Mr. HARRIS. What is your occupation?

Dr. DAWSON. I am curator of books and manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Mr. ALLEN. Did your association consider the practice of other elections, particularly with regard to another city where minority rule has been imposed through that system over a number of years? Dr. DAWSON. I do not think that point has been discussed in the association, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. Did your association consider the practice of other cities in having councils elected for a longer period than 2 years and having the elections so staggered that they never would have a complete revision of the membership of the governing board?

Dr. DAWSON. That point was discussed in a meeting, but no resolution was passed on it; and I just cannot say how the membership would feel on that.

Mr. HARRIS. Thank you very much, Doctor.

Mr. Frank Tavenner, Young Democratic Clubs of Washington. Will you give your address, Mr. Tavenner?

Mr. TAVENNER. The address of the organization or my personal address?

Mr. HARRIS. Both.

STATEMENT OF FRANK TAVENNER, YOUNG DEMOCRATIC CLUBS
OF WASHINGTON

Mr. TAVENNER. The address of the organization is 600 F Street NW.; and my personal address is in Arlington. I want to explain. I was president of the club up until about a month ago, and I moved over in Arlington. Mr. Carson is president, and he asked me to come down and speak for the club as my last duty, so to speak.

Mr. HARRIS. Very well, you may proceed.

Mr. TAVENNER. The Young Democratic Club is unanimously in favor of the bill; and when we voted on it, we did not discuss any changes whatsoever. We feel that the bill is a simple plan to elect 15 local representatives, a 5-man school board, and a nonvoting delegate. to Congress; and that Congress in the main would have power to overrule any ordinances passed by these boards and therefore it would not come in conflict with the Constitution.

We would like to see these young people have a voice in the Government. We are all good Democrats and want to work for our party. That is the main thought in mind. Thanks for the chance to come here. That is all I have to say.

Mr. ABERNETHY. How many members are there in your club?
Mr. TAVENNER. Seven hundred and twelve right now.

Mr. ALLEN. Did you consider that under this bill you would have a chance to work for your party in the election of a municipal government?

Mr. TAVENNER. A very wonderful chance.

Mr. ALLEN. You would not go along with the nonpartisan provisions of the bill?

Mr. TAVENNER. Not exactly, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. In that connection do you think, then, that local issues should be determined on the basis of national issues? And do you feel that in relatively small communities, like the District or its subdivisions, that whether a local official is elected should depend on his loyalty to the national policies of the party or whether he is qualified to understand local problems?

Mr. TAVENNER. Well, it is much like, I think, any city. A councilman on a county board or something of that sort, or city board, may be elected strictly on the grounds of whether he is a Democrat or not and whether he favors certain national policies. That has happened many, many times.

Mr. SITTLER. Do you think that is a good idea?

Mr. TAVENNER. Yes, sir; I do.

Mr. HARRIS. What do you do, Mr. Tavenner?

Mr. TAVENNER. I am a lawyer, sir.

Mr. HARRIS. Here in Washington?

Mr. TAVENNER. Yes, sir.

Mr. HARRIS. Are you by yourself, or with a firm?

STATEMENT OF GRACE M. SPIRO, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, WASHINGTON CHAPTER, AMERICANS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION; ACCOMPANIED BY JAMES WHITE

Miss SPIRO. The Washington chapter of Americans for Democratic Action has testified on all previous versions of the home-rule bill and the record will show our views in detail. At this time we wish merely to reiterate our endorsement of home rule in principle and this bill in particular.

The bill is a complicated one and cannot possibly be perfect. We believe, however, that in some respects it represents an improvement over S. 656-notably, in extending the legislative power of the council; in providing a nonvoting delegate to Congress; in permitting absentee voting; in opening meetings of the council and committees to the public. These we support wholeheartedly.

The important thing about this bill is that it will provide suffrage in the District. Once the principle of suffrage has been established, we can worry about the details later and make any improvements which experience shows to be necessary.

We urge this committee to report out the bill so that the Congress of the United States can devote its time to national problems and relieve it of the necessity of acting as town council for the District of Columbia.

Mr. HARRIS. Does that complete your statement?

Miss SPIRO. Yes; it does.

Mr. HARRIS. Did you have any supplemental statement, Mr. White? Mr. WHITE. No, sir.

Mr. ABERNETHY. I would like to ask one question. Miss Spiro, how does ADA feel about the right or the privilege of people of the District voting for President and Vice President?

Miss SPIRO. It would like to see it, Mr. Congressman, eventually. Mr. ABERNETHY. How would they feel about voting for Senators and Representatives?

Miss SPIRO. The Washington chapter would like to have as full suffrage as possible. Of course, the District is a very small place. I do not know just

Mr. ABERNETHY. The District has many more people in it than a good many of our States.

Miss SPIRO. I suppose that is true.

Mr. ABERNETHY. It has about six times as many as Alaska-seven times and they are talking about statehood for Alaska. How would you feel about the people of the District having the right to elect a governor and a legislature-complete autonomy for the District-just the same as people in the adjoining States?

Miss SPIRO. We feel that the Federal Government should rightly take precedence in all matters, Mr. Congressman. I think that something would have to be worked out or I think the chapter-I am trying to express the chapter's views

Mr. ABERNETHY. You do not oppose complete autonomy for people who live in the District of Columbia-that is, the right to govern themselves the same as the people in the States, do you?

Miss SPIRO. Oh, no, indeed.

Mr. ABERNETHY. Then you would go along with the idea of their having the right to elect such officials as they feel that they want