IMiOPOSAT. TO IMPROVE THE PRKSENT 
 
 rHE DISTRICT OF noiJIM HI A 
 
 UKI'UUi III iilK 8KLECT COMMITTKK 
 
 < ITI/I'INS' IlKHHKSKNTATlVr; I'OMMITTKK OK ONE HUNDHKH 
 
 }*' K. 1 ', 1 
 
f 
 
 ' PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE THE PRESENT 
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CITIZENS' REPRESKNTATIVE COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED, 
 
 FEBRXJARY 14, 1888. 
 
 The Select Committee on the Address of the President of 
 the Citizens' Representative Committee of One Hundred have 
 carefully considered the matters contained therein, and present 
 the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 It was understood bj your Committee that the principal 
 question presented in the address invited a consideration of 
 the existing form of our Local Government, and the propriety 
 of attempting to improve the same. 
 
 It has been thought that this question could not be pre- 
 sented properly, on account of the complex relations of the 
 Local Government toward Congi'ess, the People of the United 
 States, and our own citizens, witliout at least a brief historical 
 sketcli of the inception, successive phase of development, and 
 present condition of the entire territory which includes the 
 Capital proper and is known as the District of Columbia. 
 
 This sketch becomes important, because our National Capi- 
 tal is peculiar in the respect that no well-known, long-estab- 
 
lislied, and historical city was selected, as in other countries, 
 iti which city the Government became, and remained as a 
 kind of large Corporation, with it^ personnel sul)ject to existing 
 municipal rule like other citizens, but instead, a tract of land 
 was selected where the Capital City could be established upon 
 the virgin soil, and grow up on a pre-determined plan, and in 
 which the Congress should be not merely the principal and 
 dominating element, but should have supreme power of con- 
 trol. As incident to this Capital City, surrounding territory 
 was essential only as a matter of protection from hostile as- 
 sault, and as affording esta1)lished towns where the comforts 
 of life could be provided while the Capital City was being 
 built. 
 
 This sketch is also thought proper because, although the 
 District of Columbia is politically less than one hundred years 
 old, the memory of its early life is becoming so involved in ob- 
 scurity and doubt that of late years men widely known in 
 public affairs, and newspapers of commanding influence, have 
 made statements respecting its governmental history whicli 
 have f>btained large credit, without having proper foundation 
 in fact. 
 
 Birth of the District of Columbia. 
 
 In October, 1783, the Congress of the Confederated States 
 began to discuss the question of the site of the National Capi- 
 tal, and to take into consideration the many pecuniary and 
 other inducements offered by various States and cities, and the 
 advantages of twenty different localities which were proposed, 
 and continued the discussion without residt until September, 
 1788. 
 
 The Congress of the United States, under the Constitution 
 vvhich came into effect in 1789, took up the matter in May of 
 that year, and settled in 1790 upon the location of a territory 
 to contain the Capital on the banks of the Potomac river, 
 within certain limits, as the result of a compromise effected by 
 
Hamilton and Jefferson, representing, respectively, the wishes 
 of the Northern and Southern States. 
 
 The Constitution had gone into effect the year before with 
 the present provision among' the enumerated powers of Con- 
 gress, viz : 
 
 " To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever 
 over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, 
 by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, 
 become the seat of government of the United States." 
 
 Maryland had already, in 1788, authorized the cession of any 
 district in the State, not exceeding ten miles squai-e, wliich 
 Congress might accept, and Virginia in 1789 had ceded any 
 district witliin that State, not exceeding ten miles square, 
 which Congress might accept, with the qualification, however, 
 that the jurisdiction of the laws of the State over that portion 
 ceded should not cease rtntil Congress had provided by law for 
 the government thereof, under the proper provision of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 In pursuance of these acts of Maryland and Yirginia,Congress 
 on July 16, 1790, authorized the President to appoint three 
 Commissioners to locate a territory of ten miles square between 
 the mouths of the Eastern Branch and the Conocheague, which 
 is a l)ranch of tlie Potomac river above Harper's Ferry. 
 
 This act of Julj^ 16, 1790, also provided that the operation 
 of the laws of the respective ceding States should not be 
 affected by the cession until tlie date of removal of the Gov- 
 ernment thereto on the first Monday of December, 1800, "or 
 until Congress shall otherwise by law provide." 
 
 The boundaries first laid out by the Commissioners were not 
 satisfactory, and Congress on March 3, 1791, amended the 
 former act, and authorized a location — 
 
 " below the Eastern Bi'anch, and above the mouth of Hunting 
 Creek, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch 
 and the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the town 
 of Alexandria," — 
 
and a new location of the boundaries was made by the Com- 
 missioners, which existed until the Virginia portion was re- 
 ceded in 1846, and remains as to the boundaries of the portion 
 ceded by Maryland, which has since that date constituted the 
 District of Columbia. 
 
 President Washington, by proclamation of March 30,1791, 
 announced the lioundaries as finally settled by the Commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 On April 19, 1791, the President contracted Mith the prin- 
 cipal owners of the land, upon which lie had determined to 
 establish the Capital City, and these proprietors conveyed by 
 deeds dated June 29, 1791, these lands to trustees, to be by 
 them conveyed to the Commissioners, who had, under the act 
 authorizing their appointment, the power to purchase or 
 accept lands for the site of the Capital City within the Dis- 
 trict, to make phins for the city subject to the approval of the 
 President, and to provide public l)uildings. To defray such 
 expenses the President was authorized and requested to accept 
 grants of money. 
 
 The territory designated for this site of the Capital had the 
 little villages of Hamburgh and Carrollburgh upon it, and certain 
 lot-owners in these villages, as well as a few other small pro- 
 prietors, would not sell their lands, and so the State of Mary- 
 land was called upon for legislation. Accordingly, Maryland, 
 by act of December 19, 1791, ceded formally its part of the 
 territory of Columbia as finally located, reserving jurisdiction 
 of law ovei- the same " until Congress shall liy law provide for 
 the government thereof in accordance with the provisions of 
 the Constitution," and provided for the condemnation of the 
 lands before mentioned, whose owners would not i>ell "from 
 imbecility and other causes ;" for the recording of deeds within 
 the ceded territory; for a mechanic's lien upon houses to be 
 erected in the Capital City ; authorized the Cnnimissioners to 
 make regulations concerning wharves, the building of houses, 
 and the sale of spirituous liquors, and directed a loan of $72,000 
 to be paid at once for the use of the new city. 
 
By the deed of the proprietors of the land the trustees were 
 obliged to convey to the Comnaissioners for the nse of the 
 United States, forever, all the streets, and such of the squares, 
 parcels, and lots as the President should deem proper for the 
 use of the United States. The residue of the lots were to be 
 divided equally, one-half to the original proprietors, the other 
 half to the United States, to ])e sold at such times and upon 
 such terms as the President might direct, and tlie proceeds of 
 the sales of the Government lots were to applied to the erec- 
 tion of public buildings and the improvement of streets. Sub- 
 sequently, by act of May 6, 1796, the remainder of the lots 
 were to be sold for the payment of such lands as the Govern- 
 ment reserved for public purposes. 
 
 Even before the complete acquisition of the land for the 
 Capital City it had been laid out in its principal features by 
 L'Eufant, a French engineer, and the Commissioners began in 
 October, 1791, to sell the public lots. L'Enfant went on and 
 completed his plans, and Washington submitted the same to 
 Congress on December 13, 1791. Subsequently, L'Enfant was 
 dismissed, and Mr. EUicott completed, with some modifications, 
 the plan for the City of Washington substantially as it now 
 exists. 
 
 Thus the year 1791 may be assigned as the date of the birth 
 of the District of Columbia, as the territory had been acquired 
 and designated, the City of Washington had been laid out and 
 named, and money had been provided to some extent to com- 
 mence the work of building. 
 
 Building of the Capital City. 
 
 The plan of the city was designed upon a magnificent scale. 
 It covered 7,161 acres, divided as follows : 
 
 Taken bv the Government, for streets, avenues and 
 
 alleys!' • • . 3,604 a. 
 
 Taken ])y the Government, for public reservations 
 
 and buildino;s 541 " 
 
6 
 
 Taken by the Government, 10,136 lots donated to the 
 
 Government 1,508 a. 
 
 Total taken by the Government 5,653 a. 
 
 10,136 lots (conveyed to their original proprietors, 1,508 " 
 
 7,161 a. 
 
 It will be noticed that more than one-half of the entire area 
 was to be used for streets, avenues and alleys — a proportion 
 without parallel in other cities before or since. This was a 
 free gift to the Government. The 541 acres taken for pul)lic 
 reservations and buildings were to be paid for at the rate of 
 $66.66 per acre, but as this land was paid for out of the pro- 
 ceeds of the sales of lots which had been donated to the Gov- 
 ernment, it will be seen that the Government paid nothing for 
 five-sevenths of the entire area of the City of Washington. 
 
 Upon this ample space the Government proposed a Capital 
 City which should meet the wants and respond to the pride 
 of the country for all time. 
 
 The following, from the Philadelphia Herald of January, 
 1Y95, indicates the popular sentiment of that day : 
 
 " To found a city for the purpose of making it the depository 
 of the acts of the Union, and the sanc^tuary of the laws which 
 must one day rule all North America, is a grand and compre- 
 hensive idea, which has already become with propriety the 
 obje(;t of pul)lic respect. Tiie City of Washington, considered 
 under sucli important points of view, could not be cah-ulated 
 upon a small scale ; the disposition of its avenues and puldic 
 squares should all be compared with the magnitude of the ob- 
 jects for which it was intended, and we need only cast our 
 eyes upon the situation and the plan of the city to recognize 
 in them the comprehensive genius of the President, to whom 
 the direction of the business has been committed by Con- 
 gress." 
 
 In a Senate report of later date, 1835, the following state- 
 ment is made : 
 
" The District was the creation of the Union for its own 
 purposes, the plan of which was formed by the public author- 
 ities, the dimensions of the streets determined by them without 
 intei'ference by the inhabitants or regard to tlieir particular 
 convenience or interest — a plan calculated for the magniti- 
 cent Capital of a great Nation, but oppressive from its very 
 dimensions and arrangement to the inhabitants, if its execution 
 to any considerable extent was thrown upon them." 
 
 It was understood at the time the Capital City was planned 
 that the General Government was to open and improve the 
 streets, as is shown b}^ various acts of Congress, and by the 
 correspondence of Washington and Jefferson with the Commis- 
 sioners, it being supposed that from the proceeds of the sales 
 of its city lots by the Government a fund would be raised 
 sufficient for the erection of the public buildings and the im- 
 provement of the streets, this fund being carried on the books 
 of the Commissioners as the " City Fund." Washington, in a 
 letter to the Commissioners of December 14, 1795, says : 
 " When you are in a situation to begin the opening of the ave- 
 nues, it is to bo presumed that those which will be more 
 immediately useful will be first cleared." 
 
 Jefferson writes to them August 1, 1801 : 
 
 "I consider the creation of the representative chaml^er, and 
 the making of a good gravel road from the new bridge on 
 Rock Creek along Pennsylvania Avenue and New Jersey 
 Avenue to the Eastern Branch, the most important objects for 
 insuring the destinies of the city which can be undertaken." 
 
 And in his message to Congress January 11, 1801, he speaks 
 of the lots as being sufficient to meet certain demands and " in- 
 sure a considerable surplus to the city to be employed for its 
 improvement," and suggested that the sale of the lots be not 
 forced beyond the demand for them, lest " the residuary interest 
 of the city be entirely lost." 
 
 The building of the city had gone forward but little when 
 it was found that the sales of the Government lots, together 
 
8 
 
 with tlie loan of ^72,000 from Maryland, wonld he insuffi- 
 cient for the requirements. 
 
 When Congress in 1790 had directed the Commissioners to 
 have the Capitol, the President's house, and the Department 
 buildings ready for occupancy in December, 1800, it had made 
 no appropriation for that purpose. Under the authority to ac- 
 cept loans, the President next received an additional sum of 
 8120,000 from the State of Virginia. Still, this sum becoming 
 exhausted. Congress, by act of May 6, 1796, authorized the 
 Commissioners to borrow $300,000, and pledge the remaining 
 city lots as security. 
 
 The Commissioners were unable to borrow this amount, but 
 finally succeeded in getting two hundred thousand dollars from 
 the State of Mai-yland in United States six per cent, bonds at 
 par upon the security formerly offered, and their own personal 
 bonds for double the amount. These bonds were converted 
 into money at tlie rate of 65 per cent., and netted $130,873.41; 
 a most significant indication of the poverty of the country 
 and the low estimate of the permanence of Republican institu- 
 tions. These funds were not sufficient, and in February, 1800, 
 850,000 more of bonds were borrowed by the Commissioners 
 from the State of Marjdand, upon the same security as the 
 previous bonds, and from the sale of these bonds the sum of 
 $40,488.96 was realized. By means of all these sources of 
 revenue the Commissioners managed to have the public build- 
 ings in a greater or less degree of completion, and a city with 
 some of the streets opened through the trees and over the 
 swamps, and barely passable, when in 1800 the Government 
 formally established its headquarters at Washington. 
 
 The Future Government of the District of Columbia as 
 understood at, and soon after, the adoption of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 The article of the Constitution referring to this particular 
 was very general in its terms, and there were questions as to 
 
9 
 
 the precise way in which Congress, if it saw tit, should or 
 would exercise the power of " exclusive legislation." 
 
 Madison's opinion of the meaning and mode of action of 
 this article is found in the " Federalist," No. XLIII : 
 
 " And as it is to be appropriated to this use with the con- 
 sent of the States ceding it ; and the States will no doubt pro- 
 vide in the compact for the rights and consent of the citizens 
 inhabiting it ; as the inhabitants will jBnd sufficient induce- 
 ments of interest to become willing parties to tiie cession ; as 
 they will have had their voice in the election of tlie Govern- 
 ment which is to exercise its authority over them ; as a muni- 
 cipal legislature for local purposes derived from their own 
 suffrages will, of course, l)e allowed them ; and as the authority 
 of the legislature of the State and the inhabitants of the 
 ceded part will be derived from the whole people of the State 
 in their adoption of the Constitution, every imaginable objec- 
 tion seems to be obviated." 
 
 In February, 1803, resolutions providing for the retroces- 
 sion of the District to its original States were discussed in 
 Congress in Committee of the whole House. The reasons 
 urged for retrocession were these : 
 
 1. That exclusive jurisdiction is not necessary nor useful to 
 the Government. 
 
 2. That it deprived the inhabitants of the District of their 
 political rights. 
 
 3. That much of the time of Congress was spent in legis- 
 lating for the District. 
 
 4. That the government of the District is expensive. 
 
 5. The incompetency of Congress to legislate for the Dis- 
 trict, because its members are strangers to its local interests. 
 
 6. This is an example of a government without repre- 
 sentation. An experiment dangerous to the liberty of the 
 States. 
 
 The reasons urged in reply were these : 
 
 1, That the usefulness and probable necessity of exclusive 
 
10 
 
 jurisdiction might he inferred from the experience of the Con 
 gress of tlie Confederation. 
 
 2, That the District, when sufficiently populous, would have 
 a representative in Congress, and in the meantime a local 
 legislature. 
 
 In this discussion many gentlemen of note took part, and 
 extracts from their arguments are found i-eported as follows : 
 Mr. Huger, of South Carolina: 
 
 " He looked forward to the period when the inhabitants, 
 from their number and riches, would be entitled to a repre- 
 sentative on this floor. And with respect to their local con- 
 cerns, when they grow more numerous and wealthy, there 
 would be no dithculty in giving them a Territorial Legisla- 
 ture." 
 
 Mr. Dennis, of Maryland : 
 
 " He thought the situation of Congress in relation to the 
 people of the Territory was not sufficiently understood. He 
 knew it was always troublesome to legislate for an}' people. 
 He foresaw these inconveniences when they removed to this 
 place. He had tliought tlien, and he thought now, that some 
 legislative government must be provided for this District. In 
 this opinion he had never varied, but had, from successive 
 events, become more confirmed in its accuracy." 
 
 Mr. Bacon, of Massachusetts: 
 
 " But the words of the Constitution are not imperative ; 
 they do not say that Congress shall exercise exclusive jurisdic- 
 tion over the place tluis ceded by the States." 
 
 Mr. Eustis, of Massaclnisetts : 
 
 " He acknowledged tlie difficulties of legislating for the 
 Territory. But it was a duty wliicli they could not forego 
 until the government of the people was provided for in some 
 other way ; and that, he thought, should be by an internal legis- 
 lature. 
 
11 
 
 Mr. Southard, of New Jersey : 
 
 " Bat he looked to the time, as not far distant, when they 
 would have the right of governing themselves through a ter- 
 ritorial legislature." 
 
 Mr. Randolph, of Virginia : 
 
 " The terra slavery, sir, excites in the mind of men an odious 
 idea. There are, however, species of tliis wretched condition. 
 Domestic slavery, of all others the most oppressive, which has 
 been well defined to be that state in which any community is 
 divested of the power of self-government, and regulated by law 
 to which its assent is not required and may not be given. This 
 species of government is an experiment how far freemen can 
 be reconciled to live without rights ; an experiment dangerous 
 to the liberties of these States. 
 
 " To attempt to legislate for the District was in effect to 
 constitute the chairman of the Committee, or at any rate the 
 Committee itself on the affairs of the Territory, the Solon or 
 Lycurgus of the place. It is well known that the indolence 
 of other members or their indifference, inseparable from the 
 situation in which tliey were placed, would prevent Congress 
 from legislating with a full understanding of the objects be- 
 fore them. He therefore thought it expedient to retrocede all 
 the territory, except the City of Washington." 
 
 " This disposition of the territory would leave entirely un- 
 touched the question which arose from tlie interest of individ- 
 uals who had made purchases of property under the faith that 
 Congress would retain the jurisdiction. It is probable that, 
 in such event, a corporation might 1)6 estal)lished in the city 
 that would answer the ends of the Government, without two- 
 thirds of the time of the National Legislature being con- 
 sumed." 
 
 Congress gave a practical construction to the articles of the 
 Constitution l)y rejecting tlie resolution of recjession and by 
 making no change in the government for the City of Washing- 
 ton established the year before. 
 
12 
 
 Local Governments Provided by Congress. 
 
 Congress had to meet the question of the government of 
 the District as soon as it got fairly settled in its new quarters. 
 EveiTthing had been going along in the same sort of fashion 
 for ten years, from the date of the acceptance of tlie territory 
 until that time. The District eml)raced tlie city of Alexan- 
 dria, organized as such in 1748, and Georgetown, organized 
 in 1789, ea('li with the usual charter and an elective form of 
 government. There were besides thi se the local governments of 
 the counties of Montgomery and Prince George, which em- 
 braced tlie pcjrtion of the territor}^ acquired from Maryland, 
 and Fairfax, which included the Virginia portion of the Dis- 
 tri<'t (tutside of Alexandria, and all tlie District was thus under 
 the laws either of Maryland or of Virginia. 
 
 Congress adopted and supplemented these laws by act of 
 Febi'uary 27, 1801, by dividing the District into the counties 
 of Alexandria and Washington; establishing a Circuit Court 
 in the District, continuing the laws of Maryland and Virginia 
 where they had existed; providing for Justices of the Peace 
 to be appointed bj' the President; creating an Orphan's Court 
 and Register of Wills in each count}'; and especially declining 
 to alter, impeach, or impair the corporation rights of Alex- 
 andria and Georgetown. 
 
 Directly afterwards, on March 3, 1801, Congress passed a 
 supplementary act giving the Circuit Court certain powers of 
 appointment of officers before vested in the Levy Courts of 
 Virginia and Maryland, and creating a new Levy Court for 
 the County of Washington. 
 
 The City of Washington was incorporated for two years, on 
 May 3, 1802, with a charter providing for a Mayor to be 
 appointed by the President, and a Council of two Chambers. 
 The entire Council of twelve to be elected by free svhite tax- 
 paying citizens of full age, and one Chamber to l)e elected by 
 the whole body of Councilmen; and the Council had certain 
 limited powers of local legislation. 
 
13 
 
 In May, 1802, Congress abolished the Commissioners, and 
 created instead a Superintendent appointed by the President, 
 to have entire charge and control of the Government lands in 
 the City of Washington, who has to this day substantially the 
 same duties, and also enlarged the corporate powers of George- 
 town, so as to include special taxes for certain purposes. 
 
 In 1803 Congress fixed the salary of the Superintendent, 
 and appropriated $50,000 for the repair of public buildings 
 and the highway between the Capitol and other public build- 
 ings. 
 
 Some of the Representatives seem to have become wearied 
 at the legislation called for in behalf of the District, and at 
 the next session the resolutions for recession before referred to 
 were introduced. After the failure of these, an effort seems 
 to have been made, in the way of relief, by the enlargement 
 of the charters of the District cities. 
 
 In 1804 Congress amended the charter of Alexandria, 
 especially in the qualifications of tlie voters for municipal ofii- 
 cers, who should be free white males of full age, freeholders 
 and taxpayers; and in 1805 amended the charter of George- 
 town, making all free tax-paying white men of full age voters 
 for all municipal otticers. 
 
 In 180i the charter of Washington was continued for fifteen 
 years longer, with an increase in the number of the Council 
 to eighteen, and enlarging considerably the scope of the legis- 
 lative functions. 
 
 By act of May 4, 1812, the charter of Wasliington was 
 further changed, with enlarged powers of legislation in the 
 Council, and by act of May 5, 1820, it was still further ex- 
 tended, with increased powers of legislation, the Mayor being 
 then made elective. In 1846 the Virginia portion of the Dis- 
 trict was ceded back to its original State. 
 
 Referring to the local governments thus established, Story, 
 in his Commentaries on the Constitution, says : 
 
 '• In point of fact, the corporations of the three cities within 
 
14 
 
 tlicir limits possess and exercise a delegated power of legislation 
 under their charters, granted l)y Congress, to the full extent 
 of their municipal wants, without any constitutional scruple 
 or surmise of doubt." 
 
 Territorial Government. 
 
 This form of municipal government for Washington City 
 and the Georgetown and County Levy Court organizations 
 continued until the act of February 21, 1871, when all were 
 abolisiied, and a territorial government established, with a 
 Governor, Secretary, Board of Health, a Board of Pul)lic 
 Works, and a Council of elev^en members constituting one 
 branch of the legislature, all appointed by the President and 
 confirmed by the Senate, and a delegate to Congress and a 
 lower branch of the legislature of twenty-two members elected 
 by manhood suffrage, practicaly urdimited. 
 
 In this new form of government the Board of Public 
 Works, of whom the Governor was President, had almost ex- 
 clusive executive and large legislative powers in the way of 
 municipal regulations, with certain powers of assessment of 
 taxes and disl)ursenient of moneys, and the legislative assem- 
 bly had certain limited legislative pt)wers. 
 ^ Thus it would seem that the power " to exercise exclusive 
 legislation in all cases " over tlie District of Columbia was 
 given to Congress in the constitution for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing beyond question the sovereign right of the general 
 government to protect and maintain itself in its capital ; that 
 it was not made the duty of Congress to use this power, and it 
 was not intended tiiat Congress should use it, i)eyond the extent 
 necessary to ac(^omplish the purposes named ; and that from 
 1802 to 1871, the practical manner in which Congress did 
 exercise its exclusive power was to enti-ust the control, of the 
 District largely to its voters, a mayor being the executive, and 
 a council the legislative branch of its cities. 
 
15 
 
 How the Trust was Executed by the People. 
 
 Daring this period of actual self-government the cities of 
 Washington and Georgetown and the County of Washington, 
 contracted a debt of $3,105,067.85, which was tlie entire en- 
 cumbrance when the Government assumed the territorial form. 
 
 Prior to 1835, as appears by a report of the committee of 
 the Senate, the citizens of the District had expended for local 
 improvements the sum of .$430,000, and the United States the 
 sum of $209,000 for similar purposes. At that date also, as 
 appears from the some report, the property which had been 
 given by the citizens to the United States was valued at about 
 $2,500,000. 
 
 In explanation, it should be stated that the general Govern- 
 ment had in the beginning but a slender revenue, the gross 
 income for the iirst two and three-fourths years being only 
 $4,771,342.53, or about the amount it now receives in as many 
 days ; while the inhabitants of the District, in their anxiety to 
 help build up the Capital City, assumed burdens and incurred 
 expenses " which," so says the Senate report, " did not appro- 
 priately belong to them." 
 
 Between the dates of 1835 and 1871, it is understood that 
 the sums raised by citizens from taxation and expended upon 
 local improvements were greatly in excess of the moneys appro- 
 priated by Congress for the same purposes. 
 
 In the war of 1812, the citizens of the District paid a direct 
 tax of $20,000, and raised besides a voluntary fund of $5,000 
 and placed it at the disposition of the President for the defence 
 of the Capital. 
 
 When the Capitol was I)urned by the English soldiers, the 
 citizens of the District litted up a building for the use of Con- 
 gress, the bankers of the District offered a loan of $500,000 
 to rebuild the public buildings, and the President was author- 
 ized by Congress to accept the same. 
 
 For the late war the District paid a direct tax of $49,437.33, 
 and the fifteen per cent, refunded to many of the States has 
 never been refunded to the District. 
 
16 
 
 Since 1862 the citizens of tlie District have paid $6,454,- 
 907.03 in internal revenue taxes, or an average annually of 
 a quarter of a million uf dollars. The amount of these taxes 
 paid by (citizens of the District during the last fiscal year ex- 
 ceeded the amount i)aid by either of the following seven States, 
 nauiely: Alal)ama, Arkansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, 
 South Carolina and Vermont. ■^'' 
 
 During the vv^ar of 1812, and the war witli Mexico, the Dis- 
 trict furnished its full share of soldiers. 
 
 During the late war the District furnished its fiill quota of 
 soldiers, and eighteen and a half per cent, in excess of the 
 same, surpassing in that respect all but one of the States. 
 
 Up to the date of the territorial government, the citizens 
 had made commendable progress in the creation of puldic 
 schools, of police, health, and fire departments, in sewerage, 
 in opening and improving and lighting tlie streets, and had at 
 all times manifested a proper degree of public spirit, guided by 
 general intelligence. 
 
 No Lands for District of Columbia Schools. 
 
 It is, proper to add here, that the late war brought into the 
 District great numbers of uneducated freedmen, for whom 
 Congress compelled the District to open and maintain 
 schools as largely as foi- the white children, as well as to 
 educate the chihben of the great infiux of government em- 
 ployes who paid no taxes iiere, and this, too, in face of the fact 
 that not an acre was ever given to the District of the 90,000,000 
 acres of public lands given to the States for educational pur- 
 poses, or of the 155,000,000 acres of public lands given away 
 
 ♦District of Columbia .f 142, 172 10 
 
 Alabama 78, 542 7ti 
 
 Arkansas 97.G30 38 
 
 Maine 50, 28G 45 
 
 Mississippi 42,608 14 
 
 Nevada 70,419 50 
 
 South Carolina 100,146 85 
 
 Vermont 30,11'.) 75 
 
17 
 
 for railroads and internal improvements, and no part of the 
 many acres called " swamp lands " given outright to the States ; 
 and not a dollar of the ^28,000,000 divided in 1836 among 
 the States came to the District of Columbia. 
 
 Commissioner Government. 
 
 The territorial form of government was al)olished by act of 
 June 20, 18Y4, and a temporary form of government estab- 
 lished in which, under certain limitations, all the executive and 
 legislative functions which had been cxer<^ised by the territorial 
 government were committed to three commissioners, to be ap- 
 pointed at large by the President and confirmed by the Sen- 
 ate. An engineer ofRcer of the army was to be detailed to have 
 the oversight of engineering work, under tlie direction of the 
 Commissioners. 
 
 The reason commonly assigned for this change in the gov- 
 ernment was that tlie Board of Public Works, wlio were ap- 
 pointed by the President and paid by the United States, had 
 incurred a large debt by extravagant and unauthorized expen- 
 ditures, mainly, however, upon government property, viz : 
 Streets, Avenues, and Sewers. This debt, thus created l)y offi- 
 cers of the United States mainly upon propertyof the United 
 Stat-es, amounted to about $25,000,000, althougli, as appears 
 by a report of tlie Secretary of the Treasury in 1878, the citi- 
 zens of the District had, reckoning from the l^eginning up to 
 1878, paid about $20,000,000 in taxes and the United States 
 had expended $6,000,000 in appropriations, all mainl)^ for the 
 improvement of the property of the United States. The citi- 
 zens had also raised and expended about §25,000,000 more for 
 the support of the local government. 
 
 The So-called District Debt. 
 
 ^ As already stated, the aggregate debt -created during the 
 long period of popular self-government in the District, 1802 
 to 1871, was $3,105,067.85. The present debt was created 
 
1.8 
 
 under a different system. In the words of a Senate minority 
 report in 1877 : 
 
 V " At the end of six years only of a government irresponsi- 
 ble to the people, the public debt amounts to s25,000,000 — 
 m«'e than one-foin-th of the assessed valuation of the property 
 of the District. Meanwhile, $13,000,000 have been assessed as 
 special taxes (on the property ot tlie citizens), slO,000,000 have 
 been assessed as general taxes (also on the prupei'ty of the citi- 
 zens), and Congress has appropriated §6,000,000. Deducting the 
 original indebtedness, we find the enormous sum of §50,000,000 
 as the net expenditure of six years' govei-nment by officers 
 ' appointed by the President and contirmed by the Senate.' Of 
 this vast sum, not less than $40,000,000 are chargeable to 
 ' improvements.' " 
 
 And this does not include a foot of the 82 miles of asphalt 
 pavement, nor the big boundary sewers, all of which have been 
 constructed and paid for since. 
 
 ^ It will thus l)e seen that popular self-government is respon- 
 sible for no part of this enormous debt — greater, it is believed, 
 in proportion to population and means than that of any State 
 or other municipality in the United States — except the origi- 
 nal three millions, and the four million loan, or seven millions 
 in all, as the people of the District had no voice in creating 
 the balance of the debt. 
 
 If the general Government were now to assume the pay- 
 ment of the remainder of this del)t, amounting to S20,61'2.450, 
 it would be doing no more than to equalize the amount ex- 
 pended by it and the inhabitants of tlie District from the 
 beginning. 
 
 It now takes about one-third of the total ainnial revenues of 
 the District to pay the interest and sinking fund on the debt, 
 and this heavy drain not only cuts off much needed street im- 
 provements but it restricts over eleven thousand school-children 
 to half-day schools, for want of a sufficient mimber of school- 
 houses. That is, one school-room has to be used for two 
 schools, one school occupying it in the morning and the other 
 in the evening. 
 
19 
 The Present Government. 
 
 Tlie local government was again changed hy act of June 
 11, 1878, to its present form, tlie change being mainly in re- 
 quiring two of the Commissioners to be residents, and the 
 third Commissioner to be an officer of the Engineer Corps of 
 the Army. 
 
 At the same time the United States engaged to pay a pro 
 portion of the expenses connected with the local government, 
 commensurate with the value of its property as compared with 
 the value of all other property, or practically one-half of the 
 annual expense, and all moneys received were to be deposited 
 in the Treasury of tlie United States, to be used onlj^ as ap- 
 propriated by Congress, and all payments were to be paid by 
 Treasury warrants. 
 
 This was done because the peculiar character of the plan of 
 the City of Washington and its relations to the General Gov- 
 ernment were such that it would be impossible, as well as un- 
 just, for the private property to pay the interest on the debt, 
 and put and maintain the entire District of Columbia in such 
 state of perfection as the natural pride of the country would 
 demand. 
 
 These Commissioners appoint all minor officers, have large 
 legislative powers in the matter of municipal regulations, and 
 full executive powers to carry out the same, and the people of 
 the District have no power or voice in the matter, or in the 
 selection of any officer, or in the valuation of their property, 
 or in the taxation or expenditures of moneys paid by them, 
 and their wants and wishes need not be consulted. 
 
 Magnitude of the Work of the Commissioners. 
 
 The District has a population of (estimated). . 250,000 
 
 A valuation of property of $238,695,378 
 
 Composed of real estate owned by citizens 111,744,830 
 
 Personal property owned by citizens 10,943,458 
 
 Property owned by the District 2,308,772 
 
20 
 
 Property exempt from taxation 86,578,634 
 
 Property owned by the U. S. (excluding streets 
 
 and avenues) 107,119,684 
 
 Total $238,695,378 
 
 And this is exchisive of the personal propert}' owned by 
 the United States, which amounts to a large sum. 
 
 Amount paid bv citizens in taxes, licences, &c. 
 
 for 1887.. ..". $2,374,914.53 
 
 Total revenues disbursed in 1886-7 4,002,398.54 
 
 It has public schools numbering 570 
 
 Number of teachers in public schools 654 
 
 Number of scholars enrolled 35,000 
 
 It has of streets in miles 233 . 62 
 
 Of which there are paved with concrete. 69.64 miles 
 
 Paved with granite blocks 21.50 " 
 
 Paved with cobble and broken stone. 12.73 " 
 
 Macadamized 8.19 " 
 
 Gravelled 36.66 " 
 
 Old wood pavements 77 " 
 
 Unimproved and jnostly unopened... 84.08 " 
 
 Total 233.62 " 
 
 Of country roads in miles 116 
 
 A Fire Department of 7 steam fire-engines, 2 ladder trucks, 
 8 hose reals, and a force of 101 paid men. A police force of 
 325 officers and employes of different grades. In population 
 it exceeds each of the Territories except Dakota, and the States 
 of Oregon, Nevada and Delaware. 
 
 In valuation of property it surpasses either of the States of 
 Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, and Oregon. 
 
 It comes then to this, that at the present time three gentle- 
 men, one of them by education and previous employment quite 
 unfitted for the performance of any duties except those con- 
 nected witli engineering, are called upon to administer not 
 
21 
 
 only the affairs of a rural V)ut well settled territory, con- 
 taining suburban villages, but in addition the more com- 
 plex and delicate demands of a large city with its various 
 questions of schools, streets, sewers, water, health, police, pro- 
 tection against fire, building and plumbing regulations, licences 
 of all sorts, valuation and taxation of property, disbursement 
 of moneys, appointment of officers, and, in addition to all these 
 matters, the still more delicate and arduous duties connected 
 with the alteration of municipal regulations and the framing 
 of new ones. 
 
 And all this in the show city of the country. 
 
 Occupied as they are, these gentlemen are of necessity un- 
 able to make themselves acquainted either with the wishes or 
 the needs of the citizens at large, except as may be made 
 known to them by employes anxious mainly to please their 
 chiefs, or by self-constituted advisers who advise largely for 
 personal advantage. 
 
 The Present Form of Government is Wrong in Principle. 
 
 ^ The executive is a law maker in the District of Columbia. 
 
 It is wrong in principle that the officers who execute the i 
 laws should be the very persons who make the laws. 
 
 Having the power to make the laws, the same persons have 
 the power to unmake or waive them, or to decline or neglect 
 to enforce them, and if need be to make and unmake them, 
 and to change them every day, and are therefore above and 
 superior to the law. If they make good laws the effect of them 
 is mischievous, because of the uncertainty of their duration ; 
 and any one who knows and relies upon the law of to-day can 
 have no reliance that the law will be the same to-morrow, and 
 therefore cannot know what he may or may not do ; and if 
 they make bad laws, then, in addition to the feeling of uncer- 
 tainty as to their duration, there is the sense of personal wrong 
 and injury, and of oppression on the part of those to whom 
 the laws apply. 
 
22 
 
 It is fundamental to the constitution of society that the law 
 should be settled and permanent in character, and not lightly 
 or hastily chano;ed, or, indeed, changed at all, except when it 
 becomes so obnoxious that there is a general demand for the 
 change, or it ceases by common consent to ])e enforced or 
 obeyed, and thus becomes obsolete. 
 
 It is no answer to these propositions that tiie Commissioners 
 only m-dke municipal regulations under certain limitations im- 
 posed by Congress, the higher power. These very municipal 
 regulations are the laws which touch the citizen most nearly, 
 and are upon and around him all the time and affect his daily 
 life and business and family. Neither is it an answer that 
 these statements are fanciful, and that the Commissioners have 
 not made and annulled regulations, or changed or waived them 
 with or without previous notice. 
 
 Your Committee asserts that it has been a well-known 
 practice of the Commissioners to repeal old municipal regula- 
 tions, to make new and different ones in place of them, to re- 
 vive musty and obsolete ordinances, to change regulations 
 directly after their pul)lication, and to waive or fail to enforce 
 them in special cases, in fact, to make that which was law to- 
 day no law to-morrow, and law again the day after, and to 
 waive, if need be, tlie enforcement of the law. 
 
 Your committee does not make these statements by \vay of 
 censure of the Commissioners, but by way of complaint of the 
 system, as it is certain that if the present incumbents are dis- 
 placed by others, their successors, by reason simjdy of the faulty 
 character of the form of local government, would act in pre- 
 cisely the same way, and indeed could not be expecited to act 
 in any other way. 
 
 Tli(i pi 3sent form of local governnu is faulty in another 
 respect, ' 
 
 Allgovernments, tol)e justand stable, as we agree in this coun- 
 try, nuist rest upon the unbought consent of the governed, and 
 thus be in accord with their wishes and wants But in this 
 
23 
 
 District the governed cannot make known their want of 
 consent hj overturning the government and putting another 
 in its place, as they can in every other portion of the United 
 States. 
 
 Here in this District the consent of the governed has never 
 been asked, and many Senators and Representatives seem to 
 have taken it for granted, that the few residents with whom 
 they most frequently come in social contact represent the people 
 who live here. 
 
 Your Committee does not admit that those residents who 
 appear to prize a reduction of their own taxes more highly 
 than the right of self-government do represent the people of 
 the District. Wai ving this matter of consent, as not obligatory 
 upon Congress, it is still insisted, that the Commissioners have 
 not had, do not have, and cannot have any special knowledge 
 of the wishes or wants of the citizens. No l)lame is attached 
 to them in this respect, because it is a fault simply of the form 
 of government, and not of the Commissioners personally. 
 
 Admit that they desire to know and conform as far as possi- 
 ble to the wants and wishes of the citizens, they cannot do so. 
 
 Indeed if they desire to do so they have no time in the 
 pressing nature of their daily duties to gather, to any extent, 
 from the citizens themselves, information of what ought to be 
 done, and accordingly have to rely upon employes of their 
 own, who ex officio have always roseate views of the perfec- 
 tion of tiie present, or largely upon such persons as intend to 
 make their advice valuable to themselves. 
 
 Our local government is faulty in the number of its Com- 
 missioners. ~ 
 
 An executive should always be a single head to be most 
 effective. If, in a |.' iiiravirate, one should have, -the most 
 native force and vigc. ^nd will power, so as to dominate the 
 others and thus be in reality the only head, this bad result fol- 
 lows, that the two wlio are dominated do not understand their 
 position and interfere mischievously with the ruling person, 
 and are, theref ir.-. i the -ay, and are not needed. 
 
24 
 
 The theory of tlie triumvirate originally was that being 
 three, two of Hhem would l)e a majority ; but in practice it al- 
 ways turns out that the strongest man of the three is the 
 majority. 
 
 The tiieorv of the triumvirate was, also, that the power 
 would 1)e divided equally between three men, and each have 
 his portion of the duties ; but practically it comes to this, 
 that the doiiiinant man always takes chief direction of all the 
 duties, as citizens will remember was the case in this District 
 when they call to mind the position of a certain member of the 
 old Board of Public Works. 
 
 Again, if three persons are too many for an efficient executive, 
 it is certain that that number is too few for legislative duties, 
 if for no other reason, because they cannot represent fairly the 
 wishes of a great community in local matters, or give to the 
 scattered or discordant and perliaps antagonistic sections of the 
 District, personal interviews, or go bodily into such various 
 sections to make the proper inquiries. 
 
 Are the citizens dissatisfied with the present form of 
 Government ? 
 
 ' Your Committee believes that a great majority of the citi- 
 zens of the District are thus dissatisfied, and gives for evidence 
 of the same the rise and existence of citizens' associations in 
 various parts of the District ever since the abolition of the ter- 
 ritorial government, and general talk upon the streets and else- 
 where, the constant complaints found in newspapers, all in 
 spite of the loyal support given to it l)y the local press, and 
 of the frequent changes made in the personnel of the Board 
 of Commissioners. 
 
 The complaint really grows out of the system, and not from 
 the men who carry it out. But if the citizens were satisfied 
 with the existing state of things, there would still be ample 
 reason for a change if a change would be a benefit. 
 
25 
 
 What should Congress do ? 
 
 The Committee answers that Congress should discharge its 
 duty towards the District of Cohinibia as fairly and kindly as 
 it ought to do towards tiie Indians, the other Wards of the 
 nation. 
 
 " The recognized relation between the parties to this con- 
 troversy, therefore, is that between a superior and an inferior, 
 whereby the latter is placed under the care and control of the 
 former, and which, while it authorizes the adoption on the 
 part of the United States of such policy as their own interests 
 may dictate, recognizes, on the other hand, such an interpreta- 
 tion of their acts and promises as justice and reason demnnd 
 in all cases where power is exerted by the strong over those 
 to whom they owe care and protection. The parties are not 
 on equal footing, and that inequality is to be made good by 
 the superior justice which looks only to the substance of the 
 riglit, without regard to technical rules framed under a system 
 of municipal jurisprudence, formulating the rights and obliga- 
 tions of private persons equally subject to the same laws." 
 Choctaw Nation v. United States, 119 U. S., 28. 
 
 Action Proposed. 
 
 Your Connnittee does not, in view of the peculiar condition 
 of the District of Columbia and its relation to Congress, ask 
 that its citizens shall have at present the right of unlimited 
 manhood suffrage in the management of local affairs. Suffrage 
 can hai-dl}^ be regarded as a natural right, since it is generally 
 restricted by sex and age, place of nativity, and length of resi- 
 dence, and mental and moral condition ; and in this country, 
 in communities of great age, and of successful experience, it 
 has l)een further limited to those men of proper age, nativity, 
 and length of residence, and mental and moral condition, who 
 can read and write, and who pay a direct tax, whether per 
 capita or upon property, for the support of their own local 
 government, so that ignorant, worthless, imbecile, and crimi- 
 nal persons, who can neither be relied upon for defence or 
 support of government, should be excluded from such privi- 
 lege. » 
 
26 
 
 Recognizing the duty of all good citizens to assist cheer- 
 fully in such plans of local government, as Congress in its lim- 
 ited field of experimental territory may see tit to impose, so that 
 each experiment may have a fair trial, your Committee still 
 believes that an improvement may be made in the present local 
 government, and that Congress ought in the interests of good 
 govei-nment to improve the existing plan and give the District 
 one Commissioner instead of three as at present, to the end 
 of a better discharge of executive duties. This Commis- 
 sioner should be appointed l)y the President and confirmed 
 by the Senate. Congress should also authorize a Council of 
 suitable citizens to be appointed by the President and con- 
 firmed by the Senate, each to be a resident of that portion of 
 the District from which he is appointed, and sufficiently nu- 
 merous to know or conveniently learn the wishes of the im- 
 mediate constituents, and this inimberyoui- Committee believes 
 should be fifteen. This Council should be the legislative 
 branch of the District Government, and sliould have the making 
 of the local laws, ordinances, or regulations to such an extent 
 as Congress may prescribe. 
 
 The Commissioner should have the appointment of all the 
 inferior ofiicers subject to confirmation by a majority of the 
 Council, and should have a veto power over all legislative 
 acts of the Council, subject to be overruled by a two-thirds 
 vote of that body. 
 
 A bill covering these essentials and the requisite details is 
 herewitli submitted. 
 
 Your Committee recommends the approval of this bill, and 
 the appointment of an Executive Committee to present the 
 same to Congress and to urge favorable consideration. 
 Respectfully submitted, by order of the Committee. 
 REGINALD FENDALL, 
 
 Chairman. 
 TALLMADGE A. LAMBERT, 
 GEORGE W. DYER, 
 WILLIAM C. DODGE, 
 
27 
 
 GEOEGE WHITE, 
 JOHN E. HEREELL, 
 THOMAS J. LUTTRELL, 
 W. H. A. WORMLEY, 
 JOSEPH G. WATERS, 
 J. ORMOND WILSON, 
 W. SCOTT SMITH, 
 JOHN L. VOGT, 
 CHAS. E. HOYEY, 
 STEPHEN M. GOLDEN, 
 
 Cotntnittee. 
 
A BILL 
 
 To AMEND A]?i ACT ENTITLED " An ACT PROVIDING A 
 PERMANENT FORM OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE DIS- 
 TRICT OF Columbia." Approved June 11, 1878, 
 
 Whereas the Constitution confers upon Congress 
 the power "to exercise exclusive legislation" over 
 the District of Columbia ; and 
 
 Whereas, the two hundred and fifty thousand 
 people of said District are taxed for the support of 
 national and local government as heavily as any like 
 number of their fellow citizens residing elsewhere in 
 the United States ; and 
 
 Whereas, Congress, in which the people of said 
 District are not represented, has established over 
 said District a government by Commission, in the 
 selection of whose members said people have no 
 voice ; and 
 
 Whereas, in the absence of any provision of law 
 for making known to Congress the will of a majority 
 of said people, the Citizens' Representative Commit- 
 tee of One Hundred, of said District, have, by a 
 memorial, rei)resented to Congress that the act es- 
 tablishing the present form of government ought to 
 be amended so as to remove existing dissatisfaction 
 and just cause of complaint on the part of citizens 
 and tax-payers, and have set forth certain defects 
 in said act, to wit : 
 
1. It provides for an executive consisting of three 
 persons and thus destroj's that sole and personal re- 
 sponsibility which is the chief guarantee of a faith- 
 ful exercise of executive powers and a prompt per- 
 formance of executive duties. 
 
 2. It provides that one of these persons shall be an 
 officer of the United States Army, whose entire edu- 
 cation and experience have been in the line of mili- 
 tary rule — a rule always despotic and generally 
 odious when applied to civil affairs. 
 
 3. It clothes the Commission with many important 
 legislative powers, and these are increasing by 
 reason of the inability of Congress to consider and 
 ienact all the ordinances necessary for a growing mu- 
 nicipality; and this joinder of legislative and execu- 
 tive functions is in violation of a fundamental prin- 
 ciple of good government, and has worked harm in 
 practice. 
 
 4. The Commission is too large for executive du- 
 ties, and too small for legislative duties ; it owes no 
 allegiance to the tax payers ; it is not in harmony 
 with a majority of the people ; and it fails to be in- 
 formed of their needs ; Therefore, 
 
 Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Represen- 
 tatives of the United States of America in Congress 
 assemfded, That all provisionsof law authorizing the 
 detail of an officer of the Corps of Engineers of the 
 United States Army, and the appointment of two 
 persons from civil life, to be Commissioners of the 
 District of Columbia, are hereby repealed, to take 
 effect when the successor in office of said Commis- 
 sioners shall be duly appointed and qualified, as 
 hereinafter ] )r( )v ided. 
 
Section II. 
 
 1. That within twenty days after the approval of 
 this act, the President of the United States, by and 
 with the advice and consent of the Senate, is hereby 
 authorized to ajjpoint one person from civil life to be 
 Commissioner of the District of Colnmbia. 
 
 2. Said Commissioner shall have the qualifica- 
 tions, take the oath or affirmation, receive the com- 
 pensation, give the bond, and have the official term 
 now j)rovided by law for a Commissioner appointed 
 from civil life. 
 
 3. Said Commissioner shall exercise all the powers 
 and authority now vested by law in the three Com- 
 missioners of said District, except as hereinafter 
 limited and provided, and shall be subject to all re- 
 strictions and limitations and duties which are now 
 imposed by law upon said three Commissioners. 
 
 4. Said Commissioner may grant pardons and re- 
 spite for offenses against the laws of the District, 
 and shall commission all officers who may be ap- 
 pointed by him under this act, and shall take care 
 that the laws be faithfully executed. 
 
 5. The Commissioner of the District of Columbia 
 herein provided for, as successor of the Board of 
 Commissioners of the District of Columbia, shall be 
 deemed and taken as an officer of the corporation of 
 said District, and all process connected with the in- 
 stitution of any suit, or the conduct thereof, and all 
 summons and subpoenas in relation thereto, shall be 
 served upon said Commissioner, or in his absence or 
 temporary disability, upon the President of the 
 Council as acting Commissioner. 
 
4 
 Section III. 
 
 1. That within twenty days after the approval of 
 this act and annually thereafter, on or before the 
 fifteenth day of June, the President of the United 
 States, by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate, shall appoint fifteen persons, one from each of 
 the lifteen Council Districts hereinafter designated, 
 who shall at the time of their appointment be citizens 
 of the Unitea States, and shall have been actual resi- 
 dents of the District of Columbia for five years next 
 before their appointment, and actual residents of the 
 Council District from which they are appointed for 
 two years next before their appointment, and have, 
 during said periods neither claimed residence nor 
 voted anywhere else ; and said lifteen persons and 
 their successors in office, shall constitute and be de- 
 nominated "The Council of the District of Col- 
 umbia," and shall be commissioned by the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 2. All vacancies in the membership of said Coun- 
 cil resulting from expiration of term of office shall be 
 tilled by appointments for one year, and all vacan- 
 cies resulting from other causes by appointments 
 for unexpired terms. 
 
 3. Each of said councilmen shall, before entering 
 upon the duties of his office, take an oath or afhrma- 
 tion to supx)ort the Constitution of the United States 
 and faithfully to perform the duties imposed upon 
 him by law, and shall receive for his services a com- 
 pensation at the rate of three hundred dollars per 
 annum. 
 
 4. Said Council shall have power of legislation on 
 all municipal subjects authorized by the provisions 
 
5 
 
 of this act, and not inconsistent with the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, but said legislation shall 
 at all times be subject to rejDeal or modihcation by 
 the Congress of the United States, and nothing herein 
 shall be construed to deprive Congress of the power 
 of legislation over said District in as amjjle manner 
 as if this law had not been enacted. 
 
 5. Among the municipal subjects in respect to 
 which said Council may legislate, are the following : 
 Assessments, taxes, health, abatement of nuisances, 
 plumbing, buildings, i^olice, lire, regulation of busi- 
 ness and local traffic, wharves, licenses, regulation of 
 the liquor traffic, charities, public schools, and officers, 
 employees and salaries, but no increase of salaries 
 and no salary for any new office created by said 
 Council shall take effect until Congress shall have 
 made api^ropriation therefor ; and said Council shall 
 have full power to adopt and provide for enforcing 
 penalties in relation to each and all of said subjects 
 by information tiled in the Police Court of the Dis- 
 trict in the name of the attorney of the District, as 
 provided in the act creating said court ; but said 
 Council shall have no power to appropriate money 
 or contract debts for any purpose whatever. 
 
 6. Every bill or ordinance which may pass the 
 Council of the District of Columbia herein provided 
 for, before it becomes operative, shall be presented to 
 the Commissioner, and if he approve it, he shall sign 
 it, but if not he shall return it with his objections 
 to the Council, which shall enter the objections at 
 large on the journal and proceed to reconsider it ; 
 if after reconsideration two thirds of all the mem- 
 bers of the Council shall agree to pass the bill, it 
 
6 
 
 shall become a law, otherwise it shall be regarded 
 as rejected ; and in all cases the votes of the Council 
 shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names 
 of the persons voting for and against the bill shall 
 be entered upon the journal of the Council. 
 
 7. If any bill shall not be returned by the Com- 
 missioner to the Council within ten days (Sundays 
 excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
 the same shall become a law as if he had signed it, 
 unless the Council by adjournment prevent its re- 
 turn, in which case it shall not be a h\w. 
 
 8. The Council shall annually, on or before the 
 first day of October, submit, through the Commis- 
 sioner, to the Secretary of the Treasury for his ex- 
 amination and approval, statements showing in de- 
 tail the work proposed to be undertaken during the 
 ensuing fiscal year and the estimated cost thereof ; 
 and also estimates of the cost of maintaining public 
 institutions of charity, reformatories and prisons 
 belonging to or controlled wholly or in part by the 
 District of Columbia, and which are now by law 
 supported wholly or in part by said District ; and 
 also estimates for expenses of the water department, 
 as now provided by law ; and also estimates for the 
 maintenance of each and all the departments of the 
 District Government, and all the necessary expenses 
 of each and all branches of said Government. 
 
 9. The Council shall i)rex)are and submit to Con- 
 gress, through the Commissioner of the District, 
 such bills or proposals for legislation as they shall 
 deem necessary or expedient to bring to the atten- 
 tion of Congress. 
 
10. The following officers of the District Govern- 
 ment, together with any others of like grade which 
 may hereafter be authorized, shall be apjDointed by 
 the Commissioner, by and with the advice and consent 
 of the Council, to wit ; Assessor, Collector of Taxes, 
 Auditor, Surveyor, Inspector of Buildings, Superin- 
 tendent of Police, Chief of Fire Department, Health 
 Officer, Attorney for the District, Trustees of Pub- 
 lic Schools, and all other heads of departments of 
 the District Government. 
 
 11. The Council shall meet annually on the third 
 Tuesday in June, or as soon thereafter as practica- 
 ble upon a day to be fixed by the Commissioner, 
 and organize by electing one of its members as Presi- 
 dent, and the election of a secretary and such other 
 officers as may be necessary for the transaction of 
 its business ; and thereafter said Council shall meet 
 for the transaction of business at such time or times 
 as they may determine, in a place to be provided 
 by the Commissioner ; and all meetings of the Coun- 
 cil shall be open to the public ; and in the absence, 
 sickness or inability of the Commissioner to act, the 
 President of the Council shall act as Commissioner. 
 
 12. The boundaries of the districts for members of 
 the Council of the District of Columbia shall be as 
 follows, the sections of Washington hereinafter re- 
 ferred to, being the four sections of said city into 
 which it is divided by a line drawn due north and 
 south through the centre of North Capitol street and 
 South Capitol street, and an intersecting line drawn 
 due east and west through the centre of East Capitol 
 street. 
 
FiRRT District. — All that part of the southwest 
 section of Washington lying west of Sixth street. 
 
 Second District. — All that part of the southwest 
 section of Washington lying east of Sixth street. 
 
 Third District. — All that part of the southeast 
 section of Washington lying between South Capitol 
 street and Pennsylvania Avenue. 
 
 Fourth District. — All that part of the southeast 
 and the northeast sections of Washington lying be- 
 tween Pennsylvania avenue and Maryland avenue. 
 
 Fifth District. — All that part of the northeast 
 section of Washington lying between Maryland ave- 
 nue and North Capitol street. 
 
 Sixth District. — All that part of the northwest 
 section of Washington lying within the following 
 bounds : North Capitol street, Ninth street, 
 Boundary street, and Massachusetts avenue. 
 
 Seventh District. — All that part of the north- 
 west section of Washington lying within the follow- 
 ing bounds : North Capitol street, Ninth street, 
 Massachusetts avenue, and public grounds on the 
 south of this section. 
 
 Eighth District. — All that part of the north- 
 west section of Washington lying within the fol- 
 lowing bounds : Ninth street, Sixteenth street, 
 Boundary street and K street. 
 
 Ninth District. — All that part of the northwest 
 section of Washington lying within the following 
 bounds : Ninth street, Sixteenth street, K street, 
 and the public grounds on the south of this section. 
 
 Tenth District. — All that part of the northwest 
 section of Washington lying within the following 
 
9 
 
 bounds : Sixteenth street, Rock Creek, Boundary 
 street, and K street from Sixteentli street to its in- 
 tersection with Pennsj^lvania avenue, and from 
 thence said avenue to Rock Creek. 
 
 Eleventh District. — All that part of the north- 
 west section of Washington lying within the fol- 
 lowing bounds : Sixteenth street, and the public 
 grounds on the south of it. Rock Creek, Pennsyl- 
 vania avenue from Rock Creek to its intersection 
 with K street, and from thence said street to Six- 
 teenth street, and the public grounds on the south 
 of this section and the Potomac river. 
 
 Twelfth District. — Georgetown. 
 
 Thirteenth District. — All that part of the 
 county of Washington lying west of the Fourteenth 
 street road from Boundary street to its intersection 
 with the Seventh street roa(^, and from thence west 
 of the last-named road to the boundary of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia. 
 
 Fourteenth District. — All that part of the 
 county of Washington lying between the Fourteenth 
 street road to its intersection with the Seventh street 
 road, and from thence said road to the boundary of 
 the District of Col umbia and the old Bladensburg 
 road. 
 
 Fifteenth District. — All that part of the county 
 of Washington lying east of the old Bladensburg 
 road. 
 
 13. The boundary lines of the districts hereinbe- 
 fore enumerated shall be the centres of the streets, 
 avenues, roads and reservations designated, and 
 said boundary lines shall continue as herein defined 
 until altered by an ordinance of the Council. 
 
10 
 
 Section IV. 
 
 That the President of the United States may, from 
 time to time, detail an officer from the Engineer Corps 
 of the Army of the United States, who shall, sub- 
 ject to the supervision and direction of the Com- 
 missioner, have charge of the work of construction, 
 repair and improvement of streets, avenues, alleys, 
 Water Department Works, sewers, roads, bridges, 
 and all other engineering work of the District of 
 Columbia. And the President may also detail not 
 more than two other officers from said Corps to act 
 as assistants to said chief engineer. 
 
 Section Y. 
 
 That all tlie provisions of "an act providing a 
 permanent form of Government for the District of 
 Columbia," apjjroved June 11, 1878, and also all 
 modifications and changes thereof made by acts of 
 the Congress of the United States, as well as all 
 laws and ordinances of the District now in force, 
 shall remain in full force and effect, so far as the 
 same ara not inconsistent with the provisions of 
 this act. 
 
 Section VI. 
 
 That from and after the apijroval of this act the 
 designation " city of Washington " shall include all 
 the territory within the limits of the District of 
 Columbia ceded by the State of Maryland. 
 
 Section VII. 
 
 That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with 
 the provisions of this act be, and the same are, hereby 
 repealed. 
 
 
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