D.C's TROUBLES

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Americans who speak loudly of democracy, justice, and the right of self-determination ought to fell ashamed not to say ridiculous, to behold the spectacle of the Nation's Capital, where:

* Citizens have absolutely no voice in the disposition of the Federal and city taxes they pay. Every year the D.C. Commissioners must prostrate themselves before the House District Committee and beg for minimum amounts of money for schools, hospitals, welfare, etc. They must submit to blackmail by the Committee, such as when, a couple of years ago, the Commissioners were warned not to issue a fair housing ordinance upon pain of not receiving an appropriation for schools and hospitals; or when last year the District Committee insisted on retaining the privilege of sifting through the traffic tickets and taking out those of people who are exempt by reason of being relatives, friends, staff members, or constituents of members of the Committee.

* The venereal disease, tuberculosis, and infant mortality rates are among the highest in the country.

* The welfare system, under the unsympathetic guidance of Senator Byrd of West Virginia, is unrealistically harsh, one of the most ill-conceived in the country. As one particularly grim example, children of unemployed parents in the District, for reasons known only to God and the Senator, are denied benefits available to children of unemployed parents in states, including Senator Byrd's own West Virginia.

* The most influential voice (on Capitol Hill) in deciding whether rail rapid transit is desirable for the District is the head of the bus company, who of course doesn't want a rapid transit system, but, if it comes about, wants to run it. Last year his friends in the House succeeded in killing a rapid transit measure.

* A subcommittee of the House District Committee has approved an "omnibus crime bill" (and a crime it is) that would suspend Constitutional safeguards against arrests for investigation and unreasonable delays between the arrest and arraignment before a magistrate.

We, District of Columbia residents, fell that we are better able to take care of our interests than members of Congress who don't know our interests, don't care about them, don't have time for them, or, in some instances, are diametrically opposed to them.

Five times since 1948 the Senate has passed bills granting home rule to the District of Columbia; the House District Committee has not even allowed such a bill to come to the House floor for a vote. This year the Administration has again introduced a home rule bill. But for the first time in a long while, there is a good chance that it can be brought to a vote and passed. It is therefore very important that our fellow citizens be aware of the need for home rules, as well as have some idea of the form it should take. Barbara Fields '68