A majority of American Jews favor home rule for residents of the District of Columbia, according to a survey conducted by the Louis Harris Organization and published today in the Washington Post.
The survey revealed that 63 percent of Jews favored allowing Washington residents to elect their own municipal government, compared with 73 percent of Protestants and 55 percent of Catholics. Opposition to such home rule was expressed by 11 percent of Jews, 9 per cent of Protestants and 9 percent of Catholics. The remainder of those polled indicated they were “not sure” as to their attitude.
Among reasons cited by those opposed to home rule was the belief that “too many Negroes would take over,” because there are more Negro than white residents in Washington. Others contended that the seat of the Federal Government should be run, as it is now, by Federal authority, and that the population is too transient for stable local government. An objection made in the District of Columbia was that taxes might be increased while residential property values declined.
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