COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ARTHUR CAPPER, Kansas, Chairman

WILLIAM H. SOUDERS, Clerk
JAMES RING, Assistant Clerk

CENTER MARKET

FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1930

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 3 o'clock p. m., in the committee room, Capitol, Senator Arthur Capper, chairman, presiding.

Present: Senators Capper (chairman), Copeland, Kean, Glass, and Robsion.

(The committee had under consideration Senate bill 3090, which is here printed, as follows:)

[S. 3090, Seventy-first Congress, second session]

A BILL To establish a market as a successor to Center Market in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby authorized and directed to acquire by purchase, or by condemnation, or partly by purchase and partly by condemnation, as they deem best in the public interest, suitable land, within the District of Columbia, for use by the District of Columbia for the purposes of a public market devoted to the sale of food, including products of the farm, and for such other public market and related purposes as the commissioners deem necessary. The land to be acquired for such purposes shall be selected by the joint action of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital. The commissioners shall cause to be constructed on the land, after its acquisition, such buildings and other improvements and facilities as they deem necessary for the operation of such public market or for the public convenience and comfort in connection therewith, including a rest room for women; except that on not less than 200,000 square feet of the land the commissioners shall cause to be constructed such shelters and other improvements and facilities as they deem necessary for use by farmers for sale of products of the farm.

SEC. 2. For the purposes of this act there are hereby authorized to be appropriated the following sums to be charged against the general funds in the Treasury and against the revenues for the District of Columbia, in the same proportion as are other appropriations to cover the expenses of the government of the District of Columbia:

For the acquisition of the land for the public market, $800,000.

For clearing, grading, and removing existing improvements from the land and for all other incidental and necessary expenses in connection with preparing the land for use as a public market, and for the construction of the buildings and other improvements and facilities upon the land, $500,000.

SEC. 3. Subject to the limitations of this act, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are authorized to enter into leases or other agreements for the use or occupancy of space or for other privileges in or in connection with the market upon payment of such rents, fees, or charges and upon such other terms as the commissioners deem reasonable. Any such lease or agreement shall be held to be made subject to the requirements of this act and of the regulations adopted thereunder. No such lease or agreement shall be entered into for a longer period than one year, and no such lease or agreement, or any interest therein, shall be assigned or transferred and no such space or other privilege shall be sublet. All

moneys collected under the provisions of this act shall be paid to the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia and deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the District of Columbia.

SEC. 4. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are authorized to adopt from time to time such regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as they deem desirable for the public benefit, regarding the operation of the market, the use and occupancy of any part thereof, the collection of rents, fees, and charges, the care and sale of commodities, the orderly conduct of tenants, and fair dealing with the public. The commissioners may from time to time prescribe a reasonable penalty for violations of any such regulation, not to exceed $25 for each violation, to be enforced by prosecution in the police court of the District of Columbia in the same manner as other minor offenses are now, or may herafter be, by law prosecuted. Whenever the commissioners find, after due notice and opportunity for hearing, that any person using or occupying space or holding any other privilege pursuant to a lease or other agreement under this act, has violated any such regulation, the commissioners are authorized, without recourse to any judicial tribunal, to cancel the lease or other agreement and to cause such person, together with his goods and wares, summarily to be ejected from the use or occupancy of such space or summarily to be denied further right to exercise such privilege. The regulations herein provided for shall, after adoption by the commissioners, be published on at least three consecutive days in one or more daily newspapers of general circulation published in the District of Columbia, and no prosecution or ejectment shall be instituted for violation of any such regulation occurring prior to the thirtieth day following the last date of such publication of the regulation.

SEC. 5. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby authorized to close any street, alley, roadway, or other public thoroughfare, or any part thereof, within, adjacent to, or in proximity to the land acquired under the provisions of this act: Provided, That no person shall be deprived of means of ingress to or egress from real estate owned by him.

The CHAIRMAN. We are here to consider what is known as the Center Market bill. I think most of this assembly is interested in that legislation. I will briefly explain the situation.

I think you are all familiar with the fact that the Center Market, which has been in operation here for many years, is to be closed on the 1st of July unless the time should be extended, and there seems to be a very general demand here in the city for a new market to take its place.

Senator COPELAND. Is this the same market we argued over all last year?

The CHAIRMAN. No; that is the one in which Senator Glass is interested.

Senator GLASS. I was not interested in it. The people of the District were interested in it. Why should I be interested in it? I never go there. My hotel buys my food for me.

The CHAIRMAN. That was the farmers' wholesale produce market, which is to be located in the southwest, and which I understand is to be built in due time. But this is something to take the place of the Center Market.

Senator ROBSION. Is that the one put out of commission by the Department of Commerce Building?

The CHAIRMAN. It is a part of the whole program for making use of the ground south of Pennsylvania Avenue. I do not know what building will be put there, but the Government has served notice on the occupants of Center Market that the market is to be closed on July 1. I will say that there is an attempt being made to extend that time. But if we are going to have anything to take the place of Center Market it is time that some program in that direction was started.