Evening star., 1877-12-29


mittee OF One Hundred:
COUNTY STATISTICS.
II - only possible to make an approximate
statement of the various items of the account
between the county of Washington and the
District Of Columbia. for the reason that no
proper accounts have been kept by the District
government in relation thereto. In the mass
OF transactions extending over series of six
years from the first DAY of June ISL TO the
thirtieih day OF June, ls17, il viii require a
special authority of Congress. and involve
great labOr and some expense. to gather the
necessary data, and. after an analysis and sep
aratiOn of the various items 10 state an ac-
count in proper and definite form. The object
Of such statement Of account will be To as
certain the actual amount, in dollars and cents,
of the expenditures OF the District government
that are chargeabe To the county. and. on the
other hand tn extend to the county the various
credits due on account OF cash paid i'm taxes.
and such other credits aS will be found to be
allowable 10 the county. Although required
by law to Keep these accounts i'm a distinct
form. it has never been done by the District
authorities. and. with the exception of the
accounts of the county schools, under the ad-
miniStraiiOn of the county school trustees
there is nothing To be cleaned from the various
reports made To Congress. that will give any
idea Of the actual state Of the account. Siren
nous eXertiOns have been made by the tax
payers of the county TO ascertain the figures
upon which To scrutiniZe the tax leyies made
from year To year upon their property but this
has been found To be quite impossible.
The subjects OF taxation in the county are.
1st The General Fund; I'd. The Police: 3D.
County schools: ith. Interest on Bonds; 5th.
The Sinking Fund.
terms of the various acts of Congress in force
in the District, the county contributes to the
General Fund its proportion Chased on the
proportion between the assessed value of real
estate in the county and the aggreg gate assess
ed total value of the real estate in the District
lures Of ihe district as may be applicable TO
the county. OF course, none of the expenses
as are Of benefit to the cities only and not of
rI.a.
Partment. water, gas, street sweeping. &c..-
can be chargeable to the county. During the
year ending June -, 1876 the amount charge
able to the county. on the item.of the General
Fund, was about eight thousand 5000 dol
lars.
The Police FHnd.-The county is chargeable
with the amount of actual service of police.
amounting to from 5000 to $500 per annum
The OOVRtg !SchOOis.-The cost of the Coun-
ty Schools has ranged from s25UO TO $500
per annum. One fourth Cf the fines. penalties
and forfeitureS paid TO the various courts of
the District of Columbia is appropriated, by
act of Congress, to the County School fund.
The Interest on BOnds.-The county may be
made chargeable with interest on such of the
bonds of the District of Columbia as were
issued i'm payment for such expenditures as
were chargeabe to the county. Only three
classes of bonds issued by the District of
Columbia can be chargeabie to the county:
lSt. The bonds known as the Chicago Relief
Bonds, of which the total amount authorized
was slO0U. but of which there was unex-
pended SS.396.50. ID District of Columbia
DATE july ]. ISL, were issued to the amount Of
$,Ws,Wr, and are known as Permanent In
prOyement Bonds OF the District of Columbia,
and are otherwise known as the Bonds of the
FOur-Million Loan. 81. Another class of Dis
triet Of Columbia bonds is known as the Three
Sixty. Five Bonds, or the Bonds of the Fifty
In addition to the above three classes of
tOndS, there was another series of bonds
issued for the payment of the debt of the
County schools known as the County School
Bonds. whose interest and redemption We're
charged tO the County School fund. These
County School bonds have all been redeemed
from the County School fund. amounting. for
par and interest. To 81 44.f5. The reports of
the Sinking Fund Commissioners show that
the Chicago Relief Bonds have all been re-
deemed amounting, for par and interest. to
Sl2l-sL No account has been Kept by the
Sinking Fund. of the credit due on the unex-
pended amount Of these bonds (S,6 Ssi 30 for
which uneNpended amount the county proper
tion of credit il I.;3 per cent, (the proportion
OF the County property at the time when the
bonds We're OutSIanding.) or 81 as. There has
been collected from the county, for the item of
interest ON bonds, prior TO December |. 1876,
fsince which time. by order of the District
Commissioners. the collections. as required by
law, have not been separated to the various
funds,) a total of $S.Sr2.l1, all of which is on
account If interest for bonds of the Four Mil
lion and Of the Fifty Year Loans. with the eX-
ceptiOn of the county proportion of the interest
for the Chicago Relief Bonds. (abOut 81 .5S9.H)
The Sinking Fund, however, has kept no ac-
count Of The amounts collected from the
county. for interest, nor has the District Gov
ernment ever accounted for the amounts col
ieeted from the county. on the item Of interest.
The Sinking FHnd.-ln treating of the mat
ter of the sinking Fund. it viii! be more con-
yenient to consider it i'm connection with the
subject oi interest on bonds, as the two sub
leets are 50 interviewer as to make them
Identical. and il will be possible 10 embrace all
the considerations affecting them under the
one subject Of the Sinking Fund.
In seeking to find the account of the county
with the sinking Fund. il would be most natIi-
raj to look into the reports and the accounts of
th.l th.. Sfr.ty, E.,s,I fn.
the information required: and. the relations
of the sinking Fund Commissioners To the
Sinking Fund being SD clearly defined in the
act of August IL. lstl, as well as in the revised
statutes. il would be presumed that the
amounts turned over TO the Sinking Fund as
collected from the county would be found in
the hands Of the sinking Fund. But the Sink
ing Fund has nothing whatever charged to the
county a. liabilities. and has nothing credited
to the county. I'm point of fact, there is no
account whatever, on their books, with the
county, Tor either interest on bonds or for re-
dempJi0n fund
The county having paid, prior to December
l, 1876. sl3s. ;9. l. on account of Sinking Fund.
and interest. as far as the records of the Sink
ing Fund is concerned the whole series of
transactions Is a complete blank. Nor, with
regard To the official action of the District
Government, is the state of the ease any i'm
Proyement upon that of the Commissioners of
Though The figures given above (sl3s, ,S5al2)
are correct, they are not official and are not
To De derived from any published documents,
of the District Commissioners, General ket-
cham.l and have been laboTiously cOllated
from the books of the Office. There are. there
fore, no bonds whatever charged TO the coun-
ty. But IL is desirable to ascertain whether
any bonds of the District of Columbia are
chargeable to the county, and, If there are any
such bonds 80 chargeable. what is the class
and the quantity, in dollars and cents. Of each
Glass of bonds 81 chargeable. if any But two
classes OF bonds can be ehargeable to the
been issued To pay for improvements i'm the
District of Columbia The improvements that
have been made in the county have been for
the construction and repair of roads and
bridges in the county. The same difficulty
has been experienced in ascertaining the
amount of these expenditures was had i'm
the matter of the amounts Of money that have
been collected from the county in the last six
years. But. by order of Commissioner Bryan.
alter three separate statements from various
officials OF the District Government, none of
them justifying the published reports made
to Congress, il was aScertained that the sum
total of all the expenditures on the roads and
bridges Of the county, from June, ISL, to July,
lSlI, might be set down at 81, ,056 93.57.
This sum total of these expenditures is dis