The Washington critic., 1890-02-20

Crcult Ol lnc commissioners OF inc us
tici Of Columbia all moneys received
bv him from applicants for license.
I'm refunding money received from
applicants for licenses not granted, the
requirement of chapter 81, section .,
act > of Legislative Assembly, January
49, 1872, must he strictly compiled
with. The Auditor Of the District Of
Columbia is hereby directed to audit
the accounts Of the Assessor and the
Collector of receipts and disbursements
for licenses and report the result % the
Commissioners as soon as practicable.
Ii would appear from this order, or
new rule of the Commissioners, that
tie provisions of law providing for the
safe keeping of the funds of the Dis
trict of Columbia have been habitually
disrcgmded; that a large branch of the
public revenue, instead of being depos-
tied in the Treasury of the United
States TO the credit of the District, has
been kept there or elsewhere subject to
the draft of the city or District As
sessor Indeed it would appear to be
an anomaly in municipal government
10 entrust the public funds to the care
Of the Assessor of Taxes, whose proper
function is simply To ascertain and re-
port the amount of taxes that the citi-
zens respectively owe to the Govern
ment which protects them and their
property. And to combine the offices
of Assessor and Treasurer is to destroy
the checks and safeguards which civil
izcd governments everywhere have
found necessary to protect the public
Treasury.
Section second of the act of the
Legislative Assembly of the District
TO which the Commissioners in their
new rule" refer as still in force, is as
as follows:
Section 3 Ana he il ttIther cadcted,
That whenever any person shall de-
post money in the Treasury for the
purpose of procuring license, and
said license shall have been subse-
quently refused by legal authority, it
shall be the duty of the accounting and
| disbursing officers of the District to re-
| fund the money so deposited, deduct
ing therefrom an amount justly pro
! portionate to the time during which
/ such license shall have been used by
the applicant therefor, or his repre-
scntatives, and charge the amount SC
refunded to the fund which was cred
tied with the original deposit"
This law is very plain. The license
tax was in the first place to be deposited
in the Treasury-not. of course, to th(
credit of the Assessor or other Office
charged with collecting the money, bu
to that of the government OF the Dis
tiict of Columbia whatever form tina
government might take. How long j
has been the practice Of the officials tC
disregard this act, and how much of tht
license tax stands to the credit Of tn,
Assessor, subject TO his draft, and how
much remains in his hands, it may b.
difficult to find out by any fellow.
The new rule directs the Collector tO
deposit the money received by him
daily, in The United States Treasury
Has it been the custom of the Collector
heretofore TO deposit with the Assessor
and if not, how came the Assessor by
the money?
President Lincoln declared that th,
Government of the United States was
government of the people, by the peopl
and for the people. Who viii say tha
such is the character of the government
Of the District of Columbia? II
certainly not a peoples government, b
the people, and such facts as the abov
make ii clear that it is not govern
ment for the people.
1t will be noticed that the act of tn
Assembly required that money shoul
be deposited in the Treasury. The cit
government of the District at that tim
consisted of a Governor, Lieutenan
Governor, Assembly elected b
the people, and Council G
Senate The deposit was not t
the credit of any of these officials, bu
without doubt, to that of the District Q
Columbia; and when that form of gov
ernment was abolished, and the Who'll
legislative and executive authority wa
placed in the hands of three commits
sioners, appointed by the President, b
and with the advice and consent of th
, Senate, there was no change made /
the law which required the deposit c
public funds. as formerly, to the cred
of the District of Columbia. The pla
adopted by the Commissioners may b
safe, but there would seem to he n
authority for il in law. That plan is t
make of the National Treasury ban
Of deposit, subject to be drawn upon b
the Commissioners Mt pleasure an
without being asked what for. III
effect of the arrangement is to give
the Commissioners the right to appr,
pirate the public money at pleasure
; without the authority of Congress
which is the supreme Legislative a.
4, thority, and which votes half the re-
: enue necessary to support the city go
, ernment out Of the National Treasury
, Az GNS1F'E BUILDING.
The necessity for Il new building f
p, the Government Printing Office is We
Y 4 II