Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-29
Il d dime for Congress IN ths exercise Of il

~ - tiLlC lOh SOHSttcS III tue eX6rCl5c VI us
power of exclusive jurisdiction over the affairs
Of the District Of Columbia to pause and con-
slider. The requirement. that the District con-
tribute one-half the cost OF the purchase and
maintenance of live animals, bought by the gov
eminent for scientific purposes, and the e1ac-
ton from the District Of one-half the cost Of
the abandoned tunnel, i; they were to be
viewed as established precedents, might well
cause alarm in the people Of the capital The
government is wisely liberal in its expenditures
for the advancement OF science. 1t will proba-
bly, spend upon the geological garden as an adj
junct of the Smithsonian Institution far more
than twice the sum which Washington could af-
ford to devote to the maintenance Of a
collection of animals, such as other cities of its
size sometimes establish as purely local con-
Germs But If the precedent of the recent
action Of Congress is followed Washington will
be compelled to contribute one-half of this
amount whatever its size may be, having no
control over either the expenditure or the
things purchased Logically the same prece-
dent will justify Congress in exacting from
the District one-half OF the cost OF all other
real estate and exhibits purchased for the ad-
vancement Of science and the recreation Of the
people, which have incidentally local value
visitors. handsome building extending the
National Museum, which is conveniently near
the heart of the city, is of moro local value
than the suburban acres of the geological gar
den. The exhibits of the flowers and plants
in the botanical garden, and of the minerals,
stuffed animals and numberless other objects
OF interest in the National Museum are incl
dentally of vastly greater benefit to the city as
nhiac4a Of int To md
visitors than the penned animals out on Rock
Creek. The District protests against being
forced into equal partnership with the United
States as a general promoter of science. These
projects are all national not municipal, and
the people OF the District contribute their
proper proportion TO the national taxes from
which the expense connected with them should
be met The District ought not to be addi-
tionally taxed for these purposes as a munich
pality. In the tunnel matter the precedent is
stlll worse In this case Congress acting as the
national legislature authorized work at the
nations expense. As it was not proposed to
treat the work as a municipal affair the
District, of course, did not feel called
upon to consider whether the plan or the
expenditure proposed suited it. Two years later
as an amendment to an appropriation bill
Oue-uhAl VI NAdttNeT tue SuOulu
expend in the work was fastened upon a GER
tain portion of the people of the District. to
Wit, the water-takers. An increased water
supply would furnish a consideration for this
exaction, but the supply was not increased by
the tunnel, the government wasted two mill
ions Of dollars in the work, and the tunnel is
abandoned. The nation takes advantage Of Its
absolute power over taxable property in the
District to extort from a portion of the resi-
dents reimbursement for One-haR of losses due
to its own laundering negligence.
The reply to complaints by the District con-
corning the injustice of such charges as these
Is usually to the effect that the nation is ex-
tremely generous to the city, and this alleged
general liberality is stretched to cover a null
tiIude Of special sins. 1t is not denied that the
capital is now treated with Unreasonable fairness,
SO far as its current expenses are concerned,
and that in regard to a few minor items of ex-
penditure hberality is shown. But the nation
Is not in position to point to its general treat
nent Of the District, past and present, as a
justification of these special acts of extortion
By planning magnificent capital, covering a
urge area and characterized by broad streets
avenues and reservations unsuitable for Mary
Land village or a self-suppOrting commercial
city. and by founding this capital in a place
comparatively uninhabited as well as by the
terms of the bargain with the owners of the
soil and by the declarations of representatives
OF the government at the founding of the cap
ital and afterward, the nation indicated an in
tention 10 build up a national city at
national expense on grand scale
irrespective Of the future population of the
District Patrick Henry and some of the early
pamphleteers protested against the nations
meeting al the capitals needs, lest the self
respect Of its citizens should be degraded Such
heed was given to this protest that Congress
threw practically all the burden of capital max
ing upon the city's feeble population. allowing
Washington to drift into bankruptcy in 1885 in
the desperate effort to perform the nations
task. In 1878 Congress decided that justice re-
quired the nation to pay one-half the Districts
expenses; but 1t has not yet declared that both
justice and consistency also require the pay
ment Of the same proportion of the expenses Of
capital making in the years of Congressional
indifference and neglect, and the consequent
relief OF the capital from a heavy indebtedness
which Expresses 1t, incurred in doing the
nations work of capital building. Fair play to
the city for few years in financial matters
does not even compensate for the scurvy treat
ment of the past, much less excuse unreason-
able extortions Of the present, which carry with
them threat Of worse 10 come.