Evening star., 1896-01-21

is a sanitary necessity, 100000 per an
mum Is as much as can be economically ex-
Penued py the Commissioners In that work,
ihey have been two and half years build
ing portion of the Easily Point sewer at
an expenditure of $206. .2I.e There remain
ten more trunk sewers. ard sewer die
posais as proposed by the board of sani-
tary engineers, which, with an appropria-
tion OF 100000 for each, in three wears
the whole system could be!completed. This
can be accomplished without the issue of d
single bond or transmitting to posteritv q
heritage OF debt. Instead of taking from
the taxpayers $32S,OO0 per annum. which
would be the amount necessary to meet
the interest charge and provide a sinking
fund In the event Of a bond issue of s7
ooo,OOO let this sum be appropriated annual
ly from the District funds and duplicated
from rom tne United States treasury and there
would be realized Sti56, 600. which couId he
used exclusively for sewer improvements
rms could be done without an increase of
taxation II the surplus funds of the Dis
Ti .Iict were used for this purpose. This sur
plus in the last two years amounted to
$6OO,OOO, and the District auditor estimates
the surplus amount for the present fiscal
year at $500, Because of this fncreas sing
surplus an undervaluation of property is
said to be necessary to reduce municfna1
receipts. Why, then, should bonds he finat-
ed TO defray the cost Of municipal improve
ments? Perhaps the words "for other pur-
poses, In the title of the bill. are more
definitely understood by the promoters of
the bond issue than they are by the public
VINO will be victimized
Possibilities Within the City Limit..
1t is said that this scheme is necessary
TO develop the Greater Washington"
Within the city limits there are great possf-
bil1ties; acres of unimproved holdings are
yet to be improved; unsafe and unsfghtly
buildings should, be removed and substan-
tial modern structures substituted: the
thousands of vacant houses should be occu-
pied by the $4,000 residents who are now
living in inconvenient. unhealthy tenements
because Of their inability to pay the high
rents, which are the result largely of the
general Indebtedness. We oppose this
enormous expenditure to develop Greater
washington along the rugged hillsides
and on the barren wastes beyond our
boundary while miles of streets and ave
nues within the city remain unimproved.
Let US adopt honest methods to defray
necessary public expenditures; instead Of
floating millions Of bonds and enriching a
few favored financfers all property should
be assessed. at the true value, and property
owners and corporations should be required
TO pay taxes upon this basis, and all reve-
nueS of the District should be appropriated
from the District funds with an equal
amount from the United States treasury.
Organized labor desires only that the
necessary Improvements within the Dis
trict should be paid from the revenue de-
rived from honest taxation. We have ex-
perienced the evffa OF bonded debt, which
was the cause of 'yur dfsfranchisement and
deprived us of the least control of local af-
fairs and reduced lusl to the condition Of
subjects to an Influential class We cannot
regard with favor anysmeasure which will
repeat outrageous ihistdry and deny us in
future the privilege OF deciding the i'm
portant question oehayng imposed upon us
bonded debt land additional taxation
which will be borne foDf1alf a century.
In conclusion, VIZ earnestly desire the de-
feat of this measure and respectfully SUBJ
NIT to your consideration the reasons here
in recited. MILFORD sPoHN,
GEORGE o. COOK,
e. aJ.~RAE,
DC II Committee
In addition to this protest, Mr.. Spohn stat
ed to the committee that many of the labor
Ing people sendingsthe protest are not prop
erty owners, but are taxpayers in the real
sense OF the word, iinasEauch as they pay the
the landlords tax is increased, he does not
pay It, but the man who pays the rent suf-
fers.
Mr.. Dodge's Position.
Mr.. w. c. Dodge entreated the committee
to give further hearings upon the bill. He
Is not opposed to the bill in toto. He favors
bond issue for sewer Improvement, but the
work should not be. commenced until 1t can
be carried on without interruption. He had
tried to induce the board Of trade to aban-
don the street extension scheme rather than
lose the sewer BILL This bill Is called the
sewer bill, but the promoters of the street
extension have tackled their plan on to the
sewer bill, because it was the only way to
get the street extension scheme through
Congress. He is willing to extend the few
streets necessary for building the sewers.
He declared solemnly that the street extern
sion scheme has been worked up solely by
ha ron ocf0 lof frro yyHn avzyv