Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-29
Question of Taxation for the Support
of the Capital.
CITIZENS ARE 1T 4 DISADVANTAGE
Some Anomalies Growing Out of
the Existing Conditions.
RANKINJU STICE SHOWN
F.E. Leuvp in The New York Evening Post.

r. r IeuIp in The New YORK Evening POST
WASHINGTON. July 25.-Nearly all citi-
zens Of the United States now feel on
terms Of personal acquaintance with this
city either as the result Of a visit or
through the published descriptions and pic
lures. which are scattered everywhere. 1t
is not So many years ago that Washing
ton was known to the people at large only
by name OF IN vague way, which car
ried with it no sense Of joint ownership
OF interest; but since the city has grown
out of its swaddling clothes and acquir-
eG a worldwide reputation for its beauty.
no citizen feels that his travels in his own
country are complete till he has looked
over the capital which he helps to sup
port; and with such Il visit and the pro-
prietary pride which 1t awakens he ceases
to grurnbe, if he has grumbIed before.
about contributing his share to the main
1enance of the seat of government Yet
Congress contains many men who continue
TO measure the feeling of their constitu-
ents by the old gage and assume that they
begrudge every penny spent upon public
improvements here. forgetting that since
Washington has become worthy of the
tons pride the popular feeling toward it
has been very liberal
Concerns the Whole Nation.
The Washington board of trade has just
published as a pamphlet a paper written
by its president, Theodore W. Noyes, pro-
testing against a plan of Congress to COM
pei the taxpayers of the District to bear
the whole expense Of opening and improv-
ing the streets of the city when extended
into the suburbs. In its narrower aspect
the question Is one which affects only the
purses of local residents and property-own-
ers, but 4 broader phase of it concerns
the whole nation, and many of the facts
and figures cited by Mr.. Noyes will astonish
persons who never had occasion to look
these data up for themselves.
That for the last twenty years the citi-
Gems of Washington and the federal govern
ment have divided local taxation between
them is probably known every where; also,
that the tax rate paid by the individual is
1nVarlaDie-Sl-JO per Ion, one year with
other 1t is not generally known, how
ever that real estate here is assessed in a
higher proportion to its actual value than
In any other goOd-sized interior city in the
Uslted States Indeed. the two valuations
are so close together that they are treated
as one-$l23. i1O.219. The nearest approach
to this Is Newark. n. J.. where the actual
valuation is $l.i2. $4,000 and the assessment
SSS.UJD,tttd- The farthest from il is Chicago,
with. an actual valuation of S1.2JO. OOO.eO
and an assessment Of only $40, 5Ji OUJ. All
the figures used by Mr.. Moves for COmpari-
son are those of the census OF 1880, but the
changes since then pretty well Offset each
other Chicago makes up for her low as
sessment, of course, by her higher rate of
taxation, paying S6.42 to Washington's S1.50
WIN Ofher IIt1eS.
When it is remembered that only half the
property in Washington is subject TO as
sessment, and that the taxes IN 1880 fell
upon population of less than 900 it is
interesting to know that the assessed
valuation in this city exceeded the COM
bined assessments Of Cleveland Ohio; Port
land, Greg; Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas
CITY. Kan; Sioux Fails, s D.; Cheyenne,
WyO-; Fargo, n. D.; Tucson Ar1z and
Virginia City, New. with an aggregate pop
u!ation OF 437, 339, between two and three
tunes as large as WashingtOn's Then the
municipal debt which was piled up here
through the many years that the city was
compelled TO bear its whole burden I'm
aided has given the people of Washington
per capita Indebtedness of $50. So as against
Aiiwaukee's SLIPS, Indianapolis S17.51 and
Cleveland S23-51. these cities being chosen
&Or comparison on account of their general
APPROXIMATION to Washington in pOpula-
tlon- Even Chicago, which Is supposed to
be an extensively managed corporation.
has a pei capita indebtedness of only S11.9S
An Absurd Idea.
Such figures go to show that the
prevailing idea that the taxpayers of
Washington, with their comparatively
economical government, are not barring
their due share Of the burdens of CITIZEN
ship is absurd. This demonstration is EN-
phasized by the fact that when it comes
10 personal taxation Washington is at a
great disadvantage as compared with other
cities Thousands of persons who own real
estate here claim residence elsewhere, and
whatever personal taxes they pay are paid
" here they technically reside. This state
OF things grows out of the peculiar status
OF Washington as a political and not a
business city y very large proportion Of
her population came here 70 serve the gov
erumeHt in some way, and this gives them
right. unde: existing law. TO claim their
Cid homes still as their residences. They
cling To the right because it is the ONLY con-
dition of their having a vote, and also he.
cause. under our diCuious system of geo.
graphical appOrtionmenJ in the civil SER
vice. they would put their livelihood in
jeopardy by permitting themselves TO be
Charged TO- the District of Columbia
Less of Two Evils
Il is this circumstance, moreover, which
does more than anything else to keep the
District Of Columbia without a ballot, even
for the election of its most petty officers;
for. since the intelligent part of the popu-
latl1n who vote elsewhere could not vote
here also, the political control of the Dis
Irlct would pass into the hands of the ire
Sponsiolc class who constitute a ma iority
OF the remnant The District could have the
ballot tomorrow If the better element i'm
inc population would demand IT, bur both
they and Congress realize too clearly what
that would mean, and Acknowledgement is
accepted as the less Of two evils
The late John H. Oberly used to insist
thtt II would be possible To get rid of bot
the Acknowledgement of the District and
many of the evils of the spells system nv
lhe simple device of a law requiring every
person accepting employment under the
FEDERAL government in Washington to be-
come a resident of the District pro tenn
pore Half the trouble encountered in try
ING 10 administer the reformed civil service,
system honestly, he said. could be traced
10 the practice of letting men draw govern
1hent salaries here and go home once a year
10 take part in the elections; for it does not
take much OF this sort of thing 10 brtng
about a confusion Of mind between fealtV
10 the national interest and to the partv of
ones utilization But if every government
employe in Washington became, by virtue
OF his office. a voter in the District we
eoutd trust TO there being always a fairly
Intelligent majority in control of affairs
here.
Siiver-Doiiar statesmanship.
Even in paying half the expenses of
maintaining its capital, the government is
not living up to its original implied CON-
tract When it came here, the owners of
the soil not only surrendered their right
TO self-rule. but handed over fiye-sevenths