Evening star., 1902-01-21
DEFICIT DISCUSSED.
District Finances Considered
WaAhinEton Hoard of Trade.

washington hOard OF Trade,
A meeting Of the board OF directors of
the Washington Board Of Trade was held
yesterday afternoon, and considera ton was
given to the report of the special Commit
tee on municipal finances. There was a
| full attendance of the members Mr. Thos.
w. Smith, the president Of the board, pre-
| sided. and Mr.. George H. Harries, the Sec
retary, recorded the minutes
Prior to the coming together Of the di-
rectors meeting of the special committee
was held, and the report which had been
| decided upon at a previous meeting was
| gone over. The members of the special
| committee present were Charles ]. Bell.
| s. w. Woodward, Theodore w. Noyes and
| George Truesdell
In presenting the conclusions Of the COM
mittee to the board Mr.. Bell, the vice
chairman, said that the committee had
reached the conclusion that the present de-
f1cit Is caused by the failure Of the United
States government to live up to it's agree
ment with the District, as set forth in the
organic act This, he said, has already re-
suited in loss of over 81 $50. 600 to the Dis
trict, and IN addition the sum Of s., 600, 600
has been taken from current revenues Of
the past twelve years for permanent i'm
proyements, which should have been spread
for a sinking fund He said 1t was the
opinion of the committee that had these ex-
penditures been provided for in this way
there would now be surplus on hand
SQudt W Tic pEcScut oSllCit Oh
He then offered resolutions, which were
adopted unanimously by the board. These
resolutions provide
''That Congress be urged to adopt the
| plan recommended by the District Commits
sioners for obtaining money for permanent
improvements-namely. loan from the
United States to the District of Columbia
Of a sufficient sum to reimburse the gen.
eral revenues of the District for expendi-
lures already enormously made, and to pay
for the Districts share In carrying out the
following improvements now urgently
called for by our people; said debt to be
for a period Of, say, twenty-five years re-
payable in annual installments, with inter-
est at the rate of per cent per annum:
Filtration plant. sewerage, improvements
of Anacostia fats. municipal building.
street extension; provided, that in all cases
the cost OF same be divided equally be-
tween the United States and the District
of Columbia.
"That the Board of Trade is opposed to
any additional tax. even in the nature of
personal tax. believing 1t Is unnecessary,
the existing revenues: OF the District being
the terms OF the organic act. to meet ali
current expenses and provide the neces-
sary sinking fund to meet extraordinary
/ improvements
.That the municipal finance committee
be authorized to ask for a hearing before
the District committees OF Congress to pre-
sent the views of the Board of Trade on
this subject"
At meeting OF the committee on tara.
tion and assessment of the Board of Trade
yesterday afternoon the chairman. Jesse r.
Wilson. presided and H. H. Darneille, the
secretary, noted the proceedings Atten-
ton was given to the bill which recently
passed the House OF Representatives nro.
viding for the payment OF taxes In one or
two instaliments. in November and Nav
at the option of the taxpayer, without per,-
atty. until the 1st of June each year.
This measure received the unanimous fn-
dorsement of the committee.
The personal tax bill was read. and. after
discussion. action was postponed until the
next meeting. Wednesday afternoon