Evening star., 1902-02-13
THE COMPACT OF 1878
Mr.. Macfarland Adheres to
Views Lately Expressed.
FACT AGAINST THEORY
DISCUSSION OF ACT CREATING
PERMANENT GOVERNMENT"
Division of Expense of Improvements
in the National Capital = APP
peal to History.

i III splte VI ItCeIl CllllClSHlS u the COIl-
pact of 1873 between Congress and the
| District / must still believe that 1t is a
good thing if lived up to. as the old lady
said Of the doctrine of total depravity,'
said Commissioner Henry B. F. Macfar-
| land. president of the District board, when
asked by a Star reporter for x further ex-
preston on the subject on which several
highly interesting communications have re-
| Gently appeared in the columns of The
! Star.
| II must still adhere" he continued, "tO
| the opinion that the constitution of the
| District of Columbia as the Supreme
| Court has called the act Of June H. 1873,
| for the creation Of a permanent govern
ment.' was the beginning of better things
| for the District, financially as in every
| other way, and that only since its enact
ment has the national government con-
| tributed one-half to the general expenses
| as the owner of more than one-half of the
real estate
| 1T is question Of fact and not of theory
| Of what the government has actually done,
| and not of what it might have done or ought
| to have done. in dealing with the national
! capital. To prevent confusion of thought
| two things must be distinguished. namely.
| the construction Of national government
buildings, with their approaches and sur
| roundings and other facilities for the i'm
| mediate use Of the national government
and the general improvement of the Dis
| trict. with the maintenance of it's munici-
| pal services.
Speaking generally, up to 1873 the ma
| tional government confined its expenditures
in the District. with sporadic exceptions
| to the former class of objects, leaving upon
the citizens Of the District Of Columbia the
| task Of providing for the latter class Of ex-
penditures. while since that time the ma
| tional government, for the most part. has
contributed one-half toward the general
expenses Of the District.
Government Was Poor.
"At the beginning, the national govern
ment was so poor that it was not able to
pay for anything in the District of Co
| lumbia.
| THE original proprietors gave it 20 per
| cent of the area of the city of Washing
ton, and from the sales of lots thus donated
| and the grants. amounting to $l92,ooO,
made by Maryland and Virginia. 1t con-
structed the Capitol, the Executive Man
sion and other public buildings.
The act Of May Is. 1920 which has been
| cited as the true beginning of the compact
| between the District and the national gov
ernment, applied in terms only to the city
! of Washington. and provided that the i'm
| provements authorized by it. which were to
| be confined to the neighborhood of the ma
tional buildings, were to be paid for out of
any moneys arising from the sale of lots
| In the city of Washington belonging to the
| lUlleu StdteS anu lIOIu Ilo otIeI IuIlu
| This act left out of account Georgetown,
| Alexandria and all the rest of the District
| outside Of the city Of Washington. and in
stead of providing "a half-and-ha princi-
ple,' or dividing the expense of improving
| even the city of Washington. it limited
| the expenditure of the national govern
| ment to money received from the sale of
| lots donated by the original inhabitants of
the District.
Result of Inquiry.
"On the Cd Of February 1885, fifteen
| years later, Senator Southland Of New Jer-
| sey, on behalf Of the committees on the
| District of Columbia Of the two houses re
| ported the results of an inquiry made by
| them as to the financial embarrassments of
the residents of the District, Of which 'one
Of the principal causes Senator Southard
| reported. was their expenditures for streets.
| In this instructive report all that had been
| done in the District up to that time was
carefully reviewed
1.-The statement is made that the people
| Of Washington alone. then about 10000 in
number, including nearly 1000 people Of
color and slaves had paid for the general
Improvement Of streets at least $500 971.
while the national government had spent
| only $20S, ,92; and the whole of this sum-
| says the report, with the exception of
about $4,000, has been devoted to Pennsyl-
| around and adjoining the Capitol and Pres
ident's squares alone, the improvement Of
| which was indispensable to the government
| itself and promotive Of it's own interest
Should Pay at Least Half.
Senator Southard held in this report that
the national government, under the mar
row est measure OF justice, should pay at
least one-half Of the expense Of those
streets and that one-half Of the money ex-
pended by the city for this purpose ought
now to be refunded to it. He dwelt upon
| the fact that besides its private building
lots and public reservations the government
owned and regulated the streets.
He added in speaking Of the refund: In
| making this appropriation 1t will not be
necessary for Congress to take from the
has been derived from any one Of all it's
sources of revenue to which the people of
| the Union contribute. The government has
| already received from the property which
it acquired by contract with the owners of
the soil much larger amount
Senator Southards report makes the
| first official suggestion Of the half -and-halr
| principle but Congress was not willing to
adopt it then, nor did 1t do so until it enact
| ed the compact of 1879 Between 1885 and
| do practically as it had done before. 1t
provided for national buildings and other
facilities for it's work, and for the improve
| ment of the streets and other surroundings
! of national reservations. At times, and in
| haphazard fashion, it cont rbuted to the
| anything like one-half Of them. The Treas
| ury Department prepared, in 1878. a state
| ment of the expenditures made from the
| national treasury within the District OF
| Columbia from 100 to 1876, stating the
total as 500. 112, 395.S7.
An Estimated Proportion.
''The first permanent board of Commits