Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-24
The Voice of the District.

When the House District committee unan-
imously approved the Commissioners bill
for federal advance of 100000 900 to the
District to meet extraordinary expenses.
there was no thought on the part Of the
taxpayers that their wishes could be mis-
understood. The proposition was drawn in
accordance with the often repeated desire
Of the citizens of the capital that the money
for the great permanent works should be
raised by some form of loan rather than
be taken out of the current revenues, so
sorely and increasingly needed for the cur
rent maintenance of the District. This SEN
timent had been repeatedly expressed by
representative citizens organizations and
by individuals until it seemed as though the
voice of the District could not be mistaken.
But it has appeared that the House wants
further evidence of the Districts opinion
in the premises There is no constitutional
requirement that this constitutionally desig-
mated local legislature shall, before enacting
laws for the capital, ascertain the wishes
of it's citizens. Nor does it often defer to
the distinctly expressed desires of the peo-
pie. There has been in the past very little
Difference to public opinion and no tendency
to adopt the plebiscite method But if now
the House wishes to base Its action upon
the Districts wish, it is by this time, or
very soon will be, fully informed.
Last night the Board of Trade reaffirmed
the sentiment which has in one form and
another been expressed frequently in the
past on this subject this time pointedlY
and explicitly declaring. by a unanimous
vote that the best interests of the District
demand the enactment of the federal adj
vance bill. The Star has been printing for
the past three days interviews with leading
citizens some of them representative Of the
sentiment in their sections of the District,
in which only one opinion appears, that the
loan bill should be promptly passed and the
principle established of paying for great
permanent works with the aid of future
taxpayers. who will enjoy the benefits from
them. 1t is expected that before the bill is
called up in the House every citizens asso-
citation will have formally stated or restated
this same view The House will have abso-
lutely no reason to question the local SEN
timent.
These men who have thus expressed
themselves are in the main taxpayers. bust
ness men. home owners, the chief contrib
utors to the Districts revenues. 1t is they
who are threatened with the whole burden
of the cost of the large public works while
suffering for current improvements. 1t is
they VINO Will contribute lar more imam
their share of the cost of the betterments
which will yield the greatest degree of
benefit to the people whose tax payments
will succeed theirs. 1t is they who today
need the additional schools. and policemen
and fire fighting facilities, and advantages
derived from increased municipal working
forces in every department, who are shock
ed by the deplorable conditions which
round so many of the municipal agencies.
1t Is they who while they remain taxpayers
will for a part all of the twenty years
proposed as the federal advance period
gladly pay their share of the instalments
in liquidation and in interest while meeting
all necessary drafts upon them for the
maintenance Of a sufficiently large current
revenue to provide properly for the capt.
tails growing necessities These men have
the right to be heard and their demand
cannot now be ignored or misunderstood.
1t would seem that the well-considered and
rnmistakable wishes of the local taxpay-
ers concerning the disbursement of their
taxes and the methods of applying them to
meet the municipal obligations should be
respected by the legislature to whose fos-
tertng care the Constitution entrusts the in
terests and welfare of the national capital