Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-03
Two Ways of Debt Making.

The House appropriations committee,
whose views, far as they were expressed
in the District bill. were reflected by the
House itself. has declared that the national
capital shall be kept "out of debt even
though it is called upon to pay on a cash
basis for extraordinary works of a perma-
nent character, such as In other cities are
paid for on long term credit. The Senate ap
preparations committee Is now asked by the
District to rectify the error which the
House has made in the premises and to
adopt for the District the usual principle
elsewhere governing such matters of mu-
nicpal finance. Two propositions are now
in practical effect before that body, one
being the Commissioners bill providing for
a federal advance of s100OO.000 repayable
in twenty years, the other an pnspecihed
suggestion that the emergency Of the as
sured deficit in the local revenues in the
face of these heavy expenditures be met as
1t was met last year by a small federal ad-
vance. repayable In two or three years
Thus either of these propositions, one of
which must be adopted, will lead the Dis
trict into debt to the federal government
this year as last.
There is assured certainty that the next
fiscal year will find the District in the
both its current needs and these extraor-
binary demands for permanent works. In
deed 1t is certain that as long as these
works are under way there will be an
nual deficiency. for it Is not conceivable
that even the most economical legislator
will in the final adjustment Of the District
bill, insist upon a curtailment Of the ap-
preparations to the point where both the
current and the extra charges can be met.
Such curtailment will lead to an annual
condition of local shabbiness wholly out Of
keeping with the character of the city and
the great work of development in progress.
Thus there can be no special determine
ton on the part of the Senate to keep the
District "out of debt for it is inconceiva-
BILE that that body will permit the House to
force the capital down to a strict cash pay
ment basis for it's heavy works and to an
inadequate minimum Of current mainte-
nance. So. if the Senate is willing to adopt
the principle that it is proper for the Dis
trict to go into debt for any purpose, why
should it not adopt the logical sequence to
that principle, the broader policy of per-
. hitting the District to incur a debt In a
business-like manner? The consolidation
of these annual driblet advances into a
single loan will not lead to any responst-
bilities on the part Of the District or the
government which are not now incurred or
! certain to be incurred soon. No new prof.
ects are in view which have not received
the sanction Of Congress- more or less dis
tinctly. which would be forwarded by this
provision Of money. Practically every
penny of the $1OOOOOOO proposed by the
Commissioners bill is already accounted
for In advance. as shown by the statement
adn tod 1nxrt No nf
ton drawn up last week.
1t Is difficult to understand the reasoning
by which the system Of annual emergency
advances is defended as against the plan
of Jumping all these sums into a single
loan. There can be doubt of the Districts
credit. Congress has exclusive charge of
that and Of the factors which enter into It,
There can be no doubt of the necessity. for
the most casual glance around the city ard
county shows where more money is needed
for current maintenance, and survey of
the tax books will reveal the burden which
Is now placed upon the taxpayers to enable
them unwillingly to pay their half of the
swollen budget on a theoretical cash basis
There Is no possible question as to the
practice in other cities. for every municipal
ledger shows loans 1oated for just such
purposes. There can be no doubt Of the
economy of time and even of money in such
a method. for the adoption of this twenty
year advance plan will solve now for that
entire period all questions relating to these
annual deficieacies. while the present FRO
vision of the funds to float these great en-
terprises will insure their systematic and
economical prosecution. There can be no
question of the Justice of distributing the
burden OF permanent works between the
taxpayers of the present and those of the
future, who will chiefly benefit by the
works themselves.
Ii Is question between two ways of put
ting the District into debt The one Is
spasmodic. unsystematic and unbusiness-
like. The other is simple, rational. just
and customary.