Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-08
Economical and Profitable Debts.


Neither the individual nor the munich
pality should incur debt unless ii Is nee
cssary and practicable and unless il will
he economical and profitable. If. there
fore. the paymcnt-postponing plan of the
commissioners will cause the four million
advance already made To suffice and will
render unnecessary the mourning of addi-
tional debt. or If il is clear that Congress
will not at this time authorize further ad-
vances. whether they are desirable or
undesra BILE then in either case il Is wise
for the District To refrain from the sug-
gestion Of advances and to push only the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS proposition. But in
avoiding any present increase of the debt
ana in proposing plans for its extinguish-
mCnt We should not he silly as to i'm
pute extravaeance and unwisdom to Con-
gross i'm creating the existing debt. or
stultify ourselves. who have urged Con-
gress TO make these advances. by indulg-
ing in or encouraging maudlin misfit SER
mons concerning the folly and criminality
Of debt I'm the abstract.
4 debt is a blessing or q curse accord
ing to circumstances. If man bOrrows
at ) per cent and earns 10 per cent on
the money. or borrows at :; per cent a
month in some mining region or rich new
country and earns 10 per cent a month";
his debt is clearly economical and profita-
HE. otherwise if the figures are re-
versed. In accordance with the relation
of percenta ges paid and earned under the
hicawber system of bookkeeping results
financial happiness or unhappiness.
The bueaboo of debt i'm the abstract
has no terrors for Washington. The CAPT.
tai has climbed by the steps of debt to
the pinnacle of national affection and
genuine prosperity. All OF the Just and
fair treat In its relation to the nation
which the capital has ever secured until
recent years has been obtained through
the painful process OF piling up obliga-
tons for necessary public improvements
which the national government should
itself have made until the nation in
shame has partly fulfilled its obligations
and come 10 the relief of a community
bankrupted i'm the public-spirited effort
to perform neglected national functions
and to bear unaided the national respon-
sibilities in capital building.
The heavy debt incurred by the city's
taxpayers in meeting obligations which,
as the Senate committee reported, did not
properly belong to them, brought the ma
ton through Congress to the city's relief
in 1855. and led to the first formal recog-
milton by a congressional committee Of
the nations financial obligations to the
nations city.
The Shepherd debt of the seventies for
laying the foundations OF the Greater
Washington put the local taxpayers in
virtual bankruptcy and led directly and
inevitably to the halfand-half contribution
arrangement OF the organic act of 1878
which is the sure guaranty Of a great and
creditable National Capital. The Districts
bonded debt. the payment OF which in
annual sinking-func installments makes
demands upon the current revenues which
are sometimes sorely felt. represents the
cost Of killing forever all capital-removal
projects. and of fastening the capital i'm
movably in the ten miles square. II rep
resents the half-and-half pledge of the
organic act. IL represents the cost of
laying the firm and solid foundations or
the new and Greater Washington. And
being shared in the end by the nation it
is the most economical and profitable
debt that any municipality ever con-
tracted.
The Districts floating debt, while in
CURED under radically different condi-
tions, may he similarly commended The
debt of 1885 and that of the seventies
were contracted by the local taxpayers
and justly forced upon and later In part
assumed by a reluctant national gov
eminent. But our present floating debt
was created by Congress itself at our re-
quest and the credit for this wise finan-
cial arrangement is shared by both ma
ton and city. Congress no longer needs
to be forced. Many representatives of
the nation in both houses of Congress are
as enthusiastically enlisted In the wise
upbuilding OF the capital as the most 10y
al and devoted Washingtonian.
Many times. however. after the passage
Of the organic act i'm 1878 Congress failed
10 appropriate annually from the Treasury
for District purposes an amount equal to
that raised by local taxation. In viola
tiol OF the letter and spirit of the law II
created a District surplus of taxpayers
money. not covered by an equal amount
from the national Treasury and expended
At once in meeting municipal needs: and
permitted this surplus TO he spent, with
out the doubling contemplated by law.
on projects financed solely out OF the reve-
nues OF the District
Turnabout is fair play. For nine years
instead of appropriating from the
Treasury less than the amount of District
taxation. Congress has appropriated more.
and has treated these advances as loans
ny the nation TO the District at per cent
interest.
The four million floating debt represents
eight millions of cash spent on eighteen
millions Of extraordinary permanent i'm
provements made in the last nine years.
The remainder of the eighteen millions.
not represented by advances. has come
from the current revenues. in part equita-
nly and in part by unfairly draining these
revenues and Gripping the citys ability
TO meet properly current needs. Thus
to the extent Of eight million dollars these
advances have blessed the city with ur-
gently needed permanent improvements
which could be economically provided only
as a whole and not by piecemeal, and
which without this debt could not have
been secured. Among these permanent
public works of the last nine years are
the sewage disposal system, the filtration
plant. the District building, new railway
terminals. involving reclamation of the
Mall and the elimination OF ali grade
crossings. the District hospital, the Poto-
mac Highway bridge and the Connection,
Avenue. Massachusetts Avenue, Anacostia
and Piney Branch bridges.
This kind of debt is economical and
profitable. The money has been needed
for immediate use in larger lump sums