Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-14
A Surprise and disappointment.

The District appropriation hil in the
form i'm which ii energies from the House
appropriations committee is surprise
and a disappointment. 1t carries total
exclusive of the water department of
$101fS.412 which is S424 less
than the current law. and a0s,o1o.:O less
than the commissioners estimates which
were submitted III strict accordance with
the restriction imposed by the last Con-
gress to confine the estimates to the ex-
pected revenues.
Congress having put the estimates of
the Commissioners on a budget basis. by
this restriction. and the Commissioners
having strictly complied. the House COM
nfittee now declines to treat the estimates
as budget. 1t treats them as the same
kind of suggestions. to be manipulated
and cut down by the House. under the
old arrangement when the estimates were
simply statements of the absolute needs
of the municipality. irrespective of the
question of whether they could be met
by the current revenues without ad-
yances.
The theory of the District has been that
since this instruction was given to the
Commissioners to make their recon-
mendations fit the revenues exactly the
MUSE WOulu HI It's urn eitHcT d'Copt
the method of .apportioning the revenues
proposed by the Commissioners or pro-
vidng for the apportionment of the whole
amount. would substitute other items for
those suggested by the Commissioners.
and would itself enact "A rounded budget
instead of the usual confessedly made
quate suggestion to the Senate, the mere
starter for an appropriation act.
is that the House committee has han
died the Commissioners estimates, which
il has restricted to the point of expected
revenues. as negligible suggestions with
the disadvantage to the District that the
suggestions of the Commissioners, thus
curtailed, did not cover the whole field of
the actual needs of the Districts and
therefore did not give to the House the
full possibilities of selection in the ord-
nary process CT curtailment
The House committee has simply taken
the estimates, already cut to the bone by
the Commissioners, under the force of
law and under a mistaken belief as to
the meaning of the law concerning repay
ment of the floating Indebtedness, and
has cut deeply into the bone
The million dollars Of revenue which
to current needs and permanent improve
ments is availabie.'it IS suggested by the
committee, in part repayment of the prin-
cipal of advances to the District from the
Treasury. constituting the city's floating
Indebtedness
II the needs of the capital and the
plainest considerations of equity are
needed, not one cent of this money will
be spent this year on account of the
principal of the floating debt. Either
under the plan proposed by the Commits
sioners or some other the payment of
this Indebtedness should be postponed and
distributed in small annual installments
over long term of years, to the end
that the future taxpayers may share
equitably in meeting the cost of perma-
nent public improvements, of which they
will enjoy the main benefits. The prOpo-
Sition of the House committee makes mis-
erably Inadequate provision for current
needs, negiects almost entirely permanent
public Improvements and suggests the
Gripping of the capital of today by re-
payment from It's scanty funds of over a
million dollars on floating debt. in
CURED mainly for the benefit of the
future Washington.