Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-30
The District Bill.

There should be no anxiety in the Dis
| trict on the subject of the local appro-
| priation bill now pending in conference.
1t will not fail of passage. There is no
danger of the Districts being left witl.-
out funds at the beginning Of the new
| fiscal year. however stubborn may be the
fight between the houses on the subject
of the apportionment of the cost of play
ground maintenance Congress will be in
session probably two months longer at
least and it may remain together until
the beginning of the fiscal year. In that
| time there will be abundant opportunity
for the conferees to reach wise deci-
sion and for the houses to act finally on
this measure.
Often the District appropriation bill is
one of the last to be put through and 1t
is shaped and trimmed in conference in
the closing hours of the session in man
ner by no means conducive to good local
government. Many compromises are de-
vised in the closing days of the session
justified only by the necessity of getting
bills through. The District has frequent
ly suffered on this score But in the
present circumstances the bill is already
framed in detail. and it's undesirable
features, of which there are more than
usual. cannot be attributed to the haste
of eleventh-hour legislation or to the need
of compromising for the sake of final
action.
There is only one item at issue now,
that of the Fairgrounds and the manner
Of their maintenance. The Senate has
voted that these recreation spaces shall
be maintained in accordance with the
halfand-half principle upon which the
present financial organization Of the Dis
trict is based. and that the money shall
be used for supervision. as well as for
other purposes. The House declares that
all the money shall he paid out. of the
revenues of the District. in violation of
the half-and-half principle. and that none
OF it shall be used for supervision. The
Senate is correct in its position in both
respects. The Fairgrounds should be
supervised and the supervisors should be
paid out of the general appropriation;
the money for the maintenance OF the
Fairgrounds in all respects should be ap-
propriated on the half-and-half basis.
just as all other branches of the munich
pal organization are maintained with
equally matched federal and local tax
money,
1t will be far better to wait until the
last hour Of the session for the enact
ment of the District bill, II 1t will then
be passed In correct form, than to have
it pushed through at present with the diff
ferences compromised regardless Of the
true principles of District legislation. The
District cannot possibly afford to have
the Fairgrounds appropriated for upon
the full-cost basis. 1t cannot afford to
have the organic act violated or infringed
in any respect. however small may be the
item. 1t regards the organic act as
partnership agreement in which the
United States is equally the beneficiary
with the District, and it regards 1t as the
paramount duty of Congress in its capac
ity as the Districts legislature, so APP
pointed by the Constitution Of the United
States, to safeguard its interests as jeal
ously as it does those of the federal
partner.