Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-19
Reason Bills Marked personal"

Reason Bills Marked "Personal"
1T is true that contractors are, on oc-
casions. requested to forward their vouch-
ers tbills) to the property clerk, marked
personal, so that by going direct to his
desk the bill may be attached to the
usual printed form of order retained by
him, as explained below, and both trans
mtted to the auditor for audit and set
tlement.
THE occasion referred to is where the
supply, having been properly ordered by
.etter, it is unnecessary particularly as
he frequently fails to return :. with his
oil, as required) to send the printed form
Of order to the contractor, the same beins,
held on his desk py the propert clerk,
personally to he inclosed in the bill when
received back by him and transmitted
to the auditor.
"All transactions i'm connection with
the purchase of the whole of tbs ma
chinery are IN accord with the admin
lstiative rules and practice governing the
purchase of equipment for the District.
The Commissioners. in purchasing this
machinery, had but one constituent and
but one object in view, to serve the Dis
trict of Columbia"
Johnston Used Own Vehicle.
Concerning the charge that Commis-
sioner Johnston uses a public vehicle for
private use, the reply says:
That while Commissioner Johnston
has. at his own expense, used his own
motor vehicle during his term OF office
because of it's greater efficiency in the
accomplishment OF his public duties in
the supervision of the police, fire, health
and street cleaning departments and on
occasions for the official use OF the
board of Commissioners, he felt justified
in holding this horse and Vehicle in re-
serve. The work by way of exercise
given the animal was thought to be and
was no more than necessary to conserve
its health and welfare
Specific denial is given to the claim
that in the matter of assessing the taxa
tion is not uniform. Specific instances
claimed that the poor man pays at the
rate of 6S per cent, the rich at ~ and
sometimes - and lower.
The Commissioners reply says in part
on this subject:
Answer Assessment Charge.
In the speech of Representative Ed
ward de Y. Morrell, made in the House
of Representatives Monday, January .,
1906, reference is made to inequalities of
assessments and a comparison Is SUBJ
mitted between assessments in this city
and other municipalities. Some of the
INEQUALITIES referred to were as far back
as the assessments of 1902 and have been
corrected in subsequent assessments. In
the last report or the assessor certain
causes of inequalities are dealt with and
recommendations and improvements have
been made from year to year In order to
meet the various objections.
1T can easily be shown from the eX-
nerience of any municipality that no
scheme of assessment can entirely obvi-
ate INEQUALITIES no matter by whom the
assessments are made. 1t is not believed
that the criticism made by MT Morreli
is fairly applicable to the present condi-
tionS.
and X streets, 9th and 9TH streets north
east. was cited by Representative Cary as
an instance where the Commissioners eX-
ceeded their authority. The Commission
ers reply:
Established by Predecessors
.'rhe Commissioners who set aside part
Of square S57 for property yard were
the immediate predecessors OF the Com
missioners now in ONCE, the use to which
this land has been put having been de-
| termined upon November 4, 1908. Never
| theless the present Commissioners are
convinced that the action of their prede-
cessors was both wise and within the law.
| The legality of the action taken will be
duly determined, as the result OF CORE
spondence now being had with the proper
| federal authorities
| "As to the wisdom Of maintaining a
property yard on the land in question the
Commissioners are OF opinion that IL the
| land were abandoned as a property yard
the public would lose some $4,000 through
| being compelled to buy another property
yard, and that the creation Of a street in
| lieu of the property yard. which certain
private interests desire. would itself be
detrimental to the public interest involv-
ing wasteful and, therefore. wrongful ex-
penditures for the Improvement and main
tenance of street that IL not publicly