Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-25

be made by which these sources Of ex-
penditufe should wholly be removed from
the District appropriation bill and sys-
TEN OF special assessments adopted. such
as exists In my own city and almost ev1
property owner in the benefited district
himself pays for all the improvements.
When that ID done the District committee
will have taken off its shoulders 30 per
cent of the now useless labor which it
performs.
"As soon as the property owners in the
District get ready to pay for an i'm
provement they should be allowed to DO
the work and pay for 1T without anybody
elses say 50. II they want a street
opened ana are willing 10 pay for It they
should have it opened. and IL they want
a street opened and are willing to pay
fer it they should have it approved by
executive action without bill before
this House or the Senate. II they want
that thing done, I am willing for them
to pave every street in the District just
as fast as they want to pave them. There
is no reason on earth why the time ot
Congress and the time of its committees
should be taken up by matters of that
kind.
Intangible Personal Property.
MY distinguished friend from Mime
sofa brought forward in the District
committee a proposition by which it Is
proposed to levy a tax upon the intan-
gibie personal property in the District.
It developed in our hearing, as a matter
Of surprise, that there was tax on
real estate and on the tangible personal
property. that every clerk and laboring
man in this District pays upon his house.
hold furniture, but not a dollars worth
on stocks and bonds are paid for by any.
body anywhere in the District. A biIi
was brought forward to correct that. BUT
does anybody know how much tax tnat
will produce, and does anybody beleve
1t would be just to do that II it also IN.
wolves further expense to the federai
Treasury? Where is the necessity or DO
ing that which puts great burden upon
the federal Treasury"
when will that bill pass?" Mr.. Nye
inquired.
Pleads for District Rights.
sIf the District committee" replied Mr..
Borland, has the same consideration
that it has had before, neither the gem
tleman nor I will live long enough to see
it. We will never live long enough to
reach the loan shark bill that the DIS
trict committee has struggled with Tor
weeks There is plenty of legislation be-
fore the District committee that there is
no chance Of reaching. / served a short
time on the District committee. / do
not know that I shall serve In the next
Congress on that committee, and prob
the District OF Columbia are entitled to
a committee with ample powers. which
shall be the legislature Of this great
commonwealth. That District committee
should have the power to appropriate
the taxes of the District of Columbia
without tho concurrence of any other
committee. It should have the powers
now vested in the judiciary committee,
and It should be able through its hear
ings to 50 keep In touch with the citizen.
ship Of the District that the wants ana
needs Of the District. which are strug-
Cling toward autonomy. struggling to-
ward the measure of self-government
that it is entitled to. should have a forum
where its cause can be heard. and Wnen
its cause is heard by that forum. that
committee should have the power to mold
into laws and bring to the attention OF
CONGRESS those measures necessary Tor
the government OF the District Until
that Is done we shall have appropriation
of general legislation. We shall have the
District committee put aside. because
they do not make up their own appro-
priation bills, and nobody cares anything
about them, and We shall have the DIS
trict business in the same haphazard
fashion It has been In heretofore.
"I hope to see the District committee
clothed with power to expend the reve-
nues OF the District. I hope that it will
have the power to apportion those reve-
the District. and yet will not be put I'M
der the necessity. as We now seem to be
under, of contributing out Of the Treas
ury Of Uncle Sam dollar for dollar for
every dollar assessed. There may be
some reason why the United States should
double the amount raised by real estate
taxation OF the District. about 100000;
but there Is no reason why it should dou-
BILE the amount raised from Police Court
fines of the District. or the saloon Ii
censes Of the District. or the Inheritance
tax Of the District, or the taxation upon
stocks and bonds-absolutely none. And
until that change In made and the peo-
pie of this District are given power to
improve their own property at their own
will and a District committee empowered
to expend their funds according to the
views of the people Of the District. the
same difficulty will be encountered
Comparison Of Expenses.
Have you had any comparison between
this and other cities as to the cost of
administrator" inquired Representative
Nye OF Minnesota.
1.-The cost of administering my city,"
replied Mr.. Borland, lis about one-third
the cost Of administering the District Of
Columbia. The figures are little bit
misleading from this fact. presume it
IL true In the gentleman's city, as in mine,
that the school district is a separate or
ganization, and that special assessments
levied upon private property for special
revenue. When we take out those two
items. 1t 10 probable the expense of ad-
ministering the District Is about twice
the expense of administering Minneapolis
or Kansas City. I think that indicates
the expense Of administering the District
Co f<n II q m