Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-09
Direct Attack Upon the Organic Act.


The House District committee. having
considered various propositions for the so
luton of the policemen and firemen's pen
sion fund problem, has voted to report
favorabIy the bill that in all of its pro-
visions is the most objectionable. being
the most dangerous attack upon the or
ganic act which has yet been made. Ac-
cording to this bill the deficiency in the
pension fund is to be supplied by means
Of a special tax levied annually upon all
taxable property in the District of Column
bia, this tax being in addition to the gen.
eral tax levied on the half-and-half basis
under the organic act, for purposes of
municipal maintenance.
Desirable as it is to find a way to pre-
vent the annual failure of the fund from
which pensions are paid to disabled fire.
men and policemen. and to the families
of those who have lost their lives in the
line of duty or through exposure, essen
tial as it is for the sake Of the municipal
good faith that there should be no lapse
in these guarantees, it would be better to
allow the fund utterly to fail than to
permit such serious infraction Of the
fundamental law establishing the financial
relationship between the District and the
pose. unwisely and inequitably. the segre-
cation Of special sums, funds. fines and
forfeitures for the maintenance Of the po-
lice and firemen's pensions. These are,
however. innocuous compared with the
proposal to pay the pensions in any part
by means of a special tax upon all the
property in the District.
The only authority for taxing property
IN. fr frin 1x,y< cx,k v,to
is that contained in the act of 1878.
which provides that the proposed expend-
itures of the municipality shall be SUBJ
mitted to Congress in the form of the
estimates OF the Commissioners, and to
the extent to which they are approved
sum equal to 80 per cent shall be appro-
priated from the revenues of the United
States and the remainder shall be pro-
vided by means Of a tax levy at a fixed
rate of IL per cent upon the real and
personal property in the District Of Co
lumbia not by law exempted from taxa
ton. 1t was the intention of the trainers
of the organic act that this local tax levy
the extent Of it's contribution to the CAPT.
.al-maintenance fund. With few ex-
ceptions. to all Of which formal and en-
phatic protests have been made by the
District, this has been the practice of the
government since that enactment. Here
tofore the attractions of the organic act
have been in the form OF exempting GER
tain specified items Of appropriation from
the half-and-half system Of payments.
thrusting them upon the District for
whole-cost maintenance: such items, for
an example. as the upkeep of the public
Fairgrounds. and, further back in local
history, the extension Of the streets. Until
now, however. it has not been proposed
to depart from the organic act by pro-
viding for the levying OF a special tax,
the product to be used for a specific
municipal purpose, without being match
ed, dollar by dollar, by federal money.
II special tax can be levied outside
of the organic act to support the pension
fund for the benefit of the policemen and
firemen there Is no reason why another
special tax should not be levied to pay
the salaries Of the policemen and the
fremen. If 1t is permissible thus to sup
port two large and expensive branches of
the District municipal organization by
special tax other branches Of the local
government can be similarly supported,
such as the schools or the street cleaning
work or the health department, or, in
short, any one Of the local government
activities. And the moment that any
such departure is made. for the purpose
Of paying pension deficiencies or for main
tanning any particular branch Of the local
government by means of a special tax
beyond that authorized by the organic
act, that moment the act Of 1878 ceases
TO be the fundamental and dominant law
Of the District of Columbia. 1t will have
been wounded in vital point.
Urgent though the need may be of some
form of legislation for the relief of the
deserving people who are dependent upon
this pension fund for their sustenance. it
IL necessary to prevent the enactment Of
this proposed law unless the organic act
IL. with our assent, to be rendered worth
less as guaranty OF equal federal partic-
3pation in the cost OF maintaining the
capital municipality.