Evening star., 1912-01-14
ADVANCES FROM TREASURY
Letter From Former Commissioner
Read in the House.
QUESTION OF BOND ISSUES
Imputation Of Reckless Extrava-
gance Claimed to Be Based on
Inaccurate Information.

n SOAdCNSiSy hduS l0SI SuuIIHcI
in the House over District Of Columbia
financial operations was continued yes
terday in the House during the consid-
GRAFTON of the District appropriation bill.
Representative Taylor of Ohio presented
letter which he had received from for
mer Commissioner H. B. F. Macfarland,
taking exceptions to some statements
made in the course of a colloquy in the
House last summer between Mr.. Taylor
and Representative Borland Of Missouri.
Mr.. Taylor read into the record state
ments said to have been made on several
occasions by Mr. Macfarland during hear
ings before the House District committee.
Mr.. Macfarland's letter quoted from
Mr.. Taylor's speech in the House last
session wherein Mr.. Taylor said that by
the course the District was pursuing it
would some time have to issue bonds,
and that Congress had stopped the Com
missloners dong this kind OF business" "
Mr. Macfariand contended that this
statement was made upon inaccurate in
formation. Mr.. Macfarland's letter then
said:
Statements Without Warrant.
the annual reports Of the Commissioners
| Of the District of Columbia and other
official communications shows that there
was no warrant in fact for these state
ments. OF course. the Commissioners OF
the District of Columbia have never had
the power to make appropriations or to
increase the floating debt or any other
debt of the District of Columbia and, of
course, Congress has not passed a law
to prevent them from doing so. Only
Congress can do these things. All the
m 0Ci hnN ffRrpo
was to submit estimates and recon-
mendations and reasons for them. Con-
81 ess has absolute control of the revenues
of the district of Columbia and makes
all appropriations.
The official record cited will show that
far from allowing the financial affairs OF
the District Of Columbia to drift without
a definite plan for dealing with them, the
Commissioners recommended year after
year, during the period from 13UO to 1910.
a definite plan which Congress adopted
in part and which If it hau adopted en-
tirely would have systematically and al
most automatically provided perfectly for
the purpose"
Mr.. Macfarland said that at the very
beginning of the decade the Commission
ers. in view Of the fact that Congress
was authorizing the great projects for
the development of the District, recon-
mended to Congress that the District
should be allowed to provide for its half
of the extraordinary appropriations neces-
sary for these extraordinary improve
ments. either BY issue of bonds or by
obtaining advances from the United States
Treasury. the bonds to be met. or the ad-
vs,r re.,aio, .n..roiy fIo.n
revenues of the District of Columbia, and
of course, with interest.
Advances From Treasury.
Congress saw the necessity for making
some such arrangement, since it was
obviously impracticable for the District
to pay its half of such extraordinary
expenditures out Of current revenues
without seriously crippling the appropria-
tions for current needs, including improve
ments of the municipal services desired
by the Commissioners and by Congress.
Congress at once chose the alternative
recommendation of making advances from
so.aIes Ir>dsu.y at per Cent
interest the rate paid by the United
States on it's later bonds. and that was
wise choice. From that time bonds
SON for considering bond issue"
Mr.. Macfarland then went on to say:
The systematic plan proposed by the
Commissioners completely met all the
proved useful for future needs as well.
Unfortunately. Congress did not fully
adopt It.. Instead of providing for the
extraordinary improvements In separate
account with provision for gradual re-
~ tine advances. con res. made
the extraordinary and current expendi-
lures together, required the advances to
ne REPAID IN a very limited period by an
annual paragraph in the District appropri-
alton bill. necessarily renewed from year
to year. and at the same time cut the ap-
preparations for current expenses so as to
repay the United States Treasury more
I'd l,.uiy man aaS NJ ceSsafy or deSlraDie
''In this manner the so-cailed floating
rSf Nc
tricts half of the cost of the extraordi-
nary improvements, amounting to over
81, ,OOO, COO was reduced to about
81, 100000 by the end of the ten-year
period If the District had had twice the
time in which to repay the advances
under the systematic plan of the Commits
sioners, there would have been no Occa-
sion for cutting the current expenditures
But, as ii was. the largest absolute
amount OF general improvements ever
Columbia was made In that period partly
at the expense of the proper development
OF the municipal services.
..The Old bonded debt inherited by the
which had never been increased since
that time has. of course, nothing to 40
with the so-called floating indebtedness
except that each year the District ana
the United States paid as current ex-
penditure into the sinking fund for the
extinction Of that bonded debt. and It
was reduced in the ten-year period from
SIS O91 800 in 1900 to $9.492, 100 In 1910
The sinking fund will fully provide Tor
this bonded Indebtedness. as 1t was IN
tended to do by the annual approp Ia.
tions. and 1t ought not tc be confused
with the floating Indebtedness.
Mr.. Taylor's Statement.
After causing Mr.. Macfarlands letter
to be read, Mr.. Taylor read a statement
to the House, as follows:
1T is quite true. and know It Is quite
ture, that neither the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr BorlandD nor myself would
willfully misrepresent any fact or mis-
represent condition affecting any per-
son, but In justification Of our remarks
think q short history of the mater talk
ed of In our co,loauy could be well placed
in the Record. together with this let
ter. .u..
''For instance. the present so-caiiea
hoatin9 or unfunded debt OF the District
Of COLUMBIA originated under an act OF
Congress. reported from the committee
on the District Of Columbia. and approved
Febru-.ry II, 1901 (Statutes at Large vol
ume n. page 1861, which authorized ad-
vances out OF the Treasury OF the United
States to meet expenses of the govern
ment of the District Of Columbia, under
aDproprfations made by Congress which
exceeded the one-half payable out OF DIS
trict revenues. The act in question au-
thorixed such advances until ana tnciud-
ing June 80, 1902 and that all advances