Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-18
Controller RULES
ON INTEREST CHARGE


as provided by the acts of July 81,
1875, and March 3. 1871"
Ihfrty-one typewriter pages are
| consumed by the controller of the
treasury in determining the status of
| the alleged Indebtedness. He reviews
the legislation of the period, and cir
cumstances attending such legislation,
and makes an exhaustive review of the
! entire problem.
The proposition to which he adj
| dressed himself in determining whether
or not the District of Columbia owed
money to the United States was con-
lined to the exact period of the ref
erence, and is stated by him as follows:
1T Is assumed that the question sub
m and is as to the years 1877 and
1878, eliminating the antecedent por-
ton of the period in question, and as to
| those two years one of three situa-
tons exists: The District of Columbia
ARRANGEMENTS of interest s1,o03,257.24.
or it owes the United States one-half
of that amount, viz, $501,62s.62, or 1t
owes the United States nothing"
District of Columbia to the United
States, he concludes, after exhaustive
reasoning, 1t is in the sum of $501,-
62S.62.
Suggests No Debt Exists.
"But perfect fairness in the treat
! ment Of the question submitted" he
| observes, requires the suggestion
that there are plausible grounds for
| an assumption against the present ex-
| istence of any Indebtedness because of
the advances made under the authority
| of the two acts in question"
Allegations made in the memoranda
accompanying the reference and pre-
pared by the House committee on af-
fairs of the District of Columbia, to
the effect that hundreds of thousands
Ir,f< 1r1l, u
District of Columbia for delinquent
| taxes, much of it due during the fiscal
years 1875 to 1878, should have been
! applied to this Indebtedness on account
of Announcements for interest, are con-
sidered by Controller Downey.
! He says:
so ar as l am advised, it is not DOS
sible to ascertain the exact amount of
June so. 1873, which have subsequently
been collected and paid into the United
States Treasury, nor is it possible to as
certain how much of the expenses of the
District of Columbia incurred prior to
July l, 1873, have been paid since that
date, and how much. if any, of such pay
mentS has been charged to appropriat tons
! OF Congress and how much has been
charged to the District of Columbia rev.
enues.
II am given to understand that because
| OF the lapse of time and insufficient or
| incomplete records of the fiscal opera
tIOIlS VI the DlStrlCL OF Columbia, II IS
not now possible to Segregate the old
revenues and expenses from the new; and
it is therefore impossible to ascertain the
amount of any balance of old revenues
which may exist, or to ascertain with
certainty that there is any balance"
Disposition of Excess Revenues.
If an excess could be disclosed of rev.
enues collected since June so, 1878, on
account of taxes then due and unpaid
over payments made since that time on
account of expenses incurred on or be-
fore that date, such balances would, in
the opinion of Controller Downey, be
properly chargeable with any indebted
ness still due on account of such ex-
penses, including advances made by the
United States to pay the interest of the
1855 bonds. And if the Secretary of
the Treasury had the right to reim-
burse the United States it would be from
such excess that he would be enabled
to do so, after proper proportional credit
to the District of Columbia.
But not only does Controller Downey
find this excess or balance undeter-
minable for any purposes of reim-
bursting the United States, but he de-
MES that the Secretary of the Treas
ury could exercise the power, if he
had it, to reimburse the United States
United States Treasury standing to the
credit of the District of Columbia to
the credit of the United States.
You would not even then be author
lied to charge any portion of the in
debtedness of the District of Columbia
to the United States hereinbefore re-
ferred to-" he decides, because it
would be clearly unlawful for you to
charge said Indebtedness or any part
thereof to revenues of the District of
Columbia, levied and collected under
the organic act of 1873, which revenues
are exclusively applicable administra
lively TO the estimated and approved
expenses of the District of Columbia
provided for by the said act"
The acts of July 80, 1876, and March
| 3, 1877, providing for advancements of
| the interest charges by the United
| States and their reimbursement by the
District of Columbia do not, in the
opinion of Controller Downey, confer
Authority upon the Secretary of the
Treasury to reimburse the Treasury of
the United States from revenues of the
District of Columbia. He finds that
the law empowers him to reserve"
funds for reimbursement.
Withdrawal Only Upon Warrants.
| He then cites the law of July ~. 1876,
which provides that revenues of the
| District of Columbia deposited in the
United States Treasury shall be drawn
| therefrom only upon warrants of the
accounting officers of the District of