Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-14
The johnson-Prouty Discovery
of a Plot to SWindie
Uncle Sam.
TAX-REDUCTION PLOT
SMELLS TAX-BURDENS
Peculiar and Paradoxical Tax-Dodg-
ing Which Increases Assessment
on Realty $32,O00,000 and
on Personality so Per Cent.

Alisstatements about the Dis
trict are so common iii the course
of the discussion of local affairs
in the House of Representatives
that it is idle to attempt to cor
rect all. Yet some of them re-
quire direct reference. for they
bear Importantly upon the issues
at stake. which affect the welfare
of the District vitality. For ex-
ample, in opening the debate ON
the District appropriation bill
last Thursday, before Representa-
tive Johnson had introduced his
amendment abrogating the half
and-half principle of the organic
act. Representative Prouty said,
in connection with his assertion
that the District is under-taNed:
"when the organic act was enacted
all of you who are familiar with that
will remember committee spent
nearly four year. in investigating the
question of relations between the fed
erai government and the District OF
Columbia. They considered very care
fully the question as to what was q
fair rate of taxation to he put upon
these people. The distinguished sena-
tor from Iowa. Mr.. Allison. WAS chair
man of that committee, and after maxi
ing examination of the tax rate In
cities of the United States they found n
15-mill tax, or St.:'0 hundred, was a
reasonable and average tax. and. there
fore, in the organic act it was fixed at
II mills on the dollar. or $1.5O ON the
hundred. actual value. That continued
for twenty-five years, but in 1892,
when they found that they were get
ting more revenues than were neccS-
sary for the Districts half. some fas-
cination got hold of members of Con-
gress. which I have never been able TO
comprehend, by which they reduce the
revenues for the District rather than
reduce the part that was contributed
by the United States, and they said,
rather than be assessed at it's full
value. it should be assessed at only
One-third value. So that real estate in
the city Of Washington and the Dis
trict of Columbia is now only paying
10 mills ON the actual value, while in
your city. and your city 1t is 20 mills
and mOre.-
This is in substance a repeti-
ton Of charge brought last
spring by Representative Johnson
when the half-and-half issue was
again before the House. The in
timation was then made that the
tax legislation of 1902 was the re-
suit Of a corrupt conspiracy be-
tween the tax-dodgers of Wash
lngton and Congress of criminal
procllvitles to reduce the local tax
revenues in order to swindle
Uncle Sam into unnecessarily
continuing the half-and-half ar
rangement. Mr.. Prouty states it
III different language and repeats
i'll this connection his amazing
declaration that the real property
in the District is now assessed at
only one-third of its actual value.
That none OF these charges is
true IS well established BY the
records. That they were all un-
true was specifically set forth in
The Star last spring when the
District was fighting what it was
hoped was decisive battle for its
financial lie. 1t becomes neces-
sary to meet them again, and to
this end is reprinted herewith, in
part, an article published March
2I in The Star dealing with the
tax legislation OF 1902 and the
subject OF tax-dodging and tax
boosting: