Evening star., 1914-04-12
Amended George Bill Likely to
Be Taken Up by House
Tomorrow.
RADICAL CHANGES MADE
IN LOCAL ASSESSMENTS
Author of Original Measure to 0p-
pose Observation-Disclosures Attempt
to Abolish Organic Act.

If plans of Representative Prouty, Rep
resentative Johnson, Representative
George. Representative Crosser and 9TH
ers of the District committee are carried
out, the amended George taxation and
assessment bill will be presented for con-
sideration in the House tomorrow. The
bill. with the Prouty amendment, pro-
vides that all real estate must be as
sessed at its true value without any ref
erence to the nature of its ownership or
occupancy"
The amendment also provides that all
personal property. tangible and intangi-
Bile, shall be taxed at the same rate as
real estate. and the bill fixes a minimum
tax rate of 11a per cent. The purpose
of the bill with the Prouty amendment. it
is claimed, Is to undermine the organic
act by imposing so great a burden of
taxation on the District of Columbia that
1t can be said there is no need of the
federal contribution established by Con-
gress under the act of 1878.
Both Side Prepared.
For several weeks this bill has been in
the District committee. although the
chief proponents and the chief opponents
have been gathering ammunition which
will be used In the debate tomorrow
Representative Prouty will have charge
of the time in favor of the bill, and pre-
sumably Representative George will have
charge Of the opposition time and will be
In the strange position of opposing bill
which bears his own name. The bill now
bears the marks of both legislators and
uyin ha kod fn bo
tween the two.
At some time during tomorrow after
noon it is possible that Representative
George will present his amendment call
ing for an investigation of the general
taxation subject or to inquire into the
general form of the District government
for the purpose OF finding out whether
there is necessity for the proposed tax
ing of personal property. and Repre-
sentative Prouty will counter with his
proposed investigation to establish his
theory that the District of Columbia
should be started off anew on an inde-
pendent footing-a separate and distinct
government with no federal support except
for the parks, federal Reservations and
the excepfionaAy wide streets which have
been made boulevards purely and simply
because Washington is the National Cap
ital.
PROVISIONS of the Original Bill.
The original George bill provided that
the Commissioners should be allowed to
levy tax on real estate "of such per-
centum as shall, with other revenues of
said District, be sufficient to pay the por-
ton to be borne by said District of the
estimated expenses of the government
thereof"
In effect, it directed the Commission
ers to make their estimates of expenses
and to levy tax which would meet these
expenses. The George bill did not deal
with personal property as originally
written. and it has been Mr. Georges
contention that it would be unwise to
saddle a new system of personal tax on
the District without a scientific investi-
CATION into the personal property situa-
ton along the lines of the careful and
exhaustive investigation into the real
estate.