Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-14
The House and the Organic Act.

today passed the District appropriation
bill CARRYING the johnson amendment,
which repeats the half-and-haf prln-
ciple of the organic act and substl-
tutes sliding scale of federal partlci-
patton, with the District paying all OF
its revenues for its own maintenance
and the United states paying never as
much as one-half and probably very
small percentage through the mario"
limitation OF the local budget Inc
District now trusts to the Senate TO
prevent the preparation of this pro-
posed injustice.
Apart from the merits of the ques-
ton the District protests against the
manner in which it is attempted to de-
stroy the half-and-half principle OF
the organic act, through a rider on an
appropriation bill which would NULL
fy the work which required four years
of investigation and planning by
Joint commission of Congress and
which has stood for thlrty-six years
and It hair and has resulted in the evo-
luton oil the Washington Of today, the
pride OF the American people. More
over. there is ground for protest specif-
icaiiy IN the failure OF the House thus
far to bear in mind that the fiscal
relations between tit CiIitSu otdtNS
ana tnc District are mixed up witt, the
form OF government for the capital
municipality. The act of 1873 not only
put half the cost of District mantle
nance ON the United States, but it pre-
scribed Il method of local admlnistra-
lion which deprived the District OIL any
sort of representation i'll its own gov
crnment and vested control exclusively
in c. ngress-
The johnson amendment in tamper-
ing with the haif-and-hal provision of
the organic act makes no change in
the governmental arrangement effected
by that legislation. Equity demands
that consideration of this matter
should cover the whole ground and
that the United States should not
through snap judgment and By means
of Il rider ON an appropriation bill re-
pudiate its financial bargain with the
District and at the same time hold
firmly TO all its exclusive rights o. legis-
Iation and To full control Of the appro-
priation of District money.
This proposed hasty and inconsider-
ate action is based upon false premises
and inaccurate foundations The most
..lariny inaccuracies have been uttered
in the so-called debate in the House on
the johnson amendment by those Ia
voring it's adoption. They have all been
uttered before in the course OF other
discussions in the House and they nave
been successfully met with positive
refu,ation. Nevertheless they are re-
peated For an example, there is the
statement made by Representative
Prouty Thursday last, repeating one
made last spring by Representative
Johnson, to the effect that in 1902 by
some mysterious means Congress was
persuaded so to legislate as to reduce
he assessments for tax purposes on
3eaI realty by one-third of real value
This allegation was part and parcel OF
- attempt to sht W that at that time
tie District found it necessary TO cut
down it's assessments and consequent
Iaxation in order TO keep alive the
halr-and-half arrangement The John-
son and Prouty contention has been
that we We're raising too much money
i1u.ler a full value assessment and that
by some skuldugsery Congress was
induced TO enact a law which ehabied
US to curtail our funds
In point OF fact, as is shown in an
other mart of The Star today, the legis-
latioll of 1902 did not cut down rates
was no conspiracy to lower the tax
rates and reduce local revenues In that
year in order 10 swindle the people OF
the United States into continuing an
unnecessary one-half contribution. The
fixina. Of a minimum rate of realty as
sesslnents at two-thirds OF full valua-
ton was not intended to lower the tax
rate and did not lower it; was not in
tended to decrease the local tax reve-
nue. and did not decrease it. On the
contrary, from 1902 onward the as
sessed valuations of realty in the Dis
trict of Columbia increased by leaps
and bounds, and as the tax rate re-
manned the same, the revenues in
creased also. The figures of the actual
assessments appear in the article
printed elsewhere today.
These Inaccuracies are only few of
those that are uttered in the discus
sions in behalf of the repeal of the or
ganic act They are characteristic of
the so-caIled arguments tending to
persuade the House that the District is
a rnendicaut and a tax dodger-
isIa rnafheuatici2ns