Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-13
That District Surplus. .

The House of Representatives yeSter-
day passed the District appropriation
bill carrying the remarkable proposal
that all District moneys not appro-
priated for expenditure should be
rurned into the Treasury of the United
States as federal money. This is in di-
rect contravention of the act of 1873,
which established a permanent form of
government for the District of Column
bia and provided for the payment of
the cost of maintaining the District of
Columbia by first an appropriation of
federal money to the extent of one-half
of the District appropriation and sec
ond the raising of the balance by taxa
ton upon local properties. 1t is clearly
up to the Senate to eliminate this OBJ
noxious paragraph from the anpropria-
tion bill or in any case to nullify it by
acting in strict conformity with the Or
ganic act as long as it is in existence.
That act clearly forbids any surplus of
District tax money and If the amend
ment is not specifically rejected, as it
should be by the Senate. the way to
prevent it from being distinctly unlaw-
full is to see that there Is no surplus
of District money by appropriating it
III for local needs.
II has been the practice to appro-
tr.atc all District money over and
shove the requirements for current
maintenance for objects of permanent
Improvement. In past administrations
large sums have been expended in this
wise upon great semi-national works
that are perfectly proper and neccs-
sarily part of the expansion of the
Capital city, and under the present
Commissioners this possible surplus
the amount over and above the sum
needed for current maintenance-it is
proposed to devote largely to bringing
up to mark movements for the physi-
CAL mental and moral betterment Of
the people of the capital community as
distinguished from the material develop
= ment of the capital as city.
Both lines are necessary phases of
National Capital development 1t is
Just as essential to provide for the prof.
Gets for the betterment of the people
and for the material development of the
city as it is to meet the bare municipal ex-
penses, the running cost of the estab-
lishment- This bill does not propose
TO advance along either line. 1t makes
fairly good provision for current main
tenance, though in some respects, espe-
eially under the pruning process of
non-legislation by point of order, it
leaves much to be desired in this con-
nection. 1t does not, however. carry
anything for the permanent develop
ment of the Capital city or for the ad-
vancement of physical and moral well
fare of the people in their sociologi-
cal evolution.
If
should. cut out the obnoxious para
graph and insist upon its permanent
exclusion from the bill, should see that
the so-called surplus of District tax
money is matched equally BY federal
dollars. expended on either or both
lines of works for the physical or men
tai and moral development of the
capital, after bringing the current
maintenance up to the proper point of
the capitals needs. The District has
always relied upon the Senate to
large extent for this service in its be-
half. and it is doubly dependent upon
it now to see that the District bill is
not only written properly as to the
allotment of the local tax money on the
half-and-half basis, but that it is so
framed as to prevent direct attack
upon the organic act by way of pro-
posed turning into the Treasury of
moneys raised by District taxation. In
any event the Senate should see that
there is no quarrel over the disposition of
the core remnant of District tax money
by making sure that there is no core
There are urgent crying needs of cap
ital development, in part noted by the
Commissioners in their estimates and In
part omitted by them only for lack of local
revenue to which every cent of this So
called surplus should be devoted, both
In accordance with equity and the dictates
of good government and in accordance
with the law of 1878