Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-12
An Unfair and Unjust Assault.

The johnson amendment to the DIS
trict appropriation bill, proposing the
substitution of a sliding scale for the
present half -and-half method of Dis
trict maintenance. is Objectionable and
indefensible. not merely In its terms.
but in the manner in which 1t Is pro-
posed thus to upset the arrangement
which has existed for thirty-six years.
and under which the District has
thrived as never before, and without
which 1t can never thrive in the future.
1t is sought by means of these few
lines of legislation to overturn a prin
ciple which forms the vital part of
virtual contract between the District
and the United States. without investi-
CATION or inquiry into the necessity
and Justice of SO momentous change.
No provision Is made for study of the
situation. such as was undertaken by
joint commission of Congress prior
to the enactment of 1873. No records
are adduced to justify a radical recon-
struction of the Districts financial sys-
tenn By an unexpected, direct assault
the attempt is made to overturn a method
that has worked we'll. and to substi-
fute for it a method for which there is
no justification and that is certain in
practice to work badly.
If feeling prevails that some change
is desirable in the mode of financing
the District of Columbia Congress
should place the matter in the hands
Of a joint commission with power to
investigate fully. 1t would then be
possible for the District to make ade-
quate representation of its case. 1t
could show conclusively that the prem
inent is based are false. As set forth
in the news columns of The Star to-
day. It could demonstrate that "a under
District revenues were appropriated
with an equal amount of federal
money. no more would be available than
is necessary for the wise and economi-
cal administration of the District and
Tor the construction of needed perma-
nent works; that (2) the District is not,
IS is contended by some Of its critics
and proponents of revolutionary legis-
lation, the lowest-taxed community in
the country. but. on the contrary, is
one of the most heavily taxed, and that
go it is impossible to reduce the per-
centage of the federal contribution
without either seriously Gripping the
rent maintenance and the provision of
permanent improvement or bankrupt
ing the District by a heavy increase
of the tax burden.
1t needs only a review Of the numer-
GUS recommendations of the District
Commissioners for Increased allowance
for current maintenance and for the exc
cution Of important permanent works that
nave been rejected by Congress in franz
ing the appropriation bills during the
past few years to prove conclusiveiy that
the District is not being permitted to
spend as much it requires. To deny
it full appropriations to the extent O. its
tax revenues matched by federal dollars
and to accept the total Of the appropria-
tons thus framed as the maximum of
what the District could and should
spend. and to use that figure as an argu-
ment for cutting off the percentage of
federal contribution, is the grossest in
justice. contrary to the spirit of equity
in which the organic act of 1878 was
framed after a careful, thorough investi-
cation by Congress.