Evening star., 1914-05-13
No Piecemeal Repeal of 1878 Law.

tenor purpose.
No Piecemeal Repeal of 1878 Law.
The Houses action yesterday on the
proposition 10 double offhand District
taxation. and to destroy the half-and- :
half provision of the law of 1878, is un-
mistakable in its meaning. No such
gross injustice will for a moment be
tolerated Congress has always in the
crises Of the capitals history acted wisely
and fairly toward the nation city. and
the confident belief that the precedents
and the record would not be violated IN
this case has been indicated.
The proposal that the nation repudiate
its definite obligation of capital MAIN
ienauce and development and in effect
confiscate through the tax collector the
property of the people Of the capital
community boldly voiced in the Crisp
hill is only thinly and f'imsily disguised
In the Johnson-Prouty tax propositions
And the House emphatically declares that
il viii countenance no such obvious and
gross violation of the dominant American
principle of fair play
Evidently Congress will not overthrow
tween nation and capital. unless and un-
ii! impartial and thorough Investigation
brings conviction of the equity of
change. and no new arrangement Will be
substituted for the old unless the former.
in the deliberate and reasonable judgment
of Congress meets better the vital
equities.
What the House will not permit to be
done directly il should forbid to be done
l,y indirection. Ii refuses 10 destroy al
single stroke the haif-and-half provision
of national contribution: il should re-
pudate with equal emphasis the schemes
TO DESTROY this provision piecemeaL
The House. with only small fraction
of its members in attendance. and III tWo
Instances without objection or word OF
discussion, has passed at this session -FOUR
legislative propositions, each of Wnieh
stabs in vital part the haif-and-hal
agreement of 1878
These four dagger :hrus,s into the act
of 1873 are D the provision 'sectioii
eight of the pending District appropfi-
alton bill which confiscates as fedora!
revenue any portion of the local taxes
which Congress. in violation of the law
81 1878. fails to spend for District pur-
poses. coupled with an equal amount OF
snpropriation from the national Treas
ury and thus in effect repeals for the
fiscal wear 1918 the half-and-half pro-
vision of the act of 1878: 90 the Borland
amendment TO the District appropriation
hill. which eliminates entirely in most
cases and cuts down to almost nothing
in the remaining cases the national half
INN -pTl
and which incidentally is palpablv and
grossly unfair to the taxpayers and ao"'-
ting property owners on streets whlch
have in the past been denied their snare
in the general street Improvement funo.
10 which they have contributed taxes
,:;, the bill which~eNempt from dupiica-
tion. under the half-and-haf agreement
a half million of the Districts license
revenue. and a. the Johnson Prouty bill
which contiscates in full from the DIS
trict revenues of today two years Of IN
rerest fnstallments on the 2.sS bonds III
,be seventies of the last century: which
fishes out this stale debit item OF NIL
lion dollars from the general account or
the eceiVership era OF 1Sf4-'s. treats 1t
alone as surviving the bankruptcy ad-
ius.ment of 1878 and collects it In full
without the half contribute" OF 'ie
nation provided by existing law IN re-
Spect to debt expenses OF the blstrIcp
from the local taxpayers OF l9i'' nearly
forty wears later, in violation OF the spirit
Of the statute of limitations. the eaulta-
lie statute of repose.
To be sure, the votes Oh these meas
urcs were SO meager as TO rob them OF
any special Significance as expressions OF
fixed opinion by the House. WIN ohis
a few members present no DIVISION was
called on the final vote on the resurrected
debt bill The exemption from dupiica-
tion of the half million of license revenue
was passed i'll the absence OF nHe-slxths
or vote III oppositioil' anu ~ ''''H e'''