Evening star., 1915-11-16

SAID Mr. henoe. He was criticised De.
cause he held the corner of 14th and T
streets out of use until the Wyatt
building was put UP. He was held VI
as one of those awful people. those
robbers. Yet he lose 100000 by hold
ing this land out Of use for years, In
taxes"
Mr.. Kehoe said that rentals from i'm
lprovements on property was where the
income came from, and that taxes,
Therefore. should be levied on the i'm
| lprovements, not on the land
He denied statements that property
owners here are reaping large returns
from their holdings. He said that the
return from improved property was
of unimproved land in ten years its
owners lost the value Of the land.
Single Tax Unsound and Rotten.
Then where are the robbers that Mr..
George talked about?" he asked. THE
single tax is unsound and rotten.
The case of Vancouver has been
mentioned here as a successful in
stance Of the single tax, but it wasn't
said here by the single-taxers that
| bonds mad to be issued in that city to
pay for improvements, because the land
tax did not bring in enough money"
| How do you know that?" asked Rep
resentative Cooper.
i Mr.. Kehoe had to admit that he had
| no very definite information regarding
the issue of bonds by Vancouver. He
that If he wasn't right, of course. his
argument fell to the ground. He sug-
gested that the committee take his
| statement for what it was worth.
| He said that men who talked sensibly
| about most things went up In the air
when they began to discuss the single
tax.
Take Mr. A. B. johnson Ga SINGLE
| taxer), who addressed the committee
the other day." said Mr.. Kehoe. He
talked finely about municipal govern
ment until he came to the single tax.
Then he went up in the air, just like a
coon dog when a polecat crosses his
trail.
THE Lord made the land free, why
do you want to tax it?" said Mr.. Kehoe.
IF the Lord made the land free why
do you want to tax 1t per cent as you
have suggested" asked Representative
Cooper.
Mr.. Kehoe said that he didn't want
| to tax 1t at all. but that il a tax was
to be levied 1t ought not to be over 1
per cent.
Outlines City Government.
| For half an hour A. B. Johnson spoke
on single tax strain. but offered in
addition his ideas concerning a possi-
| BILE new city government for the Dis
trict of Columbia. Its principle features
! were an up-to-date assessors office with
| eight field assessors and a special bu-
reau for licenses. etc: three commits
sfoners as at present; at least limited
| suffrage. He said Congress might
make the District of Columbia state
and cause taxes to be levied as in other
states. He said that II the United
States government wishes to remain
supreme In the District. then the fed
eral government should assume all bur-
dens of expenditure. Speaking of sena-
That, at least. is more stable than
the half-and- half. for 1t would be abb
surd to believe the government is less
stable than one Of its laws"
Should Amend Constitution"
Mr.. johnson said that Congress should
amend the Constitution SO as to give
the people of the District suffrage.
That's what you'll have to do in the
end" he predicted. "and 1t is the only
way to settle this question.
Representative Cooper said:
"As I understand history. the federal
was afraid to trust to the protection of
the people. and desired district where
1t would be supreme. Is there any rea-
son for change in jurisdiction here
now"
; II am glad you asked that question"
replied Mr.. johnson. when the Con-
stitution was adopted, the representa-
tives Of the people did not trust the
peoplea But we know today that the
people agA to be trusted. and for that
reason the same cause for having
federal district. with the jurisdiction in
|Congress.do not exist now"
Mr. Trundls Tits With Senator.
A. s. Trundle gained half an hour
from the committee and he used 1t in
exploiting a number Of remarkable al
legations, none Of which by the most
agile stretch of the Imagination could
be held relevant to the half-and-half
plan or the matters under the purview
of the committee. He started to ad-
vocate local self-government, and Sem
ator Chiffon wearily endeavored to head
him of by reminding him once more
that the committee has no power on
that subject at all. However. Mr.. Trun-
die persisted.
He made the statement that the Fed
GRAFTON of Citizens Association had
| failed to put through an Endorsement
of the half-and-half plan" and offered
clipping from The Star in evidence.
william NICK. Clayton informed the
committee he would answer that state
ment at the first opportunity.
Other matters discoursed upon by Mr..
Trundle were connected with the num-
| ber Of people who can sleep In one
room and the fact that there Is a tin
cup on a wooden cooler in the Police
Court, "in violation of the law which
prevents a common cup.
There is no such law" calmly an
nounced Commissioner Brownlow.
They have been kissing the same old
Bible down there for twenty years."
added Mr.. Worthington.
Replies to Mr.. Trundle.
At the close of the session Mr.. Clay
ton endeavored to have a few minutes
reserved for him in which to reply to
Mr.. Trundle's charge that the Fedora
tion of Citizens Associations failed to
act on the half-and-half question. Rep
resentative Cooper, seeing that the
committee was unwilling to open the
| lists for further speakers. said he be-
lieved he could show what the facts
were by reading from the clipping Of
The Star of November 7, referred to by
Mr.. Trund1e.
The clipping declared the Federation
of Citizens Associations had failed to
indorse a proposition Of c. ]. James to
stand by the half-and-ha1f. or, falling
that, to indorse the plans of the Com
miSsioners.
Worthington Begins Speech.
lafternoon to speak in defense of the
lhalf-and- half plan. and the table at
which he stood was stacked high with
legal volumes and bound copies of the
Congressional Record.