The Washington times., 1915-10-27

sort OF municipal Topsy, that hau
always . sSa' worm the enc clothes % q Nstion.i % maj
Capital. too yoiuminous and ornamental
for her to keep In repair all alone.
lie paused to pay tributes to GOV.
SnaHs woSs shpheySS and tss hoard q
plunged the city into bankruptcy. he
said. had started the development which
had brought ABOUT the present beauu.
He told, Of the. streets OF the city,
particularly noted for their dust. which
! formed cloud on windy days. ana OF
the archaic transportation system. He
described the old cars. with, straw on
ne Warm 00fs He painted sp picture 81 III. tss! sS!
! hysienic conditions brought about ny
tho lack OF any sewer system. Prop
erty. J." said. was becoming worthless.
OF the board OF public works, property
owners were even worse on, as they
faced a debt thas. without Federal AID.
| would have been e>eater than the ae-
| eregate value Of all District Improved
property.
Not Paid For Services.
Mr.. worthinston denied the report
that he and Mr.. Macfariand were being
paid for their services.
We are not serving for hire" he
| said. I'VE are serving to help this
| citizens committee to bring before you
| facts Of vital interest to the progress
OF this city. Since we are not here as
| attorneys we are not proceeding as II
| the committee were our clients. We
are laying before you all the facts.
| whatever they may prove"
| thinston said. about the funded debt
| Of the District. but that matter is one
OF vital import. he believes. in any dis
cussion Of the Federal relation to Dis
trict affairs. In proof Of how this
phase Of the question had been neg
lected. he pointed to the action OF the
House In adopting a resolution to pay
back to the Federal Treasury s. .003. 267. ~.
an amount alleged to have been ad-
vanced to the District for the payment
OF interest. lie showed. from numer-
Gus bills Of Congress. and from ex-
pressions Of public men In the seventies.
that II was the intention Of Congress
to assume It's portion Of this obliga-
ton.
''citizens Of the District might we'll
raise the question whether they are re-
duired to pay even half OF this money.
for the people of the District had no
more to do with II than the citizens OF
Ohio or the citizens OF Wisconsin. The
taxpavers Of the District had crowd
ed the halls Of Congress and urged
them to stop this thing going on. but II
went on because Congress thought II
was the proper thing to do In order to
put the Capital in the shape In which
1t ought to be put"
History of the 1855 Bonds"
Because the Government proceeded In
lncurring the vast debts In question.
without consent Of the people OF the
District. the District citizens might
well claim now that they have no part
In the payment OF the debt, he said.
Mr.. Worthington gave a complete his
tory OF the so called ass bonds" from
the time Of Issuance to the present. He
quoted from legiela ton as far back as
1871 to show that Congress had grad
the District.
In the seventies. when the relation
OF the District to the Federal Govern
ment was under investigation by a
Joint Congressional committee similar
to that now sitting. report was Of
fered. Mr.. WorthinEton sa ID. similar In
Its aims TO the resolution introduced by
Of the present hearing. This bill pro-
vided for the collection OF proper
amount Of taxes from the District resi-
dents. turning this amount into the
trict needs without reference to the
amount collected. The District was to
be administered by a bureau. similar
to that in one Of the Government de-
MY bill does not consider any bu-
reau,, or department" interrupted Sena-
tor Works
but the principle is the same" re-
piled Mr. Worthington.
Bureau of the Government.
Isn't the District government now, In
all essential effects. "A bureau OF the
Government" retorted Senator Works
Mr. Worthington said It was. go far a $
municipal administration was concerned.
financial conduct. lie then quoted argu-
ments made by congressman at the
time the proposition was considered
which defeated its adoption at that
time. Mr.. Worthington' indirect attack
on the measure. he said. was similar
hat of Senator Works. and was the
first attempt made through the citizens
committee to attack his proposition.
Here we find prominent members of
Congress OF that day assailing such a
plan. because t would be more ex-
pensive to the Government, he said.
'It was claimed that It would be more
Me%Dersp pr ,hs sS%sr
tions Committee showed how the de-
mands upon Congress would increase.
and how many measures might be
the knowledge that the Destrict resi-
dents would have to pay half"
Figures were shown TO prove that in
the few years Congress made unregu-
that It cost much more than It ever had
before or since.
Pleased with Their Work.
Members of the citizens committee
were delighted after the close OF the
second days hearing. An immense
mass OF facts had been presented in A
comparatively short time II was relt
that highly favorable Impression hsa
been made upon members OF the com.
mittee. They were especially pleased
with the remark OF Congrcssman
Rainey. who said, in regard to the con
tentions OF Mr.. Macfarland and Mr..
Noyes that the District residents were
bearing a full tax burden: Il may saw
| have been amazed by the compIete
ness with which you gentlemen have 40
far refuted these charges
Congressman Cooper also added to tho
confidence OF the committee that their
case was making an impression by mis-
frequent requests to know why inror-
nation had not been brought reDro
Congress when various measures ar
fecting the District were pending. Con
gressman Rainey had said, on the floor
of the House. that he believed much
information about the District had
been erroneous. and he said YESTERDAY
that facts presented by the COMMITTEES
had confirmed his opinions.
Tomorrow the committee proba bly
will not SIT because at an enxaRemrnr
made some time ago by Senator SauIs.
t.tlr naf