Evening star., 1915-11-08

CONT uued Mr.. Lancaster, "and I hell
the la nd for twenty years and paid tn
taxes on it. How am I going to ge
event? I'm not going to sell it for moth
ing. OF course. the prices we put on th'
land artt purely fictitious. We don
know whether we'll get them or not
It's a sla nder to say that land prices
are kept up here by speculation Ihe!
are kept Up through taxation
Are you! holding any of your iano
Mr.. Lanca: ster. at less value than The
assessment p asked Senator Works.
Yes" was the reply, about eo,oo'
feet"
'swen, wo uld you sell all Of Of, youl
property for what it is assessor? con-
tinued Senat or Works.
NO. / woul dn't." said Mr.. Lancaster
Mr.. Lancast er attacked the purchase
Of Rock Creek Park, which cost $1,000
600. half of which was paid by the DIS
trict taxpayer:s He insisted that tne
people would never have thousht OF
purchasing the property for park
that it was rely a national OBJECT
for which the m oney of the people mao
been expended He made the same
charge about the Zoo Park;
But the government paid the wnole
Park" said Mr.. Lancaster. There you
gentlemen of Cons'r ess did your duty.
Over 5000 Houses for Rent.
Mr.. Lancaster com planned that there
are 5000 vacant houses now offered for
rent in the District, and digressed into
a discussion of the erection OF new
houses, apartments. and the servant
problem in washing ton He attacked
the assessment system.
IT'S wrong" he said. 1.-The assessor
is not corrupt, but he is under financial
pressure. He is being urged to in
crease the revenues from taxes. Com
missioner Newman told the committee
here the other day that the Commits
sioners had told the assessors to go out
and find the money And they went,
and they found s3S, 600. 900 increased as
sesSment.
IF you keep that kind of thing up.
We will be bankrupt"
Representative Cooper asked If many
residents of the District were not NOV
ing their homes out into Maryland and
Virginia.
Yes. am sorry to say that great
many are was the answer. They are
going where they can build up suburbs
as they wish. Some of them want to
vote. They are coming into Washing
ton daily for business, many of them
employees of the government.
The assessor is a financial czar. and
the people of the District have no rem
edy. Why haven't the people Appealed!
whats the USE they say. We have
appealed to Philip drunk and to Philip
sober, in vain
I'VE ought to have court of appeals
here dealing only with taxes. independ-
ent of the ASSESSORS Office. They have
such plan in Baltimore and other
cities But here we have to submit to
a financial czar. the assessor"
Attacks Johnson's Plan.
Mr. Lancaster went headlong into a
general assault on Representative
Johnson's attempts to abolish the half
and-half syste n, terming the Ken
tuckian's plan IAN attempt to make
the tail manage the dog"
Ben Johnson would have the national
establishment here kept up by the
alone" he explained. The johnson
plan is financial he'll. 1t is financial
and political persecution, and ! may
well say with Holy Writ. Saul. Saul.
why persecutest thou me-"
In approaching his third general sub
ject. which is that the District of CO.
lumbia should be administered by Off
GERS who are unquestionably residents
of the city. he appealed to the joint
select committee not to destroy us
nonresident appointm ents, and Senator
Works asked:
How many of the present officers of
the District are not residents?'
officials such as scrubwomen- janitors
and messengers in the District govern
ment are residents answered Mr.. Lam
caster
Senator works said. with a show of
unmistakable irritation
Non-Residents in the Service.
, Il am coming to the other" continued
the speaker. When it comes to the
responsible officers of the District un-
der the present administration we have
had a great many foreigners saddled
on US.
We regard the tax collector, the
superintendent of Fairgrounds and the
head of the board Of Commissioners as
foreigners, for instance
Senator Chiffon interrupted to sug-
gest that inasmuch as the Supreme
Court had passed on the Newman case
it might be left out of the present dis
cussion.
NO, it hasn't passed on it, Mr.. Lam
caster said, with emphasis; mot by a
jugful
We'll, this committee doesn't intend
TO reverse the Supreme Court
''Oh, yes, you WILL" was Mr. Lam
casters answer. II intend to see that
reversed and ii can be done again. OF
course. l mean nothing disrespectful to
the committee. but l think you can
reverse it"
However, l don't think we will" said
Senator Chiffon.
Newman Appointment Decried.
Mr.. Lancaster said that the appoint
ment of Oliver 7. Newman to office as
Commissioner was an infringement OF
9he rights of the people embodied in the
act of 1873, which was supposed to
grant home rule
The people here Were outraged" he
said loudly. 1T WAS a stab in the back.
or the front as the case may be"
We held u mass meeting of citizens
and protested and instituted proceed
fngs in the courts jury of Washing
ton residents found that Mr.. Newman
was not resident here. The court OF
appeals approved that verdict 1t went
I: the Supreme Court of the United
S..tes and the Supreme Court dodged
this issue
Now. Mr.. Lancaster" said Senator
Chiffon sharply. Il cannot sit here as
member of this committee and ap-
prove of your saying that the Supreme
Court of the United States ever dod eed
the issue. This committee cannot an