Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-11-04


rested by Mr.. Sefbold. he did not pc
lieve that Congress would ever aere'
to it.
In conclusion, Mr.. Seibold said: con
eress has made bunko business out
the District of Columbia" He SAID ina
the government should have retained
possession of all the property mere an,
should have rented it to people WI,
came TO live here. In that way, ne sara
more than enough money would nav
been raised to pay the expenses OF th'
National Capital.
"Just what is the remedy you pro
pose?" asked Representative halney.
abolish the taxation system now ex
listing here" replied Mr.. Seibold Iaks
care of the District of Column la ana
won't care what Congress does SO ina
1t pays the bills
No Haven for Tax Dodgers.
Mr.. Rainey asked if such course
would not make Washington haVei
for tax dodgers.
mo" replied Mr.. Seibold, who insisted
that a wealthy man could not escape
having his income tax and other Ieo
eral taxes if he came to TINS CITY te
live He insisted that the people ilvihe
In Washington who gave up NE 81
rights of citizenship and the francn Sc
had done so with the understa
that they would be recompesed by nav.
ing Congress pay all the expenses o'
the District.
northeast told the committee that ne
had recently bought piece OF prop
erty for $4,000 at a public sale. rms
property, he said, is assessed at sa,4oo
ct bought it as speculation, salo
Mr.. Wondrack, but I found it was no
speculation"
But" said Senator Chiffon. you have
already profited to the extent of s34oo
: while the crowd in the committee room
there
a building on the property assessed d.
$500. which ne claimed to be worth not
more than SIS.
Representative Cooper criticised the
Z levity with which the statement Oh MT.
wondrack had been received
Question Not Funny at All.
This goes to the question. which
has been raised here before, that the
, poor man is everassessed in Washlng-
b. ton" said Mr.. Cooper. ut is not funny
at all. Either there has been gross
: carelessness in investment, or worse
Mr. Wondrack said that he had called
the attention of the assessor to the
matter and that the assessor had writ
ten he would look into it, He present
ed the assessors letter to the COM
mittee.
]. S. Moser told the committee that he
probably could explain how the over
assessment of Mr.. Wondrack's property
: came about. He said that he had
. bought some property near Iowa Circle
not long ago for $4,000. yet Presi-
dent Grant paid $4,000 for that prop
erty in the res. He said that property
in various locations had deprecated in
value, and that in many cases the
owner simply failed to go to the as
SCISSORS and get the assessment reduced
He said that he himself had had the
assessment on his property consider
ably reduced.
The committee asked Mr.. wondrack
how long the property he purchased
for $4,000 had been assessed at $1,000.
Mr.. Wondrack replied that he did not
know, but that he thought 1t was for a
number of years.
Discusses Street Problems
Col. Martin Dodge. who said he had
, been a member of the Ohio legislature
. for ten years, and had also been chair
man of the Ohio highway commission,
as well as director of the office of pub
lie roads under the Department of
Agriculture, discussed briefly the Dis
trict's problem from the standpoint of
an expert in highways. He said that
wherever he had made studies of roads
he found stat state aid had always been
necessary to establish the best roads,
and that in the case of Washingtons
streets, government aid for the District
is plainly a matter of necessity. be-
cause of the fact that the avenues and
; streets are extraordinary in width and
length
He said that the wisdom of the found
-ers of the city is shown in the city
plan. and that while the laying out OF
. Washington was a credit to the fore
fathers of the republic, it would be to
the discredit of the present generation
IL the plan was discontinued, and
progress in the National Capital ended.
He declared the government ought to
make a substantial contribution to the
District of Columbia on the matter Of
streets and highways alone.
Discussing tax matters he said he
was of the opinion, after considerable
study. that taxes distribute themselves
throughout the entire system, and that
the idea of changing the burdens OF
taxation by changing the method is
myth. He challenged Herbert ].
Browne on several points, one of them
being Mr.. Brownies conclusions as to
the relative taxes on "the widows mite"
and the department store property at
18th and streets. Col. Dodge said
that if the rule of taxation recon-
mended for 18th and F streets by Mr..
browne should be applied equally all
over the city, it would raise the wild
ow's mite" property tax to SIS a year.
which is about s64 more than the widow
who owns the property is now paying.
Argues Against Taxation.
B. NJ Seibold, a grocer. of col 18th
street southeast, began an argument
before the committee in which he con-
tended that Congress had no right to
levy taxes upon the citizens of the Dis
trict for the expenses of the District
government, unless it levied exactly
similar taxes upon all the other citizens
of the United States. He quoted from
the Constitution of the United States
to prove this contention.
Mr. Seibold admitted that Congress
had the exclusive right of legislation in
the District, but he insisted that this
did not mean that ii had the right to
: tax the citizens of the District in any
other way than 1t taxed all the rest of
; the citizens of the United States.
The United States. he said. entered
. into a contract with the states of
Maryland and Virginia when 1t ac-
CURED the territory of the District
pay all the expenses Of building up the
capital. The people of Maryland and
Virginia, he said, who resided in the
territory which was to become the Dis
trict of Columbia relinquished their
rights as citizens Of the United States
to suffrage and to representation in
: legislative bodies. The price OF these
rights, he said. was that the federal
government should build and maintain
!: at its expense the federal capital
+. He contended that the so-called or
Z District is now governed, is an Illegal
: act in view of the provisions of the
Z Constitution. and also that II should
: never be regarded as a nartnershir