The Washington herald., 1915-10-26

here or anywhere else. but on the whole
this has served the National Capital well
and 1t ought not, we think, to be changed
without better reason than has SO far
been given"
trict of Columbia has not alone. OF the
political divisions OF the Union, profited
from contributions OF wealth made by
the government, Mr.. Macfarland pointed
out that the United States has contrib
uted outright to the various states and
territories from the public domain 1885,
52i,123 acres. and from the sales OF
public lands within their borders Sl6.324,-
sloe. all for the purposes of public
education or Of making public roads and
other public Improvement"
Not one acre Of public land or one
dollar Of public money on this account
has ever been given by the United States
to the District Of Columbia" he de-
clared.
In addition Mr.. Mcfarland invited the
attention of the committee to the fact
that by act Of June %, 1886, Congress
distributed to the various States as de
posits' from the Federal Treasury, sub
ject to call. s2s,iol. 64Lsl. not one dollar
OF which ever has been recalled, or re-
ferred to In legislation since 1857. Going
further. Mr.. Mcfarland pointed to the
appropriations for colleges for agricul-
ture and mechanical arts and agricul-
tural experiment stations, under the So
called Morrill, acts, as q result of which
an aggregate of $500. 900 had been paid
out for the colleges. and 81, $40. s6l.ls for
experimental stations in the various
States and Territories Up to and includ-
ing the last fiscal year. For the last
fiscal year alone these contributions to-
tailed 81, 10000 for the colleges and 81. 40, :
379.57 for the experiment stations. No
appropriation whatever has been made
under the Morrill, acts for the District
OF Columbia.
OF more than 1854 900 expended from
the public treasury for river and harbor
improvements, according to Mr.. Macfar-
land, q little more than $721 900 has been
expended In or for the District.
Senator Works. co-author of the
Jones-works excise law, under which
the District now IL operating, sat up
and took notice when Mr.. Macfar-
land, to show that the residents Of the
District have borne their full share
and more of national taxation through
tariff and internal revenue laws. de-
clared that District residents have
contributed more per capita in the
way of excise taxes than the residents
of any one of twenty-one States and
two Territories.
That is through a liquor tax, isn't
it?" Queried Senator Works.
Yes. sir" replied Mr.. Mcfarland.
himself Q ''teetotaler." but 1t is one
Of the terms Of national taxation pre-
scribed and upon which the national
government depends for it's revenues"
Mr.. Mcfarland summarized from the
written brief OF the citizens committe.
the comparative taxation statistics
which show the per capita tax on real
estate to be higher in Washington than
in ffty-three of the fifty-eight largest
cities Of the United States These figures
were obtained from the Census Bureau
very largely, and are the most authorl-
tative statistics available. They show,
however, wide discrepancy from figures
offered in Congressional debates by op-
ponents of the half-an-half plan, a dis
crepancy which the Congressional COM
mittee was quick to call attention to ana
anxious to find an explanation OF.
u don't understand. myself" declared
Mr.. Mcfarland in reply to a question.
how opponents of the half-and-haf plan
came to present the statistics they have
when they must have known that accu
rate and authoritative figures were
available"
In an effort to explain this discrepancy,
as well as to offer the opponents Of the
half and-half plan fair opportunity for
the presentation of their side. the COM
mittee plans TO call as many OF the lead
ers of the Congressional opposition as
possible. In addition they will call former
Senator Blackburn, OF Kentucky. who
as a member OF the House. served on the
committee which virtually wrote the act
OF 1873. but who last year. in a news
paper interview. announced a complete
change Of heart Among the members
Of the last Congress who will be called |
are Senators Kenyon and James. and |
Page, Prouty. johnson |
and Crisp. They probably will not be |
called. however. until the citizens COM
mittee have been given an opportunity |
to place their statisticians and the ex-
perts of the Census ONCE on the stand to |
the statements In their |
brief.