Evening star., 1915-11-17
time. and as such introduced the
to the House."
Authors Of Organic Act.

Authors of Organic Act.
Mr.. Worthington said that Repre-
| sentatives Hendee and Hunton, who had
| labored for two years on the measure
were the men who framed the measure
Mr.. Blackburn made a great argu-
ment In the House in favor of the or
| ganic act" he continued, land his ar
| guments then are to the point now
1t is true that Mr.. Blackburn said here
| the other day that changed conditions
IN the District warranted the abolition
OF the half-and-half plan. But he also
said that II the government was to pay
a fixed proportion of the expenses OF
the District 1t should pay 60 per cent
| and the citizens should pay 35 per
cent
Mr.. Worthington showed that the or
ganic act of the District had not been
put on the statute books as tenn
porary measure. that the Supreme
| Court Of the United States itself had
| the District of Columbia"
He criticised the letter written to the
Investigating committee by George E:
Hamilton; president OF the Capital
Of the half -and-half plan. He said that
Mr.. Hamilton's letter showed he had
not given the matter as careful con-
sideration as he might Mr.. Worthing-
lOIl .pOlHteQ out several eTTOTS III
Hamilton's statement, one to the effect
that there was opposition to the or
ganic act when it was considered by
the Senate in 1878, and another to the
effect that the act was intended merely
to be temporary.
Mr.. Worthington referred to a petit
ton signed by leading citizens of the
District and presented to Congress in
1877, urging that steps be taken to do
something to aid the District which he
| & a 20 "a n ho q r
of that year. He said that the District
Commissioners, who were not selected
from residents of the District, had re-
ported to Congress that conditions were
deplorable. Streets were fmpassa BILE,
he said. The schools were being closed
for lack of funds.
NEGLECTED and Shameful
"Everything was neglected and
shameful said Mr.. Worthington, "un-
der that indefinite plan of appropriat-
ing for the District. 1t was then that
committees of Congress, the citizens of
the District and the Commissioners
urged that a fixed share of the ex-
penses to be borne by the government
be adopted. And a Commissioner of
the District comes here and tells you
when Congress was collecting and ex-
pending the money of the District"
Mr.. Warrington said that the George
report had been thoroughly discredited
during the present hearings. "It has
been shown, too." he said, that the
residents of the District are paying as
high taxes as the residents of other
cities comparable to Washington. 1t
has been claimed here that it is right
to tax the citizens of the District a
other similar cities.
But l wish to call your attention to
the fact that it is admitted it is right
for the government to pay it's share of
the expenses of the National Capital,
and if the government pays that share
and it is found that the citizens of the
District. to make up their half of the
expenses of the District, need not pay
as high taxes as are paid in other cities,
why should they be compelled to pay
such high taxes? And If by paying
taxes as high as are paid in other
cities. the contribution of the citizens
of the District to the capitals expenses
makes 1t possible for the government
the government be permitted to dodge
its fair share on that account"
Denial by Senator Works.
Senator Works said that he had made
no such contention. and that he did not
think that other members of the COM
mittee had.
Il thought from questions asked by
the committee that that was in their
minds" said Mr.. Worthington.
You mustn't judge a fisherman by
his bait said Senator Chiffon
Mr.. Worthington replied that he
would be very glad to find that he was
mistaken in his judgment
He criticised statements made by the
District Commissioners to the effect
that the half-and-half had not really
been in force, and he showed how the
District had borrowed money from the
federal Treasury to make up it's share
of the expenditures under the half
and-half plan and had paid some $780,
0QQ in interest on this borrowed money.
II think that is pretty concrete evil
dence that the half-and-half plan has
been in force" he said.
THE Commissioner comes here and
says that the District has a surplus
in the Treasury, that it has gone into
the Treasury and that Congress can
do what 1t likes with that money. I
do not think that he represents the
taxpayers of the District when he
makes such statement" Mr.. Worth
ington had reference to Commissioner
Brownlow.
He said that by a very simple remedy
the problem of future surplus on the
part of the District could be made
right.
he1erS TO newman Letter.
Find out what your needs are, find
the amount of assessable property and
then fix the tax rate sufficient to raise
the required amount" he said. Mr.
Worthington said that Commissioner
Newman had recommended just such
plan in a letter year or more ago,
but that he had made no reference to
that remedy before the present COM
mittee. Mr.. Worthington read an ex-
tract from the organic act itself to
show that was the plan which Con-
gress had really provided for, but
that it had not carried out. He said
that the subsequent act of 1902, fixing
the tax rate in the District, should be
repealed.
"Other cities fix their tax rates ac-
cording to their needs, and there is no
reason why it should not be done
here" said Mr. Worthington. He
pointed out too, that if such plan
was adopted, it would be necessary to
have the governments share of the
capitals expenses fixed proportion
in order to work out tax rate for the
District.
He discussed report made by Col.
Judson, U. s. A, while Engineer Com
missioner here. saying that s20,000.o00
should be expended on improvements
in the District. and recommending a