The Washington times., 1915-11-05
Commissioner Ne,vn1an's Statement

Commissioner Ncwman's formal state.
ment before the fiscal committee. In
which he advocated substantially the
works plan, reads as follows:
In ISIS Congress. as Is now well
Known. adopted an act establishing a
FORM Of government for the District of
Columbia and laid down in that act q
principle which has since become widely
known as the half-and-half. believe
that a great deal Of the friction which
mas arisen In the last few years Is due
to a misunderstanding as to Just what
Congress in the act of 1873 agreed 10 do.
In the minds of n great many people
IN the city Of Washington and IN the
minds of a great many members OF
congress. ! have found an impression
that Congress not only agreed TO aay
half OF the expenses OF the District of
columbia. but that II agreed to ma.ch
'dollff for dollar the revenues raised by
the ptststct of Columbia. Even a casual
reading OF The net Of 1878 shows tnat
Congress did not agree to or propose
TO do any snch thing. What Congress
aid beiieyo the United States should do
was 10 pay one-haH of the expenses on
account Of the District of Columbia.
- Estimate Provided.
The act of 1878 provided that the
commissioners OF the District OF Column
oia each year should make an csti-
mate of the expenses o. the District OF
Columbia for the next nscal year Then
Congress- said paragraph l6 of the act
of 1879 to the extent to which Congress
shall approve Of said estimates Con-
sress shall appropriate the amount Of
% per centum thereof
Il think the reason for the impression
lhaf CODqTega IN t.b
ror dollar the money raised in the Dis
trict OF Columbia Is due to the fact that
almost all Of the time from 1917 until
the present the revenues of the District
half Of the expenditures Of tho District
y Columbia. so that In actual practice
congress has matched dollar for dollar
the amount Of money raised locally.
The act OF ISIS was absolutely sound
IN theory. provided YOU grant the logic
Or propriety of fixing the District and
Federal contributions upon the percent
age basis. l Say this because In that
act. paragraph seventeen. Immediately
Gs Gfoaowins ths parasraph Just quoted:
per centun OF such approved estimates
shall be levied and assessed upon tho
takaple property and privileges in said
District other than the property of the
United states and Of the District Of CO.
lumbia.'
SOnETeSS agreement.
I'm other words. In 1878 Congress said
the United States will pay one-half Of
the expenses Of the District Of Columbia
and by proper legislation will levy such
taxes as will produce the Districts
half Had this purpose been followed
the present crisis in the fiscal affairs of
the District might not have arrived. But
very soon after the passage of the act
~ S,S Congress fixed the tax rate in
the District OF Columbia at S.50 per
hundred and II has stood ever since.
This rigid tax rate has necessarily pro-
duced eacheyear an increasing sum OF
District revenues until at this time
these revenues exceed the Districts half
Of Its annual expenditures and bring
sharply TO the surtace for consideration
the whole question Of how much the
eminent should paw Of tho annual bill.
'.,)n July I. 1915. we anticipate that we
VIII have surplus OF revenue OF the
the neighborhood Of a million and a
half to two million dollars. We would
have had surplus Of nearly a million
on jolly l. 1915. had. It not been that
account OF old debts which for one % rca a.
son or another had accumulated aga Inst
the District. In the fiscal years 1914
and 1915. We paid wholly from District
revenues an old bill for care Of insane
bonds OF S5s6.067.3 81 old debt to Freed
mons Hospital of $3I.99e.7o: we restored
to tho Federal Government SlS5. .937 90 OF
rentals on property belonging to. the
United States and we made up n short
ago Of $4,000 arising from defalcation
OF . District employe. .......
Additional Reason.
Looking into the future We find an
additional reason why II Is very inn
portant that this Increase In District
revenues be carefully considered. 1t
seems to me that these figures alone
show tho necessity OF Arrangement
Of the fiscal relations between the Dis
trict OF Columbia and the United States,
because unless they are rearranged. in
1870 we. will have u surplus Of. District
revenues of about s9.0OO0O0 which OBJ
riously would be absurd.
Tentative estimate Of surplus In Dis
tr1ct revenues oyer appropriation
charges for the fiscal year ending June
%, 1870.