Evening star., 1916-08-02
EXPECTS VICTORY
FOR HALE;-AND-HALF
Mr.. MacfarIand Thinks Sen-
ate's Approval Will In
fIuence House.
WARNS THAT FIGHT
MUST BE CONTINUED
There Should Be No Let-Up Until
Conference Report Is Passed
Upon, He Declares.

Qualification at the action Of the Sem
ate In upholding the 'half-and-half
principle of financing the District was
expressed today by Henry B. +. Mac
farland, former Commissioner and chair
man of the joint citizens committee,
which has been safeguarding the in
| its fiscal arrangements.
Mr.. Macfarland, while pleased with
the speeches made on both sides Of the
Senate. and stating his belief that all
that is necessary Is to bring the facts
to the attention Of unprejudiced minds.
also speaks warning that the fight in
the interests Of the District must be
continued until after tho report of the
conference committee has been passed
upon.
In his interview today Mr.. Macfar-
land said:
! I'VE share the common gratitude OF
senators who have thus halted the at
tempt to arrest the progress OF the
common capital.
Victory Believed Assured .,
I'VE believe that the wisdom and
justice of the Senate's position will in
sure victory. The clear and cogent
speeches made by senators on both
sides of the chamber against the aboli-
ton of the half -and-half plan doubt
less will impress those members Of the
| House who. not having given the sub
| ject careful study, voted for the rider
| after the brief debate in the House.
THE conclusive reasons why such
col cti ch H> folr
an appropriation bill or on any other
! measure that did not propose a bet
! ter plan for the fiscal relation between
the United States and the District Of
vote of the Senate shows how convinc-
| ing these reasons are. As we have
said repeatedly. all that is necessary
in this matter is to bring the facts to
| the attention of unprejudiced minds
Would Keep Up Work.
I've, in common with our fellow -coun-
trymen equally interested in the de-
! velopment and maintenance Of the ma
tions city. must continue to do our
duty by presenting the facts to our
constitutional Legislators in the exer-
else of our right of petition. We could
never forgive ourselves II we do not
do all that Is possible to see that the
reasons for the continuance OF the
present arrangement are brought home
| to every member Of Congress
AN interesting and encouraging fea-
ture of the debate in the Senate was
that all who took part agreed in one
| thing, and that was that the United
less for Its capital. and that the actual
| needs demanded very much large ap-
| propriations, larger even than the
total recommended by the Senate com
statements of its own members. This
| shows the necessity for the govern
ment contributing as much as the tax
payers and therefore the necessity for
maintaining the half-and-half plan
| The action of the House, a. shown
in the Senate debate, Indicated how the
| governments contribution would be
cut down by appropriations committees
| and by Congress II the half-and- half
plan should be abolished.
Argument to Be Advanced.
The unanswerable contention, COM
ing with special force from Senator
Salisbury. as member OF the joint
| committee of Congress which made in
quiry as to the fiscal relation, that the
half and half plan should be continued
until some better plan was devised,
considered and adopted by the legis-
lative committees Of Congress, is the
| gist of the argument that we should
make to our friends in Congress. They
| should be personally asked to read the
| speeches of the senators advocating the
action taken by the Senate, and also
the special report Of the Board OF
Trade analyzing the report Of the
[ joint committee of Congress, ami
which shows that the proposed rider
| is directly contrary to it's spirit and
tenor.
| We must remember that the battle
will be only half won until after the
report of the conference committee has
| been passed upon