Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-22
NO REAL SURPLUS
UNDER 1878 LAW
Apparent Surplus Artificial,
Caused by Law Limiting and
House Cutting D. C.
Estimates.
REPEAL LAW OF 1909 THAT
RESTRICTS D. C. ESTIMATES
Provide by Law for Handling D. G.
Surpluses or Deficits and for Pre-
venting an Excessive Surplus.
BY THEODORE w. MOVES.
Editorial Correspondence of The Star.

Editorial Correspondence of The Star.
The argument against the half-and-
half law has been condensed as follows
A doubling of the local tax revenue
under the half-and- half arrangement
has come to produce an amount far in
! excess of the sum which can be wisely
and economically expended in capital
maintenance and upbuilding. This ex
cess of available revenue should be pre-
vented by reducing or eliminating the
national contribution and not by de-
creasing the local taxation, since Wash
ington is now grossly underassessed
and is already the lightest taxed among
American cities.
The evidence before the joint con-
gressional committee and the conclusive
| findings of that committee dispose of
the charge that Washingtonians are
underassessed and undertaxed.
Washington replies to the other con-
tentiOn ms follows: The amount raised
annually under the half-and-half ar
IL ever, been more than enough and
has often been insufficient to meet the
capitals needs I'm current maintenance
and in judicious upbuilding through
great permanent public improvements.
Much more than this amount could be
wisely and economically expended to-
day upon the capital in accordance with
the standard set by other great Ameri-
can cities.
The apparent surpluses Of District
tax money in recent successive years
over one-haIf Of the District apprOpria-
tlOns are artificial. not genuine.
The District taxes have, by con-
EresSfOnal pressure on the assessor and
In other ways, been unduly augmented;
the appropriations. on the other hand.
have been cut much below the point Of
meeting the Districts necessities.
The Commissioners estimates since
1900 no longer represent the real needs
OF the District. The restrictive law of
1909 prevents them from pfcturing the
municipal necessities of Washington.
When the HOuse applies it's habit of
cutting down the estimates by millions
to the Districts estimates. prepared in
accordance with the law Of 1903. there
reaults- automatically y laHd aAevftaDfy d
surplus Of unexpended local revenues,
which, however, means nothing except
that Congress has so neglected to
1egislate and appropriate for the capital
ax to leave it's municipal necessities un-
VA tisfed and to do the nations city
fagrant injustice.
The law Of 1909. restricting the Com
mi.siOners' estimates, should be re-
pealed.
dDDTO.
PIRATE more literally for the upbuilding
of the capital.
The half-and-haIf law should be main
tanned. and supplementary Legislation
dispOsfng of surplusex deficits arising
under It's operation should be enacted,
so that these surpluses and deficits may
Offset one another in a series Of years.
II Mt any time I'm the future n con-
dftiOn shall develop when a doubling
Of the District revenues as nt present
calculated shall produce n larger amount
than can be wisely and economically
expended upon the capital. such surplus
can be easily and advantageOuxIy pre-
vented by emitting from consideration
as District revenue for doubling pur-
poses under the law the District reve-
nues from all licenses, and especially
liquor licenses.
Estimates Do Not Show Full Needs.
Since 1909 the estimates submitted
by the Commissioners no longer repre-
sent the full needs of the District.
The law enacted in that year forbids
them to follow their previous practice
in accordance with the letter and spirit
of the organic act of informing Con-
gres with reasonable yfullness of the
municipal needs and of leaving ii to
Congress to select from alternative
propositions of needed improvements
the items aggregating the amount of
appropriations which it was willing to
make. If this amount was less than
double the local tax revenue surplus
in favor of the District went over for
its benefit to subsequent years. If the
appropriated amount was more than
double the local revenue, the United
States advanced to the District as a
temporary loan, with interest. the
amount of this deficit By this sys-
fnF full inf
to the needs of the District and used
its judgment in selecting those which
in that year the District and the
United States could jointly afford to
between the District and the United
States which gave some fiexibiity to
the appropriations. Any lack of equity
in the adjustment of the account was
Invariably to the disadvantage of the
District. since it always repaid with
interest the advances which repre-
sented its debts. and since it sometimes
failed to have it's credits. its tax sur
pluses over half of the appropriations.
later used for it's full benefit on the
half-and-half basis. When the ma
tional partner made an advance to the
local partner the amount was always
repaid with interest. When the local
partner made an advance to the ma
tional partner no interest was paid on
the loan, and sometimes the principal
was not repaid in full. The arrange
fetal, Notwithstanding these occasional
minor inequities suffered by the Dis
trict.
BY act of March 8. 1909. 35 Stat, 72s,
the Comm issioners are required not to
submit estimates in excess of twice the
estimated revenue of the District for
the fiscal year to be provided for, after
taking into consideration all charges
against said revenues in other than the
District bill.
This unwise law prevents the Com
missioners from suggesting to Con-
gress any alternative methods of ex-
pending the District revenues and con-
fines them to a single line of proposals
within the limits of the probable rev.
enues. The result follows that II Con-
gress disapproyes any suggested ex-
penditure there remains an unexpended
surplus of District revenue, unless
Congress substitutes some other wise
expenditure in its place. II Congress
| does not substitute some better method
of spending this revenue than that
proposed by the Commissioners and
rejected by Congress. the Districts
| Legislature is bIamable. The reasoning
which treats this failure of Congress
to select from the many municipal
- -