Evening star., 1916-08-14
DONORS OF FIVE-sEvENTHs
y OF ORIGINAL CITY
Paid Nearly All Cost Of Capital
Maintenance to 1878; Since Then
One-Half, and Toward the Other
Half in National Taxes More
Than Average American.
No. ".
Editorial Correspondence of The Star.
BY THEODORE w. MOVES.

BY THEODORE w. MOVES.
the great cost of capital upbuilding
and adornment has been paid by the
nation and that Washington and the
Washingtonians, while pretending
great accomplishments in this connec-
tion. have done very little, almost moth
ing.
In his House speech, he says:
The great cost of capital building
| and capital Identification has been paid
and is being paid by the national gov
ernment and but little by the District
of Columbia.
"Out of the fifty or more pictures il
| lustrated by Taft's article Gn the Geo
graphic Magazine) it is not certain that
property in the District of Columbia
has been taxed to help pay for more
than two of them. yet they have all
been used in connection with this mag
azine article for the purpose of show
ing to the country the great cost OF
National Capital building without be-
ing frank enough to say in so many
| words that nearly all the cost was paid
for by the federal government and but
an Insignificant part of it paid for by
the District of Columbia
These fifty pictures are discussed in
detail to show that the District of Co
lumbia paid elttle or nothing toward
the buildings and grounds which are
pictured. and the federal government
nearly all.
More than half of the pictured sub
jects are either privately owned. in
which case the federal government con-
tributed nothing, were donated to
the government by private benefactors
like Andrew Carnegie. thus relieving
both the national government and the
District of Columbia. The residence.
privately owned which nre pictured
were paid for not in part. hut wholly
by the residents Of the District of CO.
lumbia. The statement that the Dis
trict of Columbia paid nothing toward
the new railroad terminals and the
elimination Of grade crossings is I'm
error. SiEnmered down. the charge In
that Washington and the Washington-
inns have contributed nothing toward
the public buildings and grounds here
and that they pretend to have coptrfb-
uted everything.
The original public buildings and
paid for out of the proceeds of the sale
OF Washington lots donated to the gov
ernment by Neutrality-suspicious.. In enect,
the federal government thus paid noth-
Ing for the parks and public buildings
Of the original city. Streets pictured in
the Taft article were the direct gift Of
the original WnshinxtOnIans.
The Warrington Monument was thus
built upon ground In effect donated by
WashingtOnians and erected to the
height of over $50 feet by private sub
scriptiOns in which WashIngfonfans
participated.
1t In inaccurate to say that the 16i.-
trict Of Columbia has contributed Moth
Ing toward the cost of modern uuhIic
buildings and grounds paid for out of
national funds. The residents of the
District of Columbia pay national taxes
precisely on the same basis as other
Americana. For this purpose and for
the purpose Of fghting az soldiers in
defense Of the naG, they are Americana
to the same extent ms the kentuckians
WashfngtOnians, instead OF contribute
! Ing little or nothing toward capital up-
building and adornment, have given
i % the ground from the proceeds of
public parks were secured and all the
original public buildings were erected
and for many years maintained and de-
ve1Oped; CD the broad streets and ave-
| nues of the capital, constituting more
| than One-half Of the original city;
| t3D nearly all the cost of municfpai
maintenance of the nations city nm to
1S74-S, and since that time one-haIf
of such cost; and a. from the very
| beginning down to the present day
| WashingtOnians have contributed to
| the national funds used for the Develop
ment of the nations city on the same
! basis as other Americans, and in
amount per capita fnr more than the
average American outside of Wash.
| lngtOn.