Evening star., 1916-01-01
DISTRICT IN CONGRESS.

|
planned upon the half-and-half prin-
ciple of appropriation as contained in
the organic act of the District, for
the District appropriation bill had gone
to the Senate late in 1914 with the
johnson rider attached to it, this
Legislative weapon having been sharp
ened for the express purpose of nulli-
flying the obligation of the United
States toward the Districts support. It
provided that the United States should
make contribution only after the
Districts revenues had been used to
| the full extent.
1t had just begun to be felt, January
l. 1915. that the Senate would over
! Whelm the johnson rider, and this feel
ing was justified January 12, when the
| upper house upheld the half-and-h half
! plan by vote of 46 to 20. At the same
time the prohibition question was rife.
| and Senator Sheppard of Texas en-
| deavored to suspend the rules and pass
| dry" legislation for the District, tack
| ing 1T to the appropriation bill. HIS
motion to suspend the rules failed on
a vote of 40 to 3S. The appropriation
| bill without the Johnson rider passed
! the Senate January Is, carrying $12,-
| 342, ,324.45, an increase over the House
bill of s1,O29,276.
| Opposition in the House.
| The Senate bill was met by strong
| opposition in the House at first, where
Chairman johnson of the District COM
mittee insisted on his rider, and de-
| manded that the House conferees
,, should not surrender to the Senate. but
should stand firm for his amendment
which would kill the half f-and-half
plan. Representative Underwood, Rep
reSentative Mann and other leaders on
both sides endeavored to dissuade Rep
resentative Johnson from his purpose.
Representative Underwood advocated
commission of inquiry into the half
and-half subject; and later, on Febru-
airy 81. after the conferees had failed
to agree. Representative Underwood
in most dramatic moment for the Dis
trict of Columbia arose on the floor of
the House and offered motion to ap-
point a joint committee of the Senate
and House to inquire and examine
carefully into the disputed half-and-
half question and into the finances of
the District generally and the rela-
ton between the United States and the
District of Columbia. This proved to
be the turning point in the direction of
sane legislation for the District, and
the Underwood motion Was adopted, 165
to ISL. The Senate agreed to the idea
March l.
The appointment of the joint select
committee was watched with great
interest. The Senate appointed Sena-
tors Chiffon, Salisbury and Works,
the House members being Representa-
tives Rainey, Gard and Cooper. After
the long summer vacation they gath
cred in Washington in the fall. ready
for briefs and hearings, which proved
to be of most exhaustive character.
bringing out views on all possible
angles of the relation between the
United States and the District.
Joint Citizens Committee.
In the meantime a presentation of
the case in behalf of "a retention of the
principles of the organic act had been
prepared by a joint citizens committee.
representing nearly all of the citizens
organizations in the District and in
cluding business men and property
owners of all classes. The committee
sent to the hearings H. b. F. Macfar-
land, A. S. Worthington. Theodore W.
Noyes and Thomas Bradley. One of
the features of the hearing was the
thorough manner in which vital state
ments of the so-caIled George report
on taxation and assessments in the
District were riddled. this being the
first time the citizens of the District
had been allowed a chance in an official
manner to show the follies and unsup-
ported statements of the report Other
speakers before the committee were the
three District Commissioners, H. ).
Browne. J. II. Keeley, A. J. McKeIway,
b. NJ Seibo1d, A =. Davis and A. S.
Trundle. The civilian Commissioners
recommended an abolition of the half
and half plan, suggesting that the Dis
trict pay all it could bear out of it's
revenues and that the United States
make UP the balance. Maj. kutz, En-
gineer Commissioner. recommended
that fixed proportion of federal sup
port be retained
The year closes with the joint select
committee almost ready to report to
Congress its conclusions.
Other Legislation.
Other legislation enacted with refer
ence to the District was sparse, indeed.
An urgent deficiency bill carrying mis-
cellaneous items was passed, carrying
legislation forcing the District to pay
| back to the United States over half
a million dollars for an alleged debt,
comprising half of the interest on 3.65
bonds between 1876 and 1878 Other
than this only six bills came from
! Congress adopted by both bodies and
placed upon the statute books in the
| year 1915, and only one of these was
| of broad constructive character. This
single act was that allowing the use
of school buildings for community
purposes. The other legislation affect
ing the District enacted in the year
was as follows:
| An act allowing the removal of a
body from a cemetery to another city
| An act to incorporate the Ellen Will
| son Memorial Homes.
! An act to settle the shortage in the
| District books after the Watson defalca-
| ton.