Evening star., 1920-03-28

I have sat in this House TOT years am
have heard certa In sentlemeen setfe, uTe
Of % the " tax matterA of the District o
Columbia. If any . those gentlemel
il has escaped my attention. and
watch those things faA rly Wen.
II doubt whether Il 1ere Is a piac'
pretense of an honest >admlnistratloi
of gorevrnment where the TAX rat'
amounts to 21s per cenA OF the rea
value of the property. NJ course,
know where people iect Lhei
assessors and direct their q SCISSORS ;tf
assessors have way of III idins th'
real value away below thu actua
market value. They do not hect tne
assessor in Washington. 90 no
know how fair valuation m ay De
There is no reason why it, shoS Id mo-
be in the main a fair value.
II believe that the Congress q tnt
United States, when it undertake. &c
legislate in reference to taxes, ou gn'
to do it with some degree Of kno\"I.
edge and intelligence and l do NO
believe that Is the method we Aes
This effort to foist increased taxa,
ton on the residents Of the District
without their having been given an
to be heard on the matter
was pointed to by Representative
Moore as another strong argument
in favor of national representation
for the District. He said:
THE District. should have spokes-
man here whose participation in the
debates would be not only or advan-
tage to the community he would rep
resent. but would be OF very decided
advantage to Congress, all the menu
bers of which I have no doubt are
anxious to do the fair and the right
thing with respect to the District or
Columbia"
Strong plea for fair dealing toward
the residents of the National Capital
was made by Representative MOORE
in part. as follows:
Certainly 1t is fact that very
often on this floor the argument ma0e
against the half-and-half plan has
been that 1t has resulted In the ac-
Of an unexpended balance
in the Treasury to the credit OF the
District of Columbia
'I recall very well that one OF the
most prominent members, when tnat
matter was last year under consld-
Grafton. said that II we did not aboi-
ish the half-and-half plan the time
would come when the District would
be demanding that the accumulation
be spent for the benefit of the District.
Now. a different and inconsistent po-
sition Is taken by the members of the
subcommittee.
II own no property in. the District
of Columbia. and without any confer
ence with Washington people who
may be interested in this matter and
not at the request of any of them, ]
wish to take the liberty, very briefly.
of stating the views that / entertain
The central proposition of the bill IL
the one now under discussion 1t is
sudden and drastic proposition to
greatly increase the tax rate on real
and tangible personal property. AS
understand, 1t is admitted by the
chairman of the subcommittee in
charge of the bill that in a sense the
increase Is arbitrary. Further, 1t is
explicitly admitted by him that the
subcommittee made no investigation
in the ordinary sense.
Sees Proposed Plan NJ Unjust.
"It is unjust to the District Of Co
lumbia to take the action that is now
Of importance. not only to the people
Of the District. but 1t must be a sub
tect OF great importance in the esti.
nation of the people Of the country
who, 1t may be assumed, are against
making conditions here complex an6
uncertain. and thus perhaps retard
the growth and Identification Of the
Capital city. and diminish its impor-
tance and progress. Now, it is saii
that the proposition rests to a cOnsid
erabie extent on what lafges property
owners. have told the subcommittee
Speaking as q member Of the House
who has not been here during the in
that we are entitled, when a commit
tee brings in an important matter like
this-a basic recommendation-to
have definite facts which will enable
us to take action free from any eIe-
ment or claim of Injustice or mistake
And that is all I care to say on that
point. and / say 1t without criticism
OF the able members of the subcom.
mitfee. Ter whom I have very great
respect. We ought not to make the
District a sort OF political experiment
farm. 1t seems to me that instead OF
Congress tinkering with this subject
of taxation in the manner we observe
1t might be better for Congress-. hay-
Ing created a government here in the
District with a commission as its
head, TO leave to that government not
only the matter of assessing as is now
done, but the matter of fixing the
tax rate. providing, il you please, that
sufficient revenue shall be produced
by local taxation to pay at least 50
per cent of the total expenditures, or
II the proportion should be higher
meAe t HSHeT vest IN the COmmfS-
sioners that power, and trust to them
to use it properly and knowing tina,
II there is any abuse of the power
there will be no difficulty in Congress,
quickly applying a corrective"
FavoKs q Field Rattle.
Representative Mann asked Repre-
sentative Moore, Il take 1t that the
gentleman will admit that it would
not be safe to let the District Com
missioners hx the rate unless there
was a fixed ratio between the
amount to be paid out of the general
Treasury
Mr.. Moore replied. Certainly: there
should be provided a minimum per.
centage.
Mr.. Mann continued: "If Conereas
should want to change the rate to 3
proportionate amount from the nfty-
fifty to some other ratio and IL should
be changed. would 1t not be perfectly
feasible to provide that the District
Commissioners should fx the tax rate
based upon the appropriation for the
fiscal year made by Congress?'
Mr.. Moore said: There would be NO
difficulty in that"
Another thing I want to take the
liberty of saying" said Mr.. Moore
''is that I think what Is occurring
here now emphasizes the Importance
of the District of Columbia being rep
resented by a delegate IN this House
capable of engaging in the discus
sions here and furnishing first hand
information. That would not REQUIRE
a constitutional amendment It would
not require the government of the
District to be put upon the ordinary
political basis. 1t would not require
the exercise Of the right Of suffrage
There could be no valid objection, i,
seems to me. to taking care of the
situation in that way at least for the
time being. The delegate might be ap
pointed by the President. upon the
recommendation of the Commissioner.
and with suggestions from the va
rious civic bodies Of the District"
Calls ME. Mann u Scold.