Evening star., 1920-05-25
DISTRICT FISCAL
PLAN REVERSED
BY PENDING BILL
Mapes Measure HarmfuI|y
Overturns Procedure of
Financing Capital Needs.
THEODORE w. MOVES.
Editorial Correspondence of The star.l

Editorial Correspondence of The Star.l
The Mapes bill (H. r. 1859. passed
by the House and now pending in the
Senate. provides:
That all appropriations of money to
provide for the payment Of the ex-
penses OF the government of the Dis
trict OF Columbia shall be paid from
and after July 1. 1920. out of the rev.
enues OF the District of Columbia to
| the extent that such revenues shall
be sufficient therefor and the remain
der shall be paid out of the Treasury
Of the United States: Provided. That
the amounts to pay the interest and
sinking fund on the funded debt of
the District of Columbia shall be pa id
one half out of the revenues of the
said District and one-half out of the
Treasury of the United States
Section 2. That all acts and parts
of acts in so far as they conflict with
any of the provisions of this act are
hereby repealed.
Summarized. our objections to H. r.
715S are:
p That 1t overturns the present
practice and procedure OF District
financing to the embarrassment and
injury Of the District. Now the ma
tion advances capital maintenance
funds during ten months of each
fiscal year and reimburses itself from
District taxes in the last two months.
This bill reverses this practice.
t2 That 1t shifts the primary re-
sponstbtlity and obligation of capital
maintenance and development from
the nation to the local Taxpayers.
making the former instead of the
latter the incidental Contributor.
This shifting 10 obviously inequitabIe.
CD That I'm it's application to the
sO-called surplus of une expended Dis.
trfct Of CoIumbia taxes it is retro
active. trust-violatinE and morally
ind defensible.
ca That 1t repeals by indirection
the half-and-half provision Of the act
of 1873 and substitutes for 1t an in
definite and fluctuating relation be-
tween the national and local c0ntrt-
buttons toward capital maintenance
and development, and unnecessarily,
unsvisely and unjustly destroys the
local taxpayers' safeEuard against
excessive taxation by an alien taxing
body, i'm which they are not repre-
| sented.
Reverses Present District Financing
Practice.
a. The affirmative words of legis-
lation in this bill merely declare. in
effect, that in these appropriations
for the District Except for interest
and principal of funded debt) the tax
revenues Of the District shall be first
exhausted. and that then appropria-
tions shall be made, 80 far 40 any are
In the House debate 1t was urged
/ that the new procedure proposed was
in accordance with the present prac-
tice. and that enactment of this pro-
the law conform to the hitherto un-
lawful nracticA
But the practice provided by this
bill Is not the actual practice OF to-
day, even though both practices vio-
late the letter Of the organic act.
priations are payable. first, to the ex-
tent of one-half from the Treasury.
and the other half is to be collected
by taxation Of the taxab1es OF Wash
ington. Under the literal wording OF
the 1878 law the total appropriation
preparation from the Treasury pre-
cede the taxation of the District to
raise the other half. specific, ascer-
tanned amount. Under the present
practice the fixing of taxation pre-
cedes appropriation, and the taxation
is not to raise a definite. specific
amount, but whatever amount results
from the application of a rate fixed
by Congress to a standard of assess
ment. also determined by Congress.
In the past the appropriations ana
made from the Treasury without re-
gard to the amount OF District reve-
nue at the time paid in and available.
Where the amount of District taxes In
any wear has turned out to be less In
| a large sum than one nali OF the cap
! ital maintenance appropriation which
Congress has made Congress has ad-
yanced these large sums to the Dis
trict and has reimbursed itself, with
| interest, for these advances, from the
revenues of succeeding years. Where
| to he greater than one-half OF the ap-
nropriations made by Congress the
rurnlna has in effect and In fact been
held in the Treasury as District reve-
nue. to be used in succeeding years
and the Joint fiscal committee Of 1915
| fnwnd that not in each individual
wear but broadly in a series of years
| these variations corrected one an
| ether. SO that on the whole the half
and-half law had been oheyed and
| enforced. at,
into law this bill proposes that the
annropriations shall first exhaust all
| i)istrict tax revenues ana tnat tnen
the nation shall appropriate from the
Treasury whatever 1t pieases tmucn.
| little or nothing) to supplement the
local taxes.
u.v.r.nl Of Practice Embarrassing
and Hurtful.
| The change in the present practice
nronosed by this bill will not be prac-
tically wise and helpful and may en-
harrass seriously the Districts sys-
tenn of appropriations. The District
revenues are received in varying
amounts in every month of the year
The expenditures also vary In amount
in every month Of the year and have
mn relation whatever to the receipts
Expenditures on the capitals account
must be made at the times and in the
amounts needed. however little Of the
District taxes for that year have in
! fact been paid In
comparison by months in the fis-
caI wear 1919 of revenues deposited
and disbursements made through the
District accounting officer confirms
! these statements.
+, Reveuues deposited into the general
fund. D. c., fiscal year 1919:
1918.
July ......................$2 .$2O6. 81
August .................. IA, IL
September ................ 1853 Q.
October OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 14S. 81
November ................. 233 5;
December ................. 221 8;
1919.
January ................ 1851
February .,...,,.., 8l4 Al