Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-08

alton, doubled under the half-an-hali
| law, or will it ignore these SURPRISES
and exact excessive taxation from the
! taxpayers of today, or borrow money
TO be repaid under q bond issue
largely by taxpayers of tho future?
Districts Surplus Revenues.
The Commissioners report that the
| total of surplus District revenues in
the Treasury today is $4,648, 666.69, This
is In every cent District tax money. ap-
piicap.e soieiy to meet the District S
share Of the cost of capital maintenance.
1t was collected under the half-and.
half law to meet the Districts hall
or the appropriations, and was not
dubbed and spent at that time be-
cause the municipal needs which 1t
ought to have satisfied were neg
lected and unmet in the stress of war.
AS these annual unmet needs. for
additional school buildings. increased
water supply. streets. etc. have accu-
mulated. SO also has accumulated the
tax money collected in surpluses to
pay the Districts half of the cost.
Now that these accumulated needs
are at last to be met, the money ac-
cumulated to meet them in the past
should, as a matter of course, De
doubled under the law and applied TO
satisfy them. a..
Increase Of present high taxation.
or even the borrowing OF money oy
bond issue, is unnecessary and Unjust
until District tax SURPRISES nave peen
doubled under the law rendering
available over nine millions OF money
applicable to Washingtons munlcipAi
needs) and have been APPROPRIATED
to District uses. :..,;4,,
.sWhat other sensible municipality
in the world would fail to ut1llze It's
reserves and surplus funds oeIore y
overtaxed its present taxpayers aho
before it began to borrow"
MIR. Burroushs' Argument.
Defending the efforts OF the people
If Washinston to obtain voice in
tbe federal government, Representa-
tive Burroughs said:
."The resolution which / have intro
duced in Congress. and when is now
pending before the judiciary commit
tee of the House Of Representaeivsa,
provides for an amenonerr ~. r.
Constitution of the United states. II
does not interfere with the govern
mont of the District of Columbia IN
any respect. 1t does not limit the
exclusive mower of Congress TO legls.
late for the people who 1--WE mere:
does not propose to take away rom
Congress any power granteo -
gives to Congress a power which Con-
eress does not now possess, naneiy.
The mower to admit to the status o!
citizens of a state the residents OF
the District of Columbia for Two pur-
poses only: % For the purpose OF rep s
anonp the electors of the President
and the Vice President. and " ZOE
the purpose of suing and being sueo
in the courts of the United states. II
leaves to Congress what II mas now
the sole power of government. herS
But it is based upon Ihe .e
that if Congress is to have ana 70
cnntinue to exercise such supreme
hover in the District, it lis imperative
that the hundreds of thousands OF
naon,e who live here and who OBEY
the laws and pay the taxes tnat Son-
press imposes upon them snouio nave
Representation in the supreme legfs-
latiye body. 1t is not in any sense
measure for local government.
.sWhat it does is to give to the Tour
or ave hundred thousand people VINO
live in the District fair representa-
tion in their own legislature. II eacn
one of the forty-eight states IN tne
fective representation i'm Congress.
then maintain that the people OF
this District have a double reason 1or
such representation. Why?
Congress National Legislature. -
Congress is the national legisla-
ture. That is why we are all entitled
to representation in it. But. in addi-
ton to being the national legislature
so far as the people of this District
are concerned, Congress also is their
local munic pal legislature. 1t is their
board of aldermen and common coun-
Gil.
To-day there are more people living
in the District of Columbia than in
any one of at least seven states. With
one or two exceptions, it has a larger
population than any state Of this
Union had when it became a state. At
this minute it has more than four
times as large a population as any
one of seventeen states had when 1t be-
came a state. One-eighth Of the total
of the United States Sem
ate today comes from states each of
which has fewer Inhabitants than the
District Of Columbia. -..s. =
ut has a total wealth greater than
that of any one Of nine states. It
paid in 1918 larger total Of income
taxes than was paid by any one 1of4
thirty states. In intelligence, thrift,
public spirit. and all that goes to
make up the sum total OF good cit.