Evening star., 1920-01-06
HALF Of DISTRICT
COMMITTEE WILL
FIGHT FOR $3.50
Will Oppose on House Floor
Bill Which Proposes 10
Abolish Plan.
EIGHT SIGN AS MAPES
MEASURE OPPONENTS
Two Others Against It and Three
Non-Committal, Says M.
Williams.

Non-Committal, Says M.
Williams.
Half of the members Of the Hos.
District committee will oppose on the
floor of the House the Mapes I:ll which
proposes to abolish the tire -konorca
! alf-and-half system OF financing thn
National Capital.
This was shown today when Repr.-
sentative Thomas s. Williams of Ill.,
nois filed the minority report. whi.h 49,,
signed by eight members Of the com
mittee. Mr.. Williams So: ID chat tw1
others, who had Toted in committee 10
| report out the bill, would oppose its pas
sage in the House. ami that three men
berS are on-committal
Chairman Mapes filed the committee
report yesterday. which was unsigned
with the assumption that all who do not
sign the minority report are in favor of
the bill, but Representative Williams
pointed out today that this is not a fair
assumption, as careful poll OF the COM
mttee made by him shows that the
committee is about evenly divided with
the opposition having the advantage il
there is any
Those who signed the minirity re-
port filed today are Representatives
Williams. Benjamin K. Focht of Penn
| sylvania; Loren E. Wheeler. Illinois:
| F. Reed. West Virginia: Frederick
~ Zihlman, Maryland; Frank Murphy,
one; i ,Isna.aDa Edwin D; Hay Hayes. Missouri;
Mann of Illinois. who has heretofore
been one of the firm supporters of the
half f-and-half system. will speak
against the Mapes bill when it is put
on passage in the House.
Principal Points Emphasized.
Three principal points were empha-
sized by Mr.. Williams in his report:
First-That the assertions fire.
| quently made in Congress that the
! people of the District are under-tax-
ed are not justified. He presents sta
tlstlcs showing that a careful COM
parison with other cities of approx
mateiy the same size and advantages
| as the National Capital proves the
taxpayers of the National Capital are
paying proportionately as much for
the upkeep and development OF their
city as are the taxpayers in other
large cities in all parts of the coun-
| try.
Second-He impresses upon his col
leagues that if in their judgment any
change in the fiscal relations between
the District of Columbia government
and the federal government should
be made, it must not be to abandon
the system of fixed proportion of
contribution as between the national
and local governments.
Third-'"The amount of-revenue de-
/ rived from District taxation. doubled
by the addition of a like amount
more than the needs OF the District
require. Many very, necessary i'm
provements are now being delayed
All available revenue under the ex-
listing arrangements will not more
than meet the pressing needs of the
District for years to come"
| The report concludes: Justice and
equity to the citizens of the District.
who, of all American citizens. have
absolutely no voice in their local
! government, and the best interests OF
the Capital city will be served by
leaving unchanged the act of June
IL, 1878"
Text of Minority Report.
The minority report filed by MIR.
! Williams follows
! THE undersigned members or the
| committee on the District of Colum
'bia cannot join with the majority or
the committee in recommending 10 inc
House the passage of the Mapes bill.
and we respectfully beg to submit our
| reasons therefor.
The act of July II. 1878. providing
| a form of government for the District
| of Columbia. which is commonly re-
! ferred to as the organic act, con-
tanned the following legislative pro-
vision
Ito the extent to which Congress
shall approve of said estimates. Con-
gress shall appropriate the amount or
! so per cent thereof. and the remaining
20 per cent of such approved estimate
shall be levied and assessed upon the
taxable property and privileges IN
said District, other than the property
of the United States and the Dlstrict
Of Columbia.
The pending bill repeals this pro-
vision of the organic act. and makes
indefinite voluntary and uncertain the
future contributions of the national
| the maintenance and
development of the capital and Dis
| trict of Columbia
| I'm order to determine whether the
proposed legislation is wise and equi-
| table it is necessary to take into con-
sideration the history of the National
Capital from the beginning. Careful
study should be given to its origin.
and the purpose and plans of its
founders: Investigations should be
made of the relations that have here
tofore existed between the general
government and the District, and the
various arrangements and experiments
that have been tried out from time to
time in the past.
Clause OF Section 8 Quoted
CLAUSE Il. section s. of the Consti-
tuition of the United States confers
upon Congress the power: To exercise
exclusive legislation in all cases what
soever, over such district mot exceed
ing ten miles Square) as may, by ces-
| sion of particular states and the sc-
| ceptance of Congress, become the seat
1 of government of the United States
This provision was well considered
| by the wise men who framed our
! Constitution. The debates show they
| had a definite purpose in mind. That
purpose, in the first place, was to
avoid the rivalries and jealousies aris-
| ing between the various states over
the location of the capital. But rea-
sons for more compelling actuated
them. Many of those who sat as dele
gates in the convention had been
members of the Congress of 1888
That Congress was compelled to fee
from Philadelphia to Princeton for
safety 1t was overawed and intimi-
dated by riotous soldiers of the revo-
luton who stormed its doors demand
ing redress of their grievances. Tho
state authorities Of Pennsylvania,
when called upon to furnish protec-
ton to the Congress. replied that tho
state militia of Pennsylvania could not
be used for that purpose.
That this bitter experience might
not be the lot of a subsequent 3On-
gress the fathers provided in the
Constitution that the future capital
should not be within the territorial
jurisdiction of any paricula. 3tatei
:hat il should be lccs t.i ia = district
wherein the power aud jurisdict on g.