Evening star., 1922-06-22
District and Federal Equities.


the past in search of counterclaims
in favor of the United States to offset
the five millions of accumulated tax
surplus to the credit OF the District
of Columbia. and is going at the same
time to take into the calculation
financial equities OF the District in
the same period. there is no disposi-
ton on the Districts part to limit
the investigation soon to be made by
q Joint select committee of Congress
Of these opposing financial equities to
the period since 1878. The District
readily assents to the proposal to
push the date hack to 1874 and sug-
gests that in order to do full equity
the investigation should go back to
1890. when the financial relations OF
the nation and the Capital community
had their beginning. If old claims
and equities prior to 1873 are to be
revived in favor of the United States
then they must also in consistency
and fairness be revived in favor of
WaShington If the half-and-half
cqualizing expenditures between 1874
and 1878 on the interest on the $50
bonds, this same principle should be
applied to all other expenditures on
the Districts account between 1SIf
and 1878. and these expenditures
should also he equalized. The reports
of the municipal finance committee
Of the Board of Trade i'll 19l2-l914 in
yestisate fully and state in detail the
whole, of this account between the
United States and the District of Co
lumbia and show that in an equaliz-
ing Of the expenditures shown in this
account for the four years between
1874 and 1873 the United States is
indebted to the District.
If any claims and equities against
the District prior to 1873 are to be
viewed as surviving the Districts
bankruptcy settlement of 1878. then
claims and equities for the District
must he treated as similarly endowed
with continued life or with like
possibility of resurrection. IF the
District of today is to be held re-
sponsible for any neglected debts of
the District prior to 1873 it must also
have the benefit of old Washington's
unsatisfied equities and partly unpaid
credits.
If Uncle Sam as a creditor can
convey himself forty-flve years or
half century or a century back into
the past he must go back similarly
as a debtor and meet now the un-
satisfied equity against him which
arose from the circumstances Of the
founding Of the original city. The
original owners of Washington do
mated five-sevenths of the city'S soil
and yielded the right OF self-goyern-
ment TO the nation on the under
standing and implied agreement that
the nation vNs to build up here a
magnificent capital at its own ex-
pense, rein1bursing itself. in part.
from the proceeds of the sale Of
donated lots.
A pretentious city was planned. and
lots were sold by the government on
For fourths Of century the ma
lion violated or neglected the obliga-
tions which it had thus incurred. In
1873 the government, which had In
The beginning impliedly undertaken
to meet all the expenses of capital
making and then shifted that burden,
jUI the main, upon private citizens,
decided that justice required 1t to pay
one-half of the Districts expenses.
From these facts two equities in
favor of Washpgtons people and
against Uncle Sam arise: ~ For the
payment of much more than one-hah
of the local community's capitaf:mak-
ing expenditures from 1890, based on
the nations undertaking to meet these
expenses itself at the founding Of the
city; (2) for the repayment to Wash
ington of whatever its people had paid
more than the United States, apply
ing to the past the half-and-half
principle of the organic act.
The second equity has been for
mally urged upon Uncle Sam. The
Poland) report of the House commit
lee on the judiciary, June, 1874, said:
From statement of expenditures
by the government by the Treasury
Department up to 1871 we find: The
total expenditures up to 1871 for i'm
provements Of avenues and streets
by the government but little over
S1,000.000 during which period the
local government for the District
has expended over nine times that
amount
In explaining to the House the bill
which became ths organic act Of 1878,
Representative Hendee said: "Since
the seat Of government was perma-
nently established in this District the
entire expenditures Of the United
States for improvements in the Dis
trict haSe been about 100000
while the amount paid by citizens Of
the District for the same purpose
exceeds the sum of $34,000,00 In
other words, the amount taken from
the pockets Of citizens Of the District
and put into these improvements is
about four times the amount which
has been appropriated by the federal
government. I make these state
msnts upon data furnished from the
Treasury Department and other de-
paftments Of the government, which
give accurately the items, with dates