Evening star., 1922-02-03


better consideration to the needs Of
the National Capital, Representative
r. Walton Moore of Virginia told the
House yesterday. when the District
appropriation bill was under discus
sion, with only a score of members on
the floor.
Representative Moore pointed to the
ruthless way in which the District es-
Inmates had been slashed. first by the
budget bureau and next by the SUP
committee of the House approprla-
tions committee, declaring evidence
lacking of good grounds on when
these reductions were made ana III
spite Of the testimony of Responsible
business men and engineers that the
appropriations were needed. he toio
his colleagues that their duty under
the Constitution demands that they
give more conscientious conslderatlon
to legislation affecting the District OF
Columbia.
Declared to BE In "Fog."
Representative Moore in forcefully
chiding the Congress for neglect to
give proper consideration to the al
fairs of the District said:
1T cannot be controverted by any
body who is familiar with the facts
that the subcommittee on approprla-
tions in appropriating for TINS par
ticular service and many other serV-
ices very heavily reduced tne es.l-
mates made by both the Commission
ers and the budget bureau, and l
can't find upon what evidence 1t acted.
On the building inspection item there
was no evidence whatever be1ore the
subcommittee except the statement or
Col. Keller. that more money was
necessary on account OF the lnlpor-
| nf
with the exception Of two gentle-
men who made statements about mat
ters not really within the jurisdiction
Of the subcommittee. the only Wit
Col. Keller and other District officials.
and their evidence seems to have had
little weight. So as to many impor-
tant matters we are very mucn IN d
fog as to what we should do in pass
ing upon this bill.
Later on I shall endeavor TO snow
again. as I tried to show day before
Yesterday, not only the extent 10
which the committee on appropria-
tions have cut the estimates OF the
bureau of the budget but the very
severe extent to which the bureau OF
the budget cut the estimates Ihat
were sent in by the Commissioners OF
the District, who know best about the
needs and the necessities Of the DIS.
trict. Two Of the Commissioners. all
of whom were appointed by Preslden!
Harding, are among the strongest ana
most experienced business men IN tne
District and the third is an able Army
engineer, taking the place of Col
Kutz, his predecessor, who was a man
of equal ability. Viewed in the ligh'
of the record, the bill is unsatisfac-
tory. And such as it is. the bill gets
very limited consideration. Ihe otnel
day five hours were assigned Tor gen.
ernl debate and a comparatively SINAI
percentage of that time was given tc
the discussion Of the bill. Almost
everything on the face OF the eartr
and above the earth was discussed
| because there was an elaborate speeci
on a proposed air service-to the ex'
clusion of much real discussion or the
hill. And now, with the bill being
considered under the f1ve-minute rule
I do not think we have had as many
as forty members of the House present
at any time.
Suggests Different Procedure.
"All of this inclines me to the
conviction that we must try to dls-
cover some better. method OF pro
charged by the Constitution with the
exclusive duty Of governing, the
District of Columbia / doubt ex-
tremely whether the budget system
should have been applied to the Dis
tract. I doubt extremely W~netner ~
the location of all appropriation N
properly applicable to the D1strlG!5
of Columbia, and at some time l snall
do what 1 have ever hoped otner
men will do, try to suggest methods
of procedure in substitution for those
now in existence iaotdrH that assn,ts. are Tar io
Representative Fred N: Zihlman OF
MARYLAND, a member Of the legis-
latiye committee on the District, our
ing debate emphasized that II tne
present bill is passed, instead OF pay
Ing $3.50 proportion, as for more m re
proportion, as during the current
fiscal year, the federal government
will be paying less than 80 per cenI I
of the cost Of keeping the Natlonal
Capital a going concern. He also
emphasized that instead OF l.'o
tax rate, as claimed ny a tne cn ~ ~ the
of the subcommittee in charge OF tne
bill, the tax rate this year Is I.o1
and last year was 1.95.
Jmuroyements Should Be Allowed.
REPRESENTATIVE Zihlman, in response
to questions, argued that the people
here want the municipal Improve
ments, are willing and able to pay
for them and that Congress shouio
let them have such needed improve
mentS. He SAID:
IT am taking into consideration that
at a 2-cent rate fifteen millions Will
be raised from real estate. tangible
personal and intangible property;
there will be raised from taxation on
real estate alone moro than $12,-
600, 900, and the miscellaneous receipts
will swell 1t to more than $4,000, 600,
SO that the federal government. IT
this bill Is passed, instead of paying
so per cent, as they have for the past
fifty years, will be paying less than
30 per cent of the expenses OF con-
Quoting the District of Columbia
There was submitted to the Dis
trict Commissioners q report made
up in the Office Of the auditor which
showed that they could raise $15,-
100000, and this bill carries only
S2O,OOO,000. My contention is that
the needed improvements in the Dis
trict, both those cut out by the di-
rector of the budget and some of those
that have been cut out by the SUBJ
committee, should be put in. because
people of the District have the prop
erty and they are able to pay taxes
to pay for those improvements.
II think when the President of the
United States is appealing to the
heads of the departments to go ahead