Evening star., 1922-03-08
R|DER|S EXPLAINED
/ BY SENATOR JONES
. pleads for His Amendment
Changing Fiscal ReIa-
ti0nS of District.

defense and explanation of the
rider to the District appropriation
hill changing the fiscal relations Of
the District of Columbia was made in
the Senate during the consideration
of the bill yesterday afternoon by
Senator Jones of Washington. who
fathered the proposed change in ex-
isting law.
Senator Jones' explanation was
made in reply to a request by Sem
ator Harrison of Mississippi, who
sought to have the rider stricken
from the bill on the ground that it
was new Legislation and had no place
on an appropriation bill. that some
light be given the Senate in regard
to the matter.
Jones Exp -lns Amendment.
Senator Jones pointed out that the
rider was identical with the Dill
passed sonre time ago by the Senate.
and which is now before the House
District committee.
1.-The general law governing the
fiscal relations between the District
of Columbia and the federal govern
ment is embodied in the act of 1878
and provides for what is known as
the $3.50 plan, whereby appropr1a-
tions to meet the expenses, OF tne
District government are contributed
equally from the federal Treasury
and taxes raised in the District. SAID
Senator Jones. LAS the senator from
Mississippi knows. there has been
quite a controversy over this question
between the House and the Senate
AS the senator will remember, the
House has been contending that the
Aw of 1878 was not just and that rea-
sonable taxes should be assessed
against the people in the District. and
then that the balance of the money
which was needed to carry on the
government of the District should be
appropriated out of the Treasury.
In the preceding Congress bill
passed the House known as the MapeS
bill, which provided substantially that
taxes raised by the District should go
into the federal Treasury. and then
whatever was necessary for carrying
on the expenses of the District should
be paid by appropriation out of the
federal Treasury. The Senate has long
been quite strongly in favor of what
is known as the $3.50 plan, but the
House has insisted for two or three
years upon inserting in the District OF
Columbia appropriation bills pro-
vision making the appropriations on
a 6O40 basis. According to my recol-
lection, the first time that that was
done by the House an amendment was
adopted in the Senate making the
basis $3.50 instead of 6O-4O. and then
We had quite a controversy with the
House. On several occasions the Dis
trict of Columbia appropriation bill
has been held up on that account. par
.icularly in the short sessions, until
the closing days of the session, when
finally the Senate confereeS gave way
in order to insure the passage of the
bill.
Senate's Latest Views.
During the present Congress this
matter has again come up. 1t was
hoped that we might obtain general
legislation under which this annual
controversy between the House and
the Senate would be terminated. The
Senate committee on the District Of
Columbia reported bill to the Sen
ate providing for the $3.50 basis and
establishing, or re-establishing it, /
might say, as permanent law. That
bill came up in the Senate for con-
sideration; after consideration it was
amended and as amended passed the
Senate without even division. The
bill as it passed the Senate has been
incorporated as an amendment to the
pending appropriation bill. as en-
bodying the last expression of the
Senate upon this question.
Let me say that the committee
amendment is substantially in almost
complete accord with the position
heretofore taken by the House of
Representatives; in other words, to
use a very common expression. the
Senate has called the bluff" of the
House on this proposition. Now we
want to see what they will do. 1t
is rather amusing to me to see inter
views in the newspapers with the
prominent leaders of the House who
have heretofore put in the pending
bill, in which they are quoted as say
ing that the District will be ruined
Nd hn
their forces to prevent the adoption
of this amendment and adhere to the
fifty-fifty rlan or whatever 1T may be-
".The committee felt that they