The Washington herald., 1922-02-18
Economy vs.. Parsimony.

81. FEW Gays aiter the hnickcrDockcr disaster,
"A Senator arose to remark with severity
= that the laws were not being properly en-
forced in the District He personally knew of
several cases of laxity in administration.
Now, inefficiency. the part of those agencies
charged with seeing that rules and regulations are
observed and that violators arc punished nearly
always can be attributed to one of two causes
Either there is too much politics or not enough
money.
The disfranchsed District since the late 'zos
has had no politics it could call its own, excepting
1.-THE quadrennial squabble over selecting delegates
70 the national conventions There plenty of poll
tics on the Hil but that spectacle affords dwellers
in Washington little pleasure and, occasionally, a
good deal of sadness.
Therefore, the trouble must be with money
And as the administration of public funds here has
Heaven be thanked, never been marked by souan-
,dering much less by such disgraces as the Harris
burg, Pa capitol building scandal the lack of funds
cropping out annually in various municipal depart
nents like new holes in threadbare coat, must be
attributed more to psrsimony than to true economy
~ And 1t certainly is not economy to let the
Poice Court get in its present financial straits for
:that busy place is of the most potent protec-
tons the Capital has against lawlessness
Chief Clerk Frank Sebring, gray in service and
nnderpaid as are the rest of the truly devoted band
in that minor hall of justice, stands jingng in his
pocket the sum OF $Ioo, with which he is supposed
to keep the wolf of poverty from the portal of the
.iaw until July I. If he contracts debts above that
amount he may find himself after short walk, in
the prisoners dock of the court he has so we'll
served for so readeth the statute And if Police
Court is forced to cease iunctioning week. it is
stated, the work will accumulate in such measure
as to jam the machinery for six months
Congress will be appealed to. of course and
undoubtedly an emergency appropriation, prorated
on last years authorization, will be made available
while the legislative fathers strike pose as NUM-
hcent as that of William Penn extending the treaty
to the Indians. But this does not absove Congress
OF the charge of parsimony or. at the least, very
bad judgment. They demanded that the Capital
stop the onrush of crime wave" The cases
that have eaten up the funds aside for the court
in large measure were the result of augmented po-
lice activity. Did they anticipate no increase in
"business?"
For years it has been the same way Every
spring some branch OF the city government finds
itself hampered, embarrassed, perhaps temporarily
put out Of commission because an appropriation,
foreseen as insufficient when made, has given out
Some branches have been systematically ignored.
Take the office of building Inspector for instance
Congress will increase the force in that division on
the plea of Engineer Commissioner Keller, it is to
be supposed Yet it took frightful calamity to
impress upon the legislators the dire need of more
The plain inference is that the gods help those
who help themselves. bill comforting some de-
gree of citizenship upon Westinghouse has been
introduced in Congress Let it have the united
backing of those who wish the home town well;
let be the entering wedge for full enranchsement
And let US, meanwhile, be toes to bring the
needs of the District before both Houses so per-
sisteny, year in and year out, that the very force
OF attrton will grind away all eallousness to the
requirements of the National City-ss it is so fire.
quently referred to in the Congressional Record.