Evening star., 1922-04-03
Use Wisely and Fairly
Accumulated Surpluses

An important Issue pending before
| the conference committee on the
District appropriations bill concerns
| the disposition of the so-called sur
plus of local tax money left unex
pended by Congress in violation of
/ the helf-and- half law of 1873. The
Districts contention is that this sur
| plus, accumulated through neglect of
| the capitals municipal needs in war
time and in technical violation of
half-and-half law, should, in accord
| ance with the spirit and letter OF the
law and with equity. be applied now
on the half -and-half principle to help
to meet the very needs, neglect of
which in war time caused the sur
| plus to accumulate. The opposing
contention is that obligation to ac-
| count for this surplus in accordance
with the half-and-half law. or In any
| other way, should be repudiated; that
| this money, exacted in taxes from the
people of the District while the half
| and-half law was In effect, and left
! unexpended under that law solely
through the failure of. Congress to
| appropriate, should be confiscated by
| the nation, and not a dollar of 1t be
devoted to the only purpose for which
| 1t could lawfully be eXacted by the
! tax collector from the capital COM
munity.
For the following reasons Uncle
Sam will not repudiate surpluses
which represents his just debits:,
| lit will violate the basic prin-
ciple of business honesty that pre-
| walls among individuals.
2.-The offense will be the hascr
| because Uncle Sam has recognized
credit items accrutng from deficits
| created by the operation OF the half
and-half law. and has reimbursed
himself from his wards revenues with
! interest for advances to meet these
| deficits. He cannot. without obvious
| recognize the CORE esponding debit
Items in the shape of surpluses of
| collected and uneXpended d. c. taxes.
| 3.-Unclo Sam has recognized the
| existence of District surpluses in the
! Treasury by transferring from time
| to tine large amounts of such Dis
| trict treasury surplus from the credit
! of the District to the United States
! to pay ancient. alleged resurrected
debts of the District. In making
! these subtractions from the revenues
of tho District in the Treasury the
| existence of such revenues is. Of
| course. recognized, and the obliga
| ton to repay the remainder of such
| accumulated revenues after these de-
| ductions have been made is admitted
and confirmed 1t is inconceivable
| that Uncle Sam will. recognize this
| District surplus in the Treasury only
| when on some pretext he takes some
| portion of it to himself.
4 X x
| 4-Uncle Sam has recognized the
principle of surpluses and deficits in
applying the temporary 604O ratio in
| District appropriations. There is no
consideration which makes equitable
! this adjustment of surpluses and
| deficits under the 6o-40 ratio in the
! short period during which that ratio
has prevailed that does not in honor
! able consistency and equity force a
| similar readjustment on the $3.50
| ratio covering the years during which
! that ratio was the law. The prece-
| dent set by Uncle Sam in dealing with
| surpluses and deficits arising under
! the 60-40 ratio nts like the paper on
the wall the problem arising from the
| surpluses and uencits created under
the operation of the $3.50 law.
X x
| 5,-This act will offend more grossly
| than a violation of ordinary business
morality because it adds to the Of
| Tense a breach of trust, and this
! breach of trust will be the baser,
more contemplate and more shame
less because Uncle Sam. as trustee.
| has unlimited control of his wards
| assets, and his ward is helpless to re-
sist any swindle which his trustee
! may be tempted to perpetrate. Under
| the circumstances. for the trustee to
| defraud the ward would be analogous
| to the taking of candy from an infant
i or pocketing the pennies from the
| eyelids of a corpse.
| In relation to his ward, the tax
! paying capital community, Uncle Sam
/, as trustee has absolute power. He is
| protected from loss or risk by pos
| session Of all the assets and securi-
| ties of the nation-capital combination.
| He controls absolutely every cent Of
| the money contributed for capital
! maintenance by both parties. local
| and national. He has undivided and
| despotic power to fix the amount of
! local tax contribution. to decide by
! what method of taxation it shall be
F! raised, to collect 1t and to spend it.
| The tax-paying capital community is
/! an incidental contributor under COM
| pulsion, with no power or control
! even of it's own tax money at any
| stage and whose sole function in re-
. spect to taxation and it's financial
| status is to petition and to pay.
/ Under these conditions the nation