The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-04-29
CALL MEETING
IN PROTEST OF
TAX INCREASE
Civic Leaders to Address
Gathering at Stadium
Tomorrow.
QUESTION LEGALITY
OF CONFEREES' ACT
Parliamentary Leaders
Believe Report Un-
constitutional.

Massed opposition to the proposed
increased tax levy for the District
Of Columbia, will take place at
public meeting in Central High
School tomorrow at 2:sO p. m.
City finance experts. legal authorl-
ties. civic leaders and other tax
payers will address the meeting. and
members of the Senate and House
and other government authorities are
invited to participate. according to
Thomas ]. Donovan. president Of the
Central Citizens Association. sponsor
OF the movement.
Tie officers of every citizens as
sociatIon in the city. the Chamber OF
Commerce. Board of Trade, Women's
Federation AMI Cther civic organiza-
tions are cooperating in the ar
rangements for the protest meet
ing" which. wether permitting. VIII
be held in the huge stadium adjoin-
ing tie high school building. In the
event OF fnclement weather. the meet
ing will be held in the school audi
torium.
-Situation Calls for Prompt Action"
with Representative Charles II.
Davis. of Minnesota, declaring that
he intends to bring about the pas
age Of the proposed measure Mon
day the situation. which Is unfair
TO :he residents of the District. calls
for prompt action" said Donovan
last night.
There is no need for the proposed
action, and IL Is up to the people
vi the city to demonstrate to those
in charge that the conferees' proposal
is unfavorabiy received. There will
- zan1i %
or formal invitations. but every in
tcrested citizen and member Of Con-
gross is urged to attend"
NIthOuSh the complete program,
.-LIrh will include about six we'll
f..-uTmed speakers. viii not be an
90, -u' rd until this afternoon, it is
.-.s"arstood that +. CUlliday. chair
'-rB rr the special committee on
.-.ran,c uC the Federation OF Citizens
'--uriat nuS. and William Henry
Waite. chairman Of the laws com
-Gitiec uf the federation. will he
urang those who will deliver ad-
,ir"Sses. Charles \. Baker. presi-
a. Mt OF the Citizens Federation.
ill preside.
Question Legality.
I.auv lille. conjecture as to the
a-ss1ity Of the COnfcrees' action In
rlICiug in their report the increased
.rx levy. which was not among the
nItterS committed tc them by the
Iuuse, has arisen in Congress
The action is umCOnst.tution1l. ac-
.nrd:ng to parliamentaTianS in the
senate. who contend that the con-
frrves may alter nut may not insert
new matter into bills that have been
passed by both Houses of Congress.
The following rule-known as rhe
Curtis Rule"-cOvers the point at
issue:
"Conferees shall not insert IN
their report matter not committed
to them by either house. nor shall
they strike from the bill matter
agreed to by both houses. II new
matter is inserted in the report.
or il matter which was agreed to
by both houses is stricken from
the bill, a point OF order may be
made against the report. and if the
point of order is sustained the re-
port shall be recommitted to the
committee of conferees."
May Raise Point Of Order.
Commenting on the additional tax
burden imposed on the residents of
Washington by the conferees' re-
port. Senator Charles Curtis, Of
Kansas. recognized as one of the
leading parliamentarians of the
Senate. yesterday made the follow
ing statement:
1T is without the province of the
conferees to insert new matter into
bill. If this is done, a point of
order may be raised which will re-
commit the measure TO conference.
This ruling was made to prevent
legislation by cOnferees'."
Commenting on the objection,
Senator Carter Glass. of Virginia.
one Of the Senate conferees, stated
that the question of authority had
not been raised when the new tax
vrovisions were inserted. T am
not familiar with the rules govern
ing that point" he continued.
Senator William II. King, Of Utah,
member OF the District Commit
tee, declared that he would make
a close study OF the conferees' ac-
tion."
IF I find that the charge is sub
stantiated. and that they have ex-
ceeded their authority. shall GER
taInly raise the point Of order and
ssSh NhdN Nht Dc TtluTneu 10
conference" he continued.
Capper to Investigate.
Senator Arthur Capper. of Kan,
sas. stated that he too. would in
vestigate the matter and would
support any action that might be
taken in the interest of the people
Of Washington
Although every civic agency in
the District is actively engaged in
the formulating OF plans for the pro-
test mass meeting tomorrow after
noon. most of the leading organiza-
tions are continuing private investi-
cations with a view to outlining
a program Of action.
Many prominent taxpayers yes
terday were loath to try to analyze
the tax bill or to try to interpret
its meaning. saying that the
further they got into the matter.
the worse II looked for the Dis
trfct." Sentiment was expressed in
some quarters that the matter
would be laid before the President
himself should efforts in other di-
rections fail.
A special committee has been
named by the Merchants and Manu-
racturers' Association to consider
the situation and report to the
Conrfrsed on Page Ttco.