Evening star., 1922-01-06

j
speaks English fuently and with
scarcely an accent.
shall be expended. Under these condi-
tlons there can be no 'just' or "rea.
sonabie" local taxation imposed by an
alien body in which the taxed are not
represented.
Under the half lf-and-half plan hostile
tax imposers are held in check by a
system which causes every. increase
IN local taxes to increase correspond
ingIy the national contributions; under
the substitute every dollar Of local
taxation that can be raised decreases
correspondingly the necessary nation
al contribution. Which system safe
guards the welfare Of the unrepre-
sented and impotent local taxpayers?
The Lesson Of the Record.
This hasty review OF pertinent capt.
tai history suggests the following
conclusions:
l. The fiuctuating plan of indefinite
contributions. fixed from year to year
by Congress, deprives the capital of
the effective safeguard against excess
sive local taxation and Of the guar
anty of substantial annual capital
contribution by the nation, with
which the half-and-half plan bless
es it.
2. It furnishes no ground whatever
Of stimulating and charging the ma
tion's sense Of obligation toward the
capital. This plan. under which the
nation, through Congress, fixed from
year to year the national contribution,
existed from 1900 to 1878. During this
period the national obligation was
primary, exclusive. dominating. just
as it Is today. The nation. with full
liberty to measure its capital obliga-
tion in dollars and contributing what
1t pleased, contributed little or moth
ing. The indefinite fiuctuating plan
brought distress to the capital and
shame upon both nation and capital.
return to it?
3. The plan of definite proportion
ate contribution toward the capitals
municipal expenses. which has pre-
vailed since 1878, has no tendency to
prevent the. nation from spending
what it pleases on national lines for
capital development through other
appropriation bills than the District
bill If, under the stimulus of pride
in and affection for the capital, the
nation had at any time aspired to
emulate the example of Brazil in re-
spect to Rio. and of Argentina in re-
spect to Buenos Aires. there was
nothing in the half-and-half plan to
restrain it. On the contrary. through
the operation of the organic act It
self. that national pride in the ma
tion's city was developed which has
inspired the nations affectionate con-
sideration and fostering care of it's
modern capital. Since the half-and-
half plan has thus had no tendency
to check or discourage the most lib
eral expenditures on exclusively ma
~ t.. s%~I Il -
abolition of this plan will have no
tendency to make Congress more
patriotically liberal on either ma
tional or municipal lines.
- Will o, the wisp Plan.
The proposed plan leaves Congress,
in which the District is not represent
ed. with exclusive power to tax the
capital community in any amount it
pleases, on the basis of it's own decla-
ration that it thinks such amount to
be .just" and reasonable" and then
to hand over. the whole of the tax
money to the National Treasury with
out further accountability to the Dis
trfct for a penny Of it. II a COM
munity is not to tax itself, If an alien
body in which it is not represented
is to tax it, the taxed and unrepre-
Gented community absolutely needs
for its protection against excessive
taxes some binding Limitation and
restraint upon the power Of its alien
tax gatherers. like that imposed by
the .half-and-haif plan.
In the last Congress influential rep
resentatives urged that just and rea-
sonable taxation of the capital would
raise over $14,00o.000. The amount
declared by the District appropria-
tion bill to be needed for capital
maintenance and development was
about, $12,000,000. II the proposed
plan had been in force and these repre-
sentatives, no longer restrained by the
act Of 1878, had enacted their views
of District taxation into law, the
District would have been taxed over
$4,000. 600, and this amount would
have disappeared in the United States
Treasury. Congress would then have
appropriated $12,ooo.ooo from the Ma
tional Treasury for capital main
tenance. Theoretically the two trans
actions would be absolutely unre-
lated. There, would be no connec-
ton whatever between the taxation
! of the District and the appropriation
for the capital. Washington would
I thus be taxed two millions more than
its total municipal expenditure, and
would have no right, no power and
no opportunity even to inquire what
became Of this donated surplus, or. In
deed, what became of any OF the tax
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