Evening star., 1922-08-13
BUDGET MAY GET.
FURTHER TRIMMING
Commissioners to Give Estl-
mates Final and Thor
ough Scrutiny.
s27,7oo,00O NEAR BONE
Districts Many Needs Considered
Along With Economy
Demands.
s27,700,000 NEAR BONE

The commissioners will take their
blue pencils in hand this week LOT
. final aud thorough scrutiny OF the
annual estimates of their department
heads.
Commissioners oyster ana he''e'
already have given the budse'
preliminary looking over. which re
suited in reducing the total hsure
from approximately $29.eoooeo TO
s27.7oO.o0o.
That study of the estimates had
TO he made in a hurry i'll order TO
transmit a tentative report |" '"e
bureau of the budget. The real OK
animation will begin Tuesday or
Wednesday, when ConmiSsioner fu-
dolph. chairman ol the bodfo' ie''' ''
from his vacation
When the governing heads OF the
District begin to go over tn" items
submitted 10y department chleiS 'heS
will find themselves torn between l"
conflicting ains-one to ask Tor .he
lnauv accumulated needs of the city
rho other to observe the admonltlon
of the budget bureau for strict econ
nmy in GOV ernn.eut expenditures
Further Trimming Likely.
The board no doubt will do some
further trimming. but no drastic cuts
are expected, particularly when II IS
recalled that the present total or
:lbout S2110O. 900 is SubSta ntiaiiy
what the commissioners asked for
last year.
of course, the figure represents the
total of purely District items and
does not include approximately "
o0o,n0o of outside items that are
,harGeahlr to District revenues.
Thos, items include public buildings
and grounds. the Geological Park, the
federal courts and the Rent Commis-
sion.
some idea OF how the District gov
ornment has grown in the past five
years may be gained from a chart
Just prepared by Maj. Daniel J. Dono-
van. auditor. showing the amounts
appropriated for each branch of the
municipality in 1915 and 1921. The
chart shows the percentage which
each departments allotment is 20 the
total amount spent on the Capital
City
The appropriation for public schools
in 1916 was s3,42s.eoo, In 1871 III, II
ment for schools was 26.'l per cent
OF the total appropriation bill for
that year In 1921 the school allot-
ment was practically the same, or
27.OO1 per cent of the total bill.
s1.4O3.524 Allowed in 1915
In 1916 the city was allowed 81 1,4O3,-
524 under the heading of highways.
which was 1O95S per cent of the total
appropriation bill Last year Con
gress appropriated s2.Ise.siS for
highways which was 1904 per cent
of the bill.
The heading of highways, how
ever, includes moneys spent on
bridges, trees and parkings, SIDE
walks and curbs. For actual street
improvements the comparison was as
In 1915, s217.s1se5. or 17o1 per
cent of the bill; in 1921. s762.348.s1.
or 3732 per cent of the bill. This
increase of per cent in the ratio of
street expenditures has fallen far
short, however. of keeping pace with
the need for street improvements.
Practically every suburb within the
boundaries of the District has en-
joyed rapid growth in the past hve
years. leaving scores of newly built
up streets to be paved.
For health and sanitation. the city
spent s1,220,901 in 1915 and s2.14s.379
in 1921.
Under the heading of recreation,
the chart shows: In 1915, s620,69E;
1921, S1,030.111.
During the period from 1916 to 1921
the population of Washington in
creased by approximately 100000.
When this is remem bered. the in
creases in appropriations during that
time do not loom so large.