Evening star., 1923-01-21

had life enough In it to force enough
Congress. 1t was never violated by
anybody, nor construed by anybody,
because no one ever had an oppor-
tunity to violate or construe II. Con-
sssla absolutely itnorsd !; by :ps
est and sinking fund which included
these bonds. and when tho principal
became duo Congress, by Act of March
1891, authorized them tos be re-
funding bonds bearing the same An
dorsement as the 1855 bonds; and
these ten-year bonds were long ago
redeemed under. the .oheratfons Of the
sinking fund as. have all other bonds.
except, the 1856 bonds" 1, e..t%....,.
~. INCONSISTENT HANDLING OF
THE UNITED STATES. tPsEe ss.S
The accountants' report refers ito,
inns II ssso tf eassd ss
States, 4 ~, E,,
II We have the facts correct in this
casesail; that happened was the Treas
urer of the United. States as sex -ofiicio
the District merely. used temporarily
$28f,500 Of United States moneys In
lconnection with the sinking fund
operation and, reimbursed the same
subsequently s,aa M from apptopriationss
sinking fund payable by the District Of
columbia The fact that said sppro-
priattons were payable in accordance
with law. one-half by each OF the
parties does not affect the propriety
of the settlement. There Is no incon-
sistency in such settlement.
H. SURPLUS FEES RECORDER OF
| DEEDS AND REGISTER of WILLS.
(PaEes 43 to 044.)
With respect to the surplus fees OF
the Recorder OF Deeds and the Regis
ter of Wills. which are paid solely by
property owners or residents of the
District Of Columbia it is the con-
Of the Of the
self supporting. the revenues OF
each being sufficient to pay the an
nual expenditures. and as Congress Is
mot called upon to make contributions
| on the half-ard half or any other
| basis, that all surplus fees of both
OF these Offices should not only now
but during all the previous period
have been turned in exclusively TO
the credit OF the District of Columbia
~. INTEREST CHARGES. (Page b.
The accountants state mo consid-
Grafton has been given by US to the
computation OF interest as provided
for by the Act of Congress creating
your committee. as we understano
that the question OF interest Will re-
ceive the attention of your committee
after considering all facts developed
by its inquiry"
has reference to the following pro-
vision OF the law:s ...
- d. And in event any money
may be. or at any time has been
by Congress or otherwise. found
due, either legally or morally.
from one to the other. on account
of loans. advancements. or i'm
provements made, upon which in
terest has not been paid by either
to the other. then such sums as
have been or may be found due
from one to the other. shall bv
the rate of per centum per an
mum from the time when the
principal should, either legally or
morally. have been paid, until
actually paid" :.
With respect to this legislation, the
position taken by the Citizens Joint
Committee on Fiscal Relations is that
charged on any claim against the
District OF Columbia where the Con-
gress of the United States through
Its appropriate Committee or other
wise has determined that certain
sums of money should be paid by the
District to the United States and has
passed legislation making a full and
final settlement of the amount due in
each particular case.
In other words, where Congress.
which has complete jurisdiction of
the finances Of the Government OF
the District of Columbia on it's own
vofition examines and states an ac-
count and finds a certain amount due
of Columbia and without recourse
passes an Act taking the money from
the Treasury OF the District of
Columbia and places 1t In the
Treasury Of tho United states with
ali equity and fairness should be
settlement OF that claim. and there
after no interest charge should be
made on account OF that item.
This method Of settlement In the
payment Of claims is one that has
been recognized by the Courts OF the
United States almost unanimously.
Where a plaintiff secures judgment
to include therein interest on said
judgment he Is forever barred from
again claiming interest.
| Moreover, to charge interest on
claims that have already been adtudi-
1 Gated by Congress when the sole re-
sponsibility for a large part of these
claims was due to the Laction OF the
Congress itself would be unjust, in
equitable and unconscionable.
There have been taken from the
and turned over to the United States
by specific Acts Of Congress the sum
OF $3,34s,5449s. Among the items
making UP this sum is the amount
reimbursed tine United states YES on a. ac-
from 1879 to 1912. $1,oo2.2so.3s. The
greater part Of this amount was oc-
casioned by the failure Of Congress
| TO pass deficiency appropriation Acts
by the Municipal authorities of the
District of Columbia based upon esti-
mates submitted by the authorities of
the Government Hospital for the In
sane. ...
1t cannot be conceived that because
of the failure OF Congress to, author
| ize. the payment of moneys from mu-l
nicipal funds that IT. would now, seek
to obtain interest on the sums that
should at that time been appropriated.
MEMORANDUM OF ITEMS sUG-
MTTrEE OMITTED FROM THE RE-
PORT OF HASKINS AND SELLS AND
ON WHICH 1T IS BELIEVED THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Is EN-
TITLED TO LARGE CREDIT.
Bearing in mind the, possibility that.
| our recommendation Of a settlement
may not be adopted by the Joint Con-
that the record may contain some Of
the various items which the District
of Columbia considers should be
analyzed and on which, in case Of. a
deYaiIed examination Of the records
from 1874 to date. 1t is believed the
District Of Columbia will receive
largo additional credits, the follow
ing Items are submitted for considera-
| tion.
INTEREST. i,