Evening star., 1923-01-22

OF Columbia and that through the OPP
Grafton of this fund and the increased
valuation of materials between the
time of the purchase by this fund and
the charging of the other appropria-
tions for the same there Is now avail
able an inventory of approximately
tll5,0o0 in excess sof the original
amount available for this purpose.
results from q charging of various
appropriations for construction and
whether such increased value belongs
70 the District and the United States,
Jointly or either separately, depends
upon the nature OF the appropriation
from which the funds came. which Is
not shown in this audit To accom-
plish the ALLEGATION of this value TO
the particular funds or appropriations
from which this money was accumu-
lated would require great amount
or work. and as there is no doubt that
the property is in the public custody
and is helpful for the purposes of
carrying on the District. It is doubted
whether the effort would be worth the
results obtained
On page IA of the report reference
is made to various fees and licenses
which are collected by the District
ana the proceeds credited wholly to
the District Of Columbia. 1t Is sug-
gested in this report that IL such fees
had been apportioned between tn.
District and the United States the ball
ance In such fiscal account at June
80. 1922. would have been consider
ably different. From a legal stand
point this is settled. as the law con-
should be credited wholly to the Dis
trlct of Columbia precisely as has
Deen done AS to whether any por
tlon should from a moral standpoint
be paid to the United States is quite
different question, concerning
there n oyio fo,-
express an opinion. Congress alone
should decide that.
Engineer Omcers' Pay.
At pages Is to IT the report dis
cusses the fact that certain officers
or the Army have been detailed for
the performance Of services for the
District OF Columbia and. their COM
pensations paid wholly out of reve-
nues out of the United States and
that certain employees of the Treasury
department have done a great amount
or work upon District of Columbia
accounts, their compensation for such
Work being paid by the United States
Inc report infers that this should be
considered in arriving at any balance
in the accounts. From a legal stand
point these questions are also settled,
as there are specific statutes provid-
ing for the payment of these Army
District duties and specific statutes
creating the positions of the Treasury
Department employees who were re-
Quired to keep these District accounts
Again. 1t may be said that the COM
mlttee and Congress may feel that a
moral question exists. upon which
question / should express no opinion
Salary Bonus Payments.
At pages Is and 19 of the report
TeIeFenCe made mt
from funds of the United States OF
the bonus of certain employees whose
salaries are paid Jointly by the Dis
! trict and federal governments. Up
making appropriations for the gov
ernment of the District of Columbia,
there was no law authorizing the
payment from District appropriations s
or any such Increased compensation.
However, there was a law granting
such increased compensation to DIS
trict employees and the same was paid
from the funds of the United States.
There would seem to be no violation
OF law In such payment. The act
making appropriations for fhe fiscal
year 1923 corrected this and provided
| that such increased compensation
! should be paid from District appro-
priations. Therefore, IL seems that
! gress there is perhaps strong
equitable case to contend that the
| District should bear it's proportion of
| such increased compensation of the
employees whose salaries were paid
| from joint appropriations but whose
bonus was paid wholly by the United
States and to this contention IL is
my understanding that the District
| of Columbia officials do not strenu-
ously object.
At the bottom of page 10 the report
refers to two recent appropriations
wholly from funds of the United
States for purchase Of additional land
to the National Geological Park and
| that in previous purchases for this
purpose the District of Columbia has
contributed its proportion. This
question, too, is legally settled, as
Congress, with full power to act, has
so acted and the only question re-
mains as to whether you should from
I.trict to contribute for this purpose
tand of these moral questions Congress
! is the sole judge.
At pages 20 to "a of the report an
, tain old accounts open on auxiliary
ledger No. in the division of book
keeping and warrants and corre-
spondence from the Treasury Depart
ment with reference to same is re-
produced. These are apparently open
accounts. but the report does not
| state any definite conclusion with re-
spect to them. and in fact the report
as well as the correspondence repro
duced In it indicate that they ac-
tuaIly represent nothing due either
| to the United States or the District
Of Columbia and that they are mere
bookkeeping Inaccuracies which can
be corrected in full, some of which
have already been corrected. and that
| the others will be corrected as soon
as the same can be done under the
usual formalities of government re-
quirements.
District Funded Debt.
At pages 26 to 35 the report dis
| cusses the funded debt of the District
OF Columbia and on page "a makes
reference to the fact that the District
has contributed SO per cent to the
payment of the principal and inter.
est of the sinking fund provided to
| care for the payment OF such fund ed
debt. 1t is. true that various acts
OF Congress authorizing the issue Of
things. that: This act shall not be
,, considered to make the government
of the United States liable for either r
| the principal or interest of said bonds
cede, for the purposes OF the discus
sion of this proposition. that the
United. States owes no legal obIiea-
tion to provide for the payment OF
any of the bonded debt of the District
of Columbia. Congress has, in fact, by
subsequent appropriations, provided
for the payment Of interest and the
creation of a sinking fund to care
for the payment of the principal Of
this funded indebtedness, and This
has been appropriated from the rev
enues of both the District and the
United States, and in most Of the an
preparation acts 1t is expressly re-
cited that SO much money appropri-
of the District and so per cent from
| the moneys of the United States, "for
the payment of interest and sinking
fund of the District" Congress cer-
faiu1y had q right fo do this ona a,,a-