Evening star., 1923-01-22

day in February, 1928.
The resolution authorizing this in
. vestigation provides that 1t shall be
made with a view of ascertaining
and reporting to Congress what sums
have been expended by the United
States and by the District of Column
bia. respectively. whether for the pur-
pose OF maintaining. upbuilding. or
beautifying the said District or for
the purpose of conducting it's govern
ment or It's goyernmental activities
and agencies, or for the furnishing of
conveniences. comforts, and necessi-
ties to the people of said District.
Neither the cost of construction nor
of maintenance Of any building erect
ed or owned by the United States for
the purpose OF transacting herein the
business of the government OF the
United States shall be considered by
said committee" The audit does not
purport to cover all of the branches
Of expenditure which are included In
the joint resolution. To do so would
be covering quite a wide field and very
probably could not be done in the
time allowed. For instance. under
the heading of beautifying the DIS
trict might be included the expendi.
ture by the United States for the
erection of many statues over the
city of Washington, including such
large expenditures as the Lincoln
Memorial. Other instances might pc
cited as to matters not covered by the
audit. but included in the Joint reso-
luton.
Question of Interest.
The report on page states that no
consideration has been given by the
accountants to the question or inter-
est The resolution provides, In part,
that: And fn event any money may
be. or at any time has been, by CON
gress or otherwise. found due, either
legally or morally, from the one to
the other. on account of loans, ad-
vancements, or improvements mace,
| upon which interest has not been PAID
by either to the other, then such sums
as have been or may be found que
from one to the other shall be consio-
cred as bearing interest at the rate
of per centum per annum from tne
time when the principal should. either
legally or morally, nave oeen pdlo'
until actually paid"
1t occurs to me that this clause Is
not capable of literal administration
for several reasons, among Whlcn are
the following: 1t seems to contem-
plate the calculation bv your commit
tee of interest upon sums which Con-
| gress may in the future find due; this
would require you to do thing which
is physically impossible. 1t also re-
| quires a determination of whether
anything is either legally or morally
due from the District to the United
States or vice versa This in itself
is a difficult question. and it is very
requirement the committee might
have to determine the daily balance
/ in favor of either Of these. AS the
state OF the account between the Dis
trict and the United States changes
daily and is constantly varying, to
determine these daily balances would
be practically an endless task. If
anything Is due from one to the other
the audit does not purport to show
when the same became due. 1t may
be contended that If there Is any
money now in the hands of the United
States belonging to the District that
such is merely deposit, perhaps a
demand deposit, and is not due to the
as authorized by law, and therefore
legally there is nothing due from the
| United States to the District upon
which interest could be so calculated
until after proper demand has been
made by the District for the money
In accordance with the methods that
the District is authorized by law to
withdraw such money from the Treas
, ury. Another question in this con-
nection is whether any such balance
could in any sense be considered as a
| loan or advancement as is enumerated
In the act authorizing interest.
Deposit OF Drawbacks.
l On pages 4 and the report of the
auditors refers to the depositing of
r certain drawbacks in the Treasury
: and to the law authorizing the
credit of 500 of the amount of such
5 drawbacks as cash in the general
: funds of the District of Columbia
} From legal standpoint this matter
l is settled, because the law authoriz-
l ed the doing of the very thing, which
5 has been done and specifically pro-
vided for the considering of such
: proportion of these drawbacks as
cash. Therefore. the only question
' arising under the resolution is
/ whether it is morally right, and that
5 question l am not called upon to dis
, cuss, as it is my duty in this matter
to deal purely with legal questions
/ At page an apparent difference
, between accounts of various Offices,
. amounting to small sum, is men,
toned. The same situation exists in
> the audit in a number of other in
: stances which the auditors have been
unable for various reasons to recon-
cile. l do not feel called upon to
, express any opinion upon these mat
. ters as they arise from accounting
, difficulties, which are not within the
, scope, the purpose or request for
these comments.
On page 9 several small errors Of
improper charges are referred to.
These are all very small in amount
and should certainly be corrected
, without requiring any action or at
tention by Congress and I am in
formed that it is planned TO do this
tors refers to their opinion that in
determining any balance to the credit
of the District consideration should
be given to assets of the District
outstanding July 1. 1873, subsequent
, ly collected and deposited to the
credit of the general fund, to collec-
tions on account of licenses, ETC., also
, deposited to the credit of the gen
| eral fund and to disbursements
made by the United States and in
cluded in expenditures of certain
departments of the government
Certain items of this nature are
mentioned later in the report and
will be discussed in the order in
, which they are SO mentioned. AS to
any other items. of course. it is i'm
statement in the report to assume
. their existence, to know their source
or their nature, and in the absence of
such information, of course. 1t is I'M
possible to say whether legally or
morally there is any obligation con-
corning the same.
Advances by United States.
The report on page II refers to the
fact that prior to the fiscal year 1914
: there was a balance due to the United
States, and that at the end of that
year the balance had changed to q
credit balance of over $68,000 be-
longing to tho District of Columbia,
! and that under an act approved March
3, 1909, interest at the rate OF per
cent had been charged upon certain
to the District government, but that
| when the balance changed to a credit
sl to the District no interest was calcu-
; lated upon such balance in favor of
the District. 1 have been unable to
find any law authorizing the allow
af an 70 n hxy