Evening star., 1923-02-05
$4,438,l58 d. c. SURPLUS
M Mr&: lO INEl OlS LO
: Continued from Fourth Page.)

mittee's authority and duty Is SO
Droao, under the terms of the act.
that Its members felt impelled to
submit the question to its legal ad-
United States. Mr.. Galloway, who
rendered an opinion which is here
quoted In part:
1t happens that In this Investiga-
ton practically all Of the questions
upon which II is contended a moral
obligation should be predicted. as
shown either b the report Of your ac-
countants or as suggested to your
committee from other sources. are
matters upon which Congress has by
specihc legislation provided or plainly
pointed out the manner in which they
intended that the certain expendi-
lures therein provided for should be
paid. This would seem to settle the
question from legal standpoint. even
though there was prior legislation in
oicatlng contrary intent upon the
par tof congress because the familiar
rule Is that the last legislation must
control. Therefore. the moral question
than a determination by your COM
mlttee as to whether or not Congress
ac.ed wisely when IL enacted the spe-
cine legislation. which is in question.
Care in Inquiry Suggested.
In considering this question Ii is
my opinion that you should closely
question all suggestions that Congress
IN enacting certain Legislation over
looked any facts or legislation upon
the same subject and that you should
not rely upon such suggestions until
tney are conclusively proven to you.
out on the contrary. you should In
dulge to great extent in the pre-
sumption that Congress acted wisely
with all OF the facts before II and
aitr- giving all OF them due con-
sideration and weight, and especially
that Congress acted with a full
knowledge of all prior legislation.
nile, OF course. these considerations
would not affect the right or wrong of
the question in its inception. certain
~ tney should have some bearing
upon the equities of the question as
1t now exists In view of the fact that
the legislative body has once passed
Upon such question and that both of
the parties TO the controversy have
long continued their activities in their
reliance upon the settlement as there
in provided
The application of the above rules
would seem to remove from your con-
sideration practically all Of the moral
questions except those wherein rather
naErant injustices appear TO exist and
opinion that II is your duty to report
10 congress with recommendations"
Given Serious Conxidc ration.
Your committee has had in mind
the above opinion. to which Il is
hound to give most serious consid era
ton, and believes that IT contains a
proper application of general prin-
clples to the particular case in hand.
Ihere remains the question Of in
tcrest. The language of the act of
June 2S, 1922. is quite specific. and
reads:
And in event Sny money may be,
or at any time has been by Congress
or otherwise, found due. either legally
or morally. from the one to the other
on account OF loans. advancements or
improvements made, upon which in
terest has not been paid by either TO
the other. then such sums as have
oeen or may be found due from one 10
the other. shall be considered as bear
ing interest at the rate of per cent
per annum from the time when the
principal should. either legally or
morally. have been paid, until actually
paid"
Interest In Allowed.
Thus IL is made part of the duty
of this committee to calculate in
terest at 3 per cent per anuurn on
the sums concerning which readjust-
ment is recommended in title III. OF
thls report. and to report the amount
thereof to the Congress This has
been done, and a detailed Statement
Of such interest calculations NAV he
round In part Of this report : /, is
assumed that interest should be fie-
ured on annual and not daily balances
as the latter would be a practicary
Impossible task
IL is also the duty Of your COM
mittee, under the act. to calculate
interest at the same rate on any suns
which have heretofore been found
que py the Congress at any ttmt
since 1874 from one government to
1He other. AS set forth under title
II OF this report, all such sums or
which a settlement has been ,maSe 10
win or without payment of interest
consist OF reinbursements nv the
District to the federal goyernmen,
Items are expressly excluded. by the
language of the act, on which inter.
est has already been paid, irrespec.
tive of the rate. Such an item wonId
pc the one for moneys advanced by
the United States to the District 70,
extraordinary improvements between
1907 and 1910. In this case, as here.
inoefore set forth. the Congress no,
principal. s4.l44.ess.55. but also in In
to s5s6.7o2ss. ~ @''0"'so
Items Arc Collected.
Between the years 1910 and 1924
the United States was apparently
quite active in securing reimburse
ment from the District on account o:
advances made by the federal GOV
ernment. or for other reasons
In addition to the above item OF
s4.l44.6s6.35 and interest at least
fourteen dist.nctiitems were collected
their total being s2.s14.947.76 On
most OF this amount interest was
never paid. and 1t is now proposed
that nhI;oofiaoe
settled. shall be resurrected for the
purpose Of calculating and charging
interest. This, at any rate, was the
contention Of Representative John
son Of Kentucky before your com.
m:ttee, and the language of the act
would appear to bear out that CON
struction. Your committee had nc
alternative but to prepare such
tables. and has acted accordingly.
1t will be observed that three oil
the Items In question. enumerated In
part two Of this report. in the prin.
is now advocated by some that IN.
terest be collected. date prior to 1873
being for general expenses and the
construction and maintenance oi
schools: while the majority Of tht
others run through a period Of years
but have their inception prior to 1886
Attention Is also called TO the fac
that in the case Of Reimbursement
account of Washington Market Com
pany rentals 1873 to 1914. S158.4315o.'
the act in question, that OF March
1915, contained the expression "suci
sum being In full settlement of tn,
amount due the United States for sale
market rentals"
Two Other Items Noted.
Two other items should be noted
both headed Reimbursement accoun
of support Of insane In st. Elizabeth
Hospital" and being for $719.536.o
and $2S2.75426, respectively. In tn,
case Of the latter Item, the languag'
of the act is as follows: ITO furthc
reimburse the United States and II
full" More than this. the accountan
calculated interest and included 1t Ii