Evening star., 1924-12-02

There should be no further delay
| in granting to the District of Column
bia the more than S4,000,000 in ac-
cumulated surplus now lying in the
Treasury. according to Representa-
tive Frederick Zihlman Of Maryland,
| ranking Republican on the House
District committee. Mr.. Zihlman, in
statement today. said that every
effort would be made to get action
| on this bill during the present ses-
sion of Congress.
This fund. amounting, I believe to
A.43S. .I54. 4.92,' he said has been
shown conclusively to belong to the
District of Columbia through
steady accumulation of taxes over a
period Of years. Congress has not
appropriated up to the amount Of
taxes collected from citizens here
and the surplus has grown accord
ingly.
Made Searching Study.
THE joint select committee of
Congress. appointed to investigate
| the surplus fund. composed of
! members of both the House and
| Senate, made a searching probe into
the history of this tax accumulation.
| An appropriation of 100000 was al
| lowed for the investigation and all
| angles of the case were gone into.
This committee recommended to Con-
| gress that 1T allow the District of
| Columbia the more than $4,000, 900
| which was in dispute. thereby prov
| ing the justice of the Districts claim.
The Senate. acting on this recon-
mendation. passed the bill providing
! for the credit of. this sum.
| THE House District committee also
l 1t II
| mains now is to have 1t passed by
| the House of Representatives"
| Claim Clearly Proved.
| Mr.. Zihlman said that he could see
| no reason for opposition to the credit
inasmuch as it had been thoroughly
! investigated by competent commit
| tee and the Districts claim clearly
proved.
Il feel" he said, that there has al
| ready been too much delay in dealing
with this matter. Despite the short ses-
sion believe that favorable action can
| be expected from the House In clearing
| up the surplus question. Any one who
| has made a study of the case can see
| clearly that the claim is justified, and
| that the District should have credit.
With this money available, and | hope
it will be soon. Washington will be able
to start to work on many of its most
| urgent needs"
| In regard to, other matters Of interest
| to the District which may come UP at
| this session of Congress. Mr.. Zihlman
| evinced concern at the number Of traf-
| fic deaths here, especially those in which
| the driver of the death left the
!; scene OF the accident without making
| his identity known, and asserted that a
traffic court, with adequate penalties for
| this kind Of a driver. was one of the
| National Capitals grea test needs.
| He expressed himself as hopeful that
the bill providing for the court. with
additional judges. would be one Of those
which could be acted upon.
VIII Introduce Bill.
my opinion Of automobile drivers
who kill and MAIN pedestrians and
! then run away is contained in the
| traffic court bill which / introduced
! in Congress-" said Mr.. Zihlman.
| "In the section dealing with this
matter the bill provides that any
| person leaving the scene OF an accl-
dent without making known his iden-
| tity shall be subject to fine of not
less than 500 or not more than $1,000
or imprisonment for not more than
one year, or both, and in addition the
court may, in the case of the operator
revoke the privileges granted by the
| operators permit the permit not to
be returned except by order of the
court.
THE establishment of traffic
court must be one of the first steps
to improve conditions. With the con-
gested situation of the present courts.
il is obvious that additional facilities
must be granted to keep pace with
the growing number of cases"
Falls Power Plans.
In regard to the proposed Great
Falls power legislation Mr.. Zihlman n
said that he hoped some practical plan
could be worked out for distribution
of the electric energy generated, as
he believed that 1t would be great
boom to the surrounding territory.
The subcommittee considering this
| matter is scheduled to meet this week,