Evening star., 1924-05-17
SENATORS TOUR D. C. r
TO STUDY STREETS
Visit Proposed School Sites Also
for First Hand In
formation.
LUMP-SUM PLAN OPPOSED
Citizens Object to Cramton Amend
ment for Fixed Share.

appropriation Dill practically COM
pleted. the Senate appropriations sub
committee in charge of the bill head
ed BY Senator Phipps of Colorado, to-
day made n tour of inspection in the
northwest. to survey personally the
need for certain proposed street i'm
provements. The members Of the
subcommittee also visited several
proposed sites for public schools. in
cluding one on Rittenhouse street and
another near the Upshur street tract.
Chairman PhIpps of the subcommit-
tee said today that he had not closed
the hearings on the bill but that he
did not expect there would be need
for further hearings. The sUbcom-
mittee will now get down to work on
the bill itself considering various
amendments.
Oppose Lump Sums.
Arguments in support of the reten-
ton of the 60-40 plan of appropriat-
ing for the District-a definite, fixed
proportionate contribution by the
District and the federal governments
toward the upkeep and development
OF the National Capital-were made
yesterday afternoon by the District
Commissioners and representatives of
the citizens joint committee. at a
hearing on the District appropriation
bill before the subcommittee.
Maj. Bell, the Engineer Commits
sioner, presented the argument for
the board of District Commissioners.
He was followed by Edward F. Col
laday, chairman of the joint COM
and hV Than6nra " Moves
chairman Of the executive committee
of the joint committee.
Maj. Bell laid stress on the fact that
Congress, in the District appropria-
ton bill for the fiscal year 1928, had
enacted into law a definite plan for car
ing for the financing of the District
government If this is to be abandoned
as proposed in the Cramton amendment,
which would substitute a lump sum OF
S.. 100000 as the contribution OF the fed
eral government toward the upkeep of
the Capital. Congress should put
through a substantive act and not at
tempt TO accomplish this end through
a rider on the appropriation bill.
Urges Voice for People.
He said also that if 1t is the pur
pose of Congress to have the federal
sum and to turn over to the people of
the District the financing of the de-
veloprrent of the National Capital, Con-
gress should give to the people of the
District more authority to say what
shall be done with the money raised by
taxation.
Mr.. Colladay pointed out that Con-
gress, in the District appropriation
act for the fiscal year 1928, had set
up new organic law for the Dis
trict to take the place Of the old
$3.50 arrangement. enacted in 1878.
He called attention to the language
of the District appropriation act for
the fiscal year 1928, which specifically
states that the 6040 ARRANGEMENT
shall be considered fixed proportion
of contribution in making appropri-
ations for the District.
IT was the understanding of the peo-
pie of the District, MIR. Colladay said,
that Congress had entered into def
mite arrangement with the District In
this act He described the platform OF
the citizens joint committee as fol-
lows: THAT the United States should
contribute generously to the expenses OF
the National Capital; that this contri-
button should be fixed and Definite
proportion OF the appropriations made
and that this proportion should be
6O-40-60 per cent by the District tax
payers and 40 per cent by the federal
government.
People Are Protected.
Mr. Colladay said that the Cramton
amendment would destroy the def
mite proportion contribution system
that it would remove the system of
checks and balances established and
under which, when the money of the
District was appropriated, fixed
proportionate sum had to be appro-
priated from the United States Treas
ury to match it. This system, he
said, protected the people of the Dis
trict from excessive appropriation
and from excessive taxation to meet
such appropriation.
Until the period 1S747S the ma
tional and local contributions were
indefinite and unrelated, Mr.. Colladay
almost nothing toward the develop
ment of the District The District
raised and spent its own taxes. ex-
ceeded it's resources, and became
asked if it was now intended that
the United States shall release its
control over the District and leave
the District to finance itself as best
1t can, and whether the people OF the
country would approve the abandon
ment of the work of the federal gov
ernment in developing the District as
the Nations Capital. He asked II
the District were to go backward to
the conditions which prevailed prior
to 1878.
Mr. Colladay pointed out that the
District appropriation act for the
fiscal year 1923 had settled a dispute
which had continued for eleven years
over the fiscal relations of the Dis
trict. He said that the people of the
District had been told that If they
accepted the adjustment in that act
that the District Commissioners would
make the estimates and would fix the
tax rate to meet them. He said that
they are now told that If they accept
the Cramton amendment disturbing
discussions will end and that the
trouble is with the ruleS OF fixed pro-
portionate contributions.
But will this prevent the members
Of the House from insisting that the
annual sum represented by $8,000,00O
in the Cramton amendment, contrib
uted by the federal government, be
further reduced?" Mr.. Colladay asked
Mr.. Colladay said that the Cramton
amendment. II adopted. would be a
long step toward turning the Dis
trict adrift financially, and leaving
the Nations Capital to such develop
ment as can be made with District
revenues
Evan H. Tucker, president of the
Northeast Washington Citizens Asso-
citation, appeared before the committee
in support of the Junior high school, and
other public school improvements for
the northeast section, and in the In
terest of additions to the public park
systems, including the Patterson tract
the Klingle Valley tract, and the Plney
Oh,