Evening star., 1924-02-15
Our New Million-Dolla Tax.

wi NCW MlIllOU.UOllAE lax.
The fate Of the gas-tax bill in the
House suggests that the lower body
OF our municipal legislature attaches
no weight whatever to the opinions
and petitions Of Washington taxpay
ees concerning local tax legislation
and Will tolerate no application of the
Initiative and referendum principle for
the benefit Of the unrepresented taxed
Of the Capital. 1t indicates the hollow
rockery Of the delusive suggestion
that the House wishes to give the
Capital community some share in
SHAPING Its own legislation. It warns
Washingtonians against taking the in.
dtIatiVe In submitting to the House any
legislative proposition of a kind te
make germane an amendment impos
ang some blistering new tax.
The District suffered from lack of
motor tag reciprocity with Maryland
like that enjoyed by all the states.
Congress, the Districts state and
municipal Legislature, had done moth.
ing to correct this hurtful discrimina.
ton.
Maryland, in order to get an ade.
1uate fund to maintain and develop
her excellent country road system, i'm.
posed gasoline tax, and quickly dis
covered that for obvious reasons II
was highly expedient. almost essential,
that a similar tax should be imposed
in the District.
The District wanted Maryland tag
reciprocity and Maryland wanted a
gas tax In the District.
An agreement was made between
the Commissioners (backed by our citi.
zens' organizations and by business
end motoring Washington and the
state authorities Of Maryland by which
each party got what it desired. Tempo.
rary and tentative tag reciprocity was
established, and the agreement was
formulated in bill which was pre-.
oented to Congress. the Districts legis.
lature. for approval.
If,the Districts legislature had been
elected by the people Of the District,
or II it had reflected their reasonable
wishes though not thus elected, it would
have ratified this agreement at once,
or rather it would have secured long
ago for the people Of its Capital con-
stituency the same reciprocal rights in
Maryland that all other Americans In
the states enjoy. and there would have
been no necessity for the District to
bargain with Maryland for this
equality Of treatment.
The bill which the Commissioners
end Maryland authorities agreed upon
did not reduce taxation in the District.
but merely changed in one respect the
form Of taxationh will the result Of q
slight increase. in the TAX revenue de.
rived. Under the kill as originally
framed automobiles would pay more
TAX revenue into TIE Treasury than
under the old law, and the new reye.
nue. was subjected as to its disposition
to the caprice Of Congress, whereas
the old personal tax which was given
up went without question exclusively
to pay the Districts proportion under
the sixty-forty arrangement.
The District was willing to make
these sacrifices to pay for tag reci.
procity, and no more.
But the House was not content with
these sacrifices. The original PROPOSE
tton substituted the gas tax for the
personal tax and the license tax on
automobiles. Our legislators retained
the gas tax as a new and additional
tax, but restored the personal tax,
added tax on horsepower and set up
a special street-improvement fund out
side Of the budget and the sixty-forty
plan Of contribution. thus establishing
q dangerous precedent.
These stabs ut the District taxpay-
ers were not administered all at once
or by the same men. The advocates
and opponents OF the original gas.tax
bill. bitterly clashing at first, ended in
mutual admiration and love feast by
adopting the ingenious expedient Of
yielding each to the other whenever
the sacrifice was at the expense Of the
District. The. Washington taxpayer
was offered by both advocates and op.
ponents of the gas-tax bill as human
sacrifice on the altar Of District com.
mittee harmony.
No such cheerful alacrity in making
vicarious sacrifice has been noted since
Artemas Ward announced his patriotic
readiness to sacrifice the last Of his
wife's relatives upon the altar Of his
country.
The House by its action and its re-
fusal to act through the three or four
dozen members who showed sufficient
interest in District legislation to be
present, thus, in effect, says: Though
I correspond to your state legislature
I will not, like other state legislatures,
insist that Maryland equttably and
without price give you motor reciproc-
ity. Nor will I permit you to buy this
reciprocity by e simple and fair read.
justment Of your existing tax burdens.
II you want Maryland reciprocity
(which I ought, to get for you for
nothing) you must assent to two new
forms Of taxation and. in this era OF
nationwide demand for tax reduction,
you must bear an additional tax bur-
den, wantonly imposed, Of more than
q million dollars s.