Evening star., 1925-01-11

! Continued from First Page.)
| accept this, it's own money, without
| the equitable contribution of the
United States on the $3.50 or 60-4O
| basis in exchange for a beneficial
principle of National Capital financ-
| ing written originally into the law
| of 1873 and amended by the law of
| 1922 and still remaining the sub
stantive law governing the fiscal re
| lations between the United States
and the District of Columbia.
The Cramton Bill.
The Cramton bill proposes in ap-
| propriating the District surplus
| % to deprive the District of SS19,-
! 1888 which the District officials be-
| lieve will be declared to be District
! money as soon as the controller gem
| eral gets a chance to decide the ques-
| ton, (2) to deprive the District of
the additional $4,43S154.92 or the ad-
ditional S5,257, ,52S.75 to which it
would be entitled if the $3.50 ratio
| applied in appropriation and expendi-
| ture of the surplus, go to deprive
| the District of the additional $685.
| 1895 or the additional $3,505, ,019.17
to which it would be entitled if the
| 60-40 ratio were applied in appro-
priating and spending the surplus,
|
lump-sum payment in lieu of ma
| tional contribution of either 40 or so
per cent to accompany the appro-
priation of some five millions of Dis
| trict taxes, 60 to make the appro-
priation of this surplus the only ex-
penditure of local tax money since
| 1878 which has not been accom-
panied by national contributions,
either in definite proportion or in
| lump-sum payment; 60 to abandon
permanently the principle of definite
proportionate contributions.
washington's Contention.
Washington contends: ID That its
accumulated tax surplus should be
| rendered available by the passage of
! the Phipps bill, which the Senate
has approved and the House District
| committee has reported favOrably.
| and which is now pending in the
House; and that this act of simple
justice should be approved by the
House quickly and without crippIinG,
delaying amendments like the Cram
ton proposition to make permanent
the Iump-sum system of national APP
prOpriatfOn; CD that whenever the
surplus Is actually appropriated 1t
should be accompanied by national
contribution of equal amount, In ac-
cordance with the terms of the law
! under which this tax money was col
Iected, and l3) instead of making this
years temporary Iump-sum system
permanent Congress should retain
against amendment the definite pro-
portionate-contribut system on the
6O-4O basis which is now the sub
stantive law.
Tho copdensed arpument for tba
quick and equitable enactment of the
Phipps surplus bill is presented in
the petition of the citizens organiza-
tions of the District as follows:
The congressional joint commit
tee on District surplus finds and
reports % the existence of n free
surplus in the Treasury to the credit
of the District of $4,671, 1867, (2) the
existence of certain District credits
amounting to $685.46 to be added to
! this surplus, CD the existence of GER
| tain credits of the United States
amounting to $233,7O7.51 to be sub
tractcd from this surplus and a. the
existence of a net balance of $4,43S,-
15492 legally and morally due the
District from the United States after
all legal and equitable additions and
subtractIOns have been made.
The finding by the joint congress
surplus is not a myth but, concrete
fact, raising a distinct obligation not
| to be waved aside, is based upon and
sustained by
Surplus a Concrete Fact.
% The authoritative certificate of
the controller general of the United
States.
CD The report of the official ac-
| countants of the congressional Joint
committee of the Treasury account
ants and of the auditor of the District
of Columbia.
(3) Analysis of the conditions Gre
ating this surplus demonstrates it's
concrete existence and the definite
obligation, legal and equitable, at
tached to it.
"a Analysis of the District audi :
tors figures of net surpluses or def
icits infDistrict tax revenue under the