Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-21
The Chamber of Commerce Report.

The Chamber of Commerce Report.
The report from its committee on
District finance, taxation and assess.
ment adopted last night by the Cham
Der Of Commerce sets forth certain
steps which in its opinion should be
taken to reach a solution Of the prob
lem of equitably distributing the cost
Of maintaining and building the Cap.
ital. In brief, the recommendations
are that the sixty-forty basis of ap.
preparation be maintained by Con.
gress pending the discovery of a
more scientific method of procedure"
that used and unused sources of rev.
enue in the District he investigated
and that revenue used for Federal
purposes be distinguished from that
used for local needs; that in future
the funds for these two purposes be
currently indicated, and, with all such
facts before it, some agency will de
lationship which, while imposing no
undue proportion of the tax burden
upon District residents, will insure
q total revenue sufficient to provide
for the proper upbuilding of the Ma
tons Capital; that future financing
take cognizance of the difference be-
tween expenditures for maintenance
and expenditures for development,
with view to spreading the latter
cost over a period of years, and that
the present system Of planning for
one years expenditures be abandoned
in favor of q system which will look
for at least Eve years ahead into the
needs of the Capital.
The chambers report is wise in rec
ommending continuance of the sixty.
forty plan of appropriating pending
the discovery of a more scientific
method Of procedure" And it is wise
in not attempting to outline method
which would be more scientific, but
leaves that discovery to some agency
of Congress, which first will have
thoroughly looked into the matter
from all sides. The new system, pos
sibly to be devised after an investiga-
ton. would not only insure q total
revenue sufiicient to build the Nations
Capital. but would protect Washing
tonians by imposing no undue pro.
portion of the tax burden upon Dis
trict residents" Such system was
contemplated when Congress arose
from the lethargy of nearly a century
of neglect and in 1878 decided, after
exhaustive inquiry, upon the fixed
ratio principle of appropriating for
the District. Under that principle
SUFFICIENT funds were made available
to transform the Capital over a Pc
Rod Of years, from a country village
Of muddy and unlighted streets to its
appearance today. At the same time
there was protection for the residents
of the District against the imposition
OF ian undue proportion of the tax
burden" For Congress guaranteed to
match, dollar for dollar, the money
raised from District revenue, thus i'm
posing upon itself a check and bal
ance to prevent extortionate taxation
of the unrepresented citizens of the
District. The system Is as sound
today as It was half a century ago.
1t was revised to meet modern condi-
tons in 1922, but it has not been rad
ically changed. There is nothing un-
scientific or unwieldy in the system.
The awkwardness and unscientific
method today is not due TO the sys-
tenn. but to the fact that it has been
cast aside.
BY all means, however, let the
chambers recommendation be fol-
lowed and q responsible agency be
charged by Congress with investigat-
ing and rectifying the present condi'
ton. 1t may help this agency to
differentiate between expenditures for
purely local needs and those for Fed
eral purposes. But such separation
Is not fundamentally important. The
fact that Washington is the American
Capital must never be allowed to es-
cape. It's local needs are, in a man
ner, national needs. Its national
needs, likewise, are local needs. Con-
gress is responsible for building the
Capital. The residents of Washington
share in this responsibility. But 1t
should be fairly distributed. After all,
that is what Washington asks.
The proposal of the chamber that
year-to-year financing be abandoned
in favor of a program that will look
far into the future deserves serious
study. The yearly budget principle
Is of comparatively recent origin with
the Government. Its logical extension
is already recognized by Congress In
the adoption of five and ten year pro
grams. There is no reason why the
appropriations for 1929 should not be
made after anticipating conditions ir
1884, To plan for them will be t.
meet them without radical huctuatior
OF sharply bending the curve of cur
rent expenditure.