Evening star., 1927-10-27
MERGING Of TOWNS
INQUIRY DEEPENED
HyattsviIIe Committee Asks
More Authority-Gerry-
Wandering Charged.

After listening TO informal reports
Of sentiment in various communities
Of llpper Prince Georges County,
special committee of the iyattsNllle
chamber OF Commerce voted iast
r,~h+ TO ask the chamber for
authority 10 continue its inquiry into
The proposal to consolidate IS com
n1unities near the District INTO a new
municipality to be known as MARY
land City The committee decliheu
IL % on record for or against the
plan. .,,+
S,ycral members contended that
Iba committee had not been appoint
ed for the purpose CT taking sides
on The question, which has become
7hc chief topic of public discussion
a, al Of the towns and subdivisions
from Mount Rainier to ltollyWooo'
olher members declared that publc
oninion in many communltles was
not vet sufficiently crystalhZed 10
make possible an accurate report al
this time.
During an animated discussion OF
,e2riv four hours in the Hyattsvliie
NIunicipal Building. several commit
Toe mon said they had found NlSor-
ous 0pn0sition 10 the plan on lne
mart of persons who belleVe mat IL
i being nushel by controlling Demo-
cratic Doltical leaders in the county,
working under cover" for the puf-
pose of political exploitation. II was
also reported that many persons re
card the Washington SUBURBAN sam
4arv Commission as the real lnsu-
..,.nr Of the movement. Unpopularltv
of the commission among certain
element was declared to be respon-
sil,ln for much of the oppoSlton 10
1l,a YvopoSed new city.
misunderstanding Is Seen.
n was denied, however, by several
committeeman that the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission or the
county political bosses" are beh1no
the movement. 1t was claimed tnat
the opposition to the plan on these
grounds is due to a MISUNDERSTANDING
Of the facts. If it could be proved
that the Sanitary Commission IS not
the prime mover in the scheme. oe
clared several members, the opposl-
ton would largely disappear. 1t was
informally decided that the committee
should conduct a campaign of educa-
ton" to acquaint the people with the
details of the proposal, invite public
discussion and criticism and generally
arouse interest in the movement, so
that public opinion may be crystalized.
Bowie to Resign.
Brice Bowie of Riverdale announced
his intention Of reSigning from the
committee on the ground that his
duties as a county commissioner
make it inadvisable for him to take
part in the committees activities. He
promised, however, to help the COM
mittee in every way he could to
gather accurate data for an intelli-
gent study of the city plan.
The proposed new city would cover
an area of a little more than 10 square
miles. The population of the COM
munities included in the plan is about
10000. This would be big loss to
Prince Georges County, which has a
of about $4,000. provided
the city should become a separate
entity. Many believe, however, that
the principal advantage of new
city could be otained by Incorporation
of the consolidated area within the
county. AS essential part Of the plan,
nevertheless, in the minds OF most of
its advocates. is that the present
county tax Of s1.62 cents on each S1o0
OF assessed valuation of real property
should be paid no longer to the county,
but to the city.
1t is estimated that the assessable
basis in the proposed city area will
be approximately $25,000.000 when
the new assessment Is completed by
the first of the year. Averaging the
present taxes collected in the incor
porated towns in the city area at 40
cents and counting in the $1.62 of
county tax, tax for the proposed
new city of about 81 per 500 was
obtained for purposes Of discussion.