Evening star., 1930-12-09

building and development at the Capi-
tai, and the hundreds Of millions spent
everywhere in all forms Of national ac-
tivity, in the maintenance Of Army and
Navy and In the payment OF the sal
aries of the President and executive Of
ficerS of the United States and Of
Senators and Representatives in Con-
gress. 1t thus appears that IN ma
tional expenditures for all these pur-
poses the Washingtonians per capita
contribution exceeds those Of 43 Statea
Let us compare the Districts con-
tribution with that of some typical
State. The progressive State of Ne
braska has two Senators and six Rep
resentatives in Congress Zone Of the
most influential in some respects of the
State delegations) where the District
has none. The internal revenue figures
show that the District with something
more than one-third of Nebraska's
population pays in these national taxes
something less than three times as
much, as Nebraska, and that in per
capita calculations the average Wash
ingtonian pays nearly eight times as
much as the average Nebraskan. In
other words, the average WaShingtonian
contributes more than seven Nebraskans
and nearly as much as eight Nebras-
kans toward the nine and one-half
millions lump sum for National Capital
maintenance. The WaShingtonian pays
into the fund from which the salary
of the Nebraskan's Representative =
paid nearly eight times as much as the
Nebraskan Representatives voting con-
stituent. :
ut is not intended in presenting
these figures to suggest that the States
or citizens contributing most per capita
to the internal revenue tax or other
national taxes should on that account
have any weightier voting power in
respect to the disposition of the ma
tional revenues than those States and
those citizens whose contributions to
the national taxes are comparatively
speaking infinitesimal; and it is not
intended to discredit in any way the
small contributors to the national taxes,
or even to argue In denial OF the lat
terS claim that it Is more virtuouS not
to contribute than to contribute to in
ternal revenue taxes derived from
cigars, cigarettes, distilled liquors, play
ing cards and especially from the taxes
imposed upon the bloated incomes OF
those picturesquely described as male
factors Of great wealth."
District Heavily Taxed.
"The sole purpose is to convince the
Representatives of small-contributing
constituencies in the States that they
should not berate their National Capt.
tai constituents (whose legislative in
terests are entrusted to their care by the
ConStitution), on the ground that the
latter are untaxed or under-taxed men
dicantS supported by the tax money un-
justly drawn from their local conStitu-
entS; first, because in so many cases
these contributions by their constituents
to the national taxes are inflniteSimal,
far less than those made by the Dis
trict itself; second, because the District
instead Of being untaxed or under
taxed, Is reasonably, and, owing to the
peculiar local conditions, even heavily
taxed, both in municipal and In ma
tional taxation.
I'm developing the Nations City the
WashingtonianS are by far the largest
contributors among Americans. They
contribute on both the local and the
national side of the account. They are
out OF the Union only when rights,
privileges, powers and bounties are dis
trlbuted. They are very much in the
Union when the burdens of national
taxation and military service are i'm
posed. They pay in one way and an
other approximately three-fourths the
expenses of the municipality; and they
are comparatively heavy contributors to
the internal revenue taxes from which
the national funds are derived that meet
the other quarter. In municipal con-
tributions and national taxes they pay
over one hundred dollars per capita for
every man, woman and child in the
District. Aney are the only Americans
who have absolutely nothing to say au-
thoritatively concerning the collection
and disposition of the funds to which
they are such large contributors.
ON the other hand, in the expendi-
lures OF the national money to which
the District contributes on equal terms,
the United States has in many respects
failed to be equitable toward the Capt.
tai. 1t has distributed money and land
(Which were as much the property of
the people of the Capital as of any
other Americans) among the States
and Territories, and ignored entirely
the national District. These donations
include approximately two hundred
millions OF acres of public lands and |
many hundred millions Of dollars.
In the fiscal year 1929 the Is States |
which paid in internal revenue taxes |
less than the District drew in subven- |
tons from the Treasury over one hum
dred million dollars. Five of these |
States took from the Treasury more |
than they contributed in internal reye- !
nue. taxes, and two OF them drew out |
more than twice the amount put In.
Payment Exceeds Receipt.
'In that year the District paid in in
Gprnal revenua n0A