Evening star., 1931-12-18
Mapes Committee Reasoning.


Committee when 1t approached the sub
ject of plastering new and heavier taxes
on the District of Columbia, attention
Is called to the following quotations
from Its report:
l. 1t has been disclosed that in all
these cities the people are groanng
under the burden of taxation which
they have been compelled to carry
That is particularly true of the taxes
levied upon real property. A SIM
liar economic condition obtains in the
rural sections of the country to a
greater extent than is found i'll urban
districts
2. The rate tthe tax rate in the Dis
trict OF Columbial will depend upon
the budget, the cost of the District
government 1t is largely in the hands
of the District to determine the rate.
1t will be for the District in asking
for appropriations, largely to determine
whether the general property tax will
be increased or not and that is as it
should be.
g. Those owning property in the Dis
trict of Columbia should pay FOR that
privilege i'll equal proportion ~ taxes
paid in other cities OF comparable size
and general character that now con-
tribute both to the Federal Govern
ment's' support and to the District s
separate support. Practically all other
capital cities do SO. What good reason
exemptS the District? No lust
basis for any Federal Government
District contribution can be found until
this tax is adjusted. for these other
cities now contribute toward State and
Federal Government and in addition,
are called upon to pay toward the
upkeep Of the District. From the
separate views of Representative FrearJ
In reference to statement Number ]. .
concerning the high taxation in other
cities which the people have been
compelled To carry" who compelled
them to carry it? Possessing, as they
do, the American right to tax them
selves, nobody in the world compelled
them to carry such tax burdens but
themselves. The Bureau OF Efficiency
found that most of the cities ARE
living beyond their MEANS state
ment that was not made nor is 1t here
quoted as criticism, but as fact. Hav-
ing the right to choose what path to
follow, they have chosen. Much Of the
nigh burden of taxes in other munich
palltles results from the spending orgy
brought about by heavy borrowing, and
the urge to borrow was in turn, de-
Veloped and nurtured by those anxious
to invest in taX-free. gh-intereSt-
paying municipal bonds. The sinking
funds and interest on these bonds now
make up relatively high proportion of
tax rates in other cities, and our tax
levying Members of the House, with
their eyes on their tax-laden conStitu-
ents, seek to hoist Washington to a
level that, by questionable methods Of
computing such relative burdens, they
set as the desideratum.
1t is also to be remembered that these
heavy selfimposed municipal and State
taxes are not increased or decreased or
affected in the slightest degree by the
greater or smaller amount which the
Nation may appropriate for the mainte-
nance and development of the Nations
City Every cent of the latter appro-
priation comes from National not
municipal or State, taxes, and the bur
den of National internal revenue tax
alton upon individual taxpayers in the
States, infinitesimal in many States. Is
precisely the same whether the Nation
meets its financial obligation toward
the Nations City on the f1fty-fifty or
forty-sixty ratio basis, or with q lump
sum appropriation Of sl2,00O,O0O or
$500 900 or Sc 500 0OO or nothing.
In statement No. the people of
the District are told that their tax rate
will depend upon the cost of the Dis
trict government, and 1T is largely in
the hands of the District to determine
the rate"
Do the taxpayers participate in the
framing of the District budget? They
do not. Do they fix their tax rate?
They do not. Do they say what shall
and what shall not go into the budget?
They do not. Are they able to say for
themselves whether they shall spend
million dollars on new schools or on
marble palace for city hall that will
conform in scale and grandeur to the
Federal buildings? They are not Do
they decide whether they shall invest
5000, 900 in public welfare or in a snake
house at the Zoo? They do not. Do
they decide what parks shall be laid
and rrhq sod what StrontS shall
be widened or paved? They do not.
Who does? The Commissioners, ap-
pointed by the President, in whose elec-
ton the taxpayers of the District do
local government, appointed by the
Commissioners; the Board of Educa-
tion, appointed by the courts; the di
rector of the Federal Budget, appointed
by the President; the member of the
Park Commission. appointed by the
President and representing the people
OF the United States.
And after the budget leaves the hands
of these agencies, it is translated into
the form of an appropriation bill, con-
sidered and enacted by the represent
atives of every city, town and hamlet
In the United States except the District
of Columbia. Since when have the
people of the District been permitted to
Ak the cost of the local government, or
10 control their own tax rate? Is the
Mapes Committee merely insulting the
District for the political impotency of
Its taxpayers, and, on the strength of
the insult, seeking to injure them with
new taxes?
But it is in statement No. 3 that the
teighs Of fact distortion are scaled by