Evening star., 1932-02-01
The District Is Not Undertaxed.

The District Is Not Undertaxed.
The only tenable theory behind the
present attempt to increase the burden
of taxation In the District Of Columbia
"a that the people of this city are evad-
ing the payment Of taxes in an amount
that a majority Of fair minded persons
will agree upon as necessary and
equitable.
OF course, there are other theories,
such as the theory that taxation should
be increased here in order to reduce
the Federal contribution, or because the
Lincoln Memorial is a beautiful thing,
or because American tourists buy food
and shelter here, or because the alb
sence OF industrial development has
prevented unemployment and resultant
hardship for great numbers of Wash
ingtonians. But such theories cannot
be openly advanced, as they do not hold
water among intelligent men.
The only tenable theory is the one
stated above. The Star begins publiCa-
tion today of a series Of articles review
ing some Of the attempts in the past
based on that theory to show that
Washington was undertaxed and the
significantly coincidental attempts to
couple the charge Of undertaxation with
Federal contribution. If it is true that
the only thing We learn from a study
- history is that we learn nothing from
a study of history, such knowledge is
nevertheless valuable.
After almost a century of disgraceful
neglect of the Capital and sporadic hit
or-miss attempts to remedy the results,
Congress in 1878 enacted the provisions
of organic law that would substitute
definite fiscal policy in appropriation
for the Capital for indefinite and
vacillating practice. But within COM
paratively few years bill was intro
duced in the House to nullify fixed ratio.
Reporting adversely against that pro-
poSal, the Babcock report from the
House District Committee of 1896 went
at length into a description of the
patriotic and financial obligations as
sumed as citizens by the people Of
Washington, and in regard to the effect
Of the bill in question pointed out that
To change the act of 1873 as pro-
posed by this bill, would be a clear
reputation Of both the equitable and
legal obligations assumed by the Nation
in regard to its National Capital This
we cannot believe Congress will do.
A reputation of national obligations
In respect to the Nations City would
result either in discreditable Capital,
poorly sustained by reasonable taxation
upon local resources, or in the virtual
conflscation Of local property through
excessive taxation.
The grave threat Of virtual confsca-
ton" Of local property was raised in
1912, as described in the first article
OF the series appearing elsewhere in
today's Star, through a report from a
House committee that showed Wash
tngton to- be escaping payment Of taxa
tion by underassessment OF property
That report was the signal for a series
of attacks in the House lasting several
years temporarily abated by the results
OF inquiry by joint committee of Con-
gress. 1t is less interesting here TO dis
cusS the findings Of that joint COM
mittee, showing Washington to be fairly
taxed, than to consider the results had
Congress acted on the basis of informa-
tion developed in the House committee
report. Had Washington been taxed
according to the House committees
finding, it would have been taxed on
5000 100000 worth Of property that did
not even exist. The community would
have received a blow from which 1t
might still be staggering. The findings Of
that House committee Of 1912 which.
curiously enough, turned out to be the
findings of one man, whose word was
accepted without question, whose un-
fortunate error Of calculation was never
checked, were accepted as gospel. 1t
required four or five years to correct the
error.
And, as will be shown In subsequent
articles of The Star series, that error
has obviously lived If only to perpetuate
Itself in new forms OF fact finding"
undertaken to support conclusions and
TO bolster theories previously accepted
and tenaciously held.