Evening star., 1932-02-07

the fact that Washington is the Ma
tional Capital" and specifying such
extraordinary expenditures as being the
cost of excess park maintenance and
the cost of excess park development,
could fairly be represented by figure
amounting to $544,038. The total Tia
bility" of the Federal Government was
computed by the Bureau of Efficiency
as amounting to $10,1S3,391.
Other Intangible Obligations.
While the Bureau of Efticiency's eff
forts to select tangible sum repre-
senting the Federal obligation to Wash
ington were obviously based on the de-
sire to be fair to everybody, those who
have presented Washington's case to
Congress heretofore have always con-
tended that there Is a special obliga-
ton upon the Nation to maintain and
develop the Capital that results from
the circumstances of the creation OF
the Capital and which is coupled with
and measured by the Nations absolute
control of Washington.
These citizens have argued that the
true basis of the Nations obligation Of
proportionate contribution toward the
maintenance and development of the
Capital is not solely or primarily un-
taxed ownership of District real estate,
through substantial and continuous
obligation does arise in connection with
such owership. The strongest obliga-
tionS resting upon the Nation are
equitable in their nature and based pri-
marily on the circumstances OF the
Capitals creation and the treatment of
the Capital by the Nation ever since
the birth of the Nations city.
The Nations Intention.
The general Government, by the fact
Of planning a magnificent Capital
covering large area and character
lied by broad streets, avenues and
reservations to an extent unsuitable for
a sef-supporting commercial city, and
by founding the Capital in a place
comparatively uninhabited as we'll as
by the terms of the bargain with the
owners of the soil, and by the derlara-
tlons OF its representatives at the
founding of the city and afserward
showed an intention to build up a Ma
tional City, at the Nations expense, OF
grand scale, irrespective of the future
population ot the District The Capital
was to be primarily center OF Federal
action, and the occupation of the
ground by settlers was merely incidental
10 tilS great purpose.
1t was to be meeting place for the
use, convenience and entertainment of
the people of the entire Union, and the
expense of its support and adornment
was not to be limited by the scanty re-
sources OF what permanent population
it might acquire.
The original owners of Washington
donated flve-sevenths of the city's soil
and yielded the right of self-goyern-
ment to the Nation on the understand
ing and implied agreement that the
Nation was to build up here a magnifi-
cent Capital at its own expense, reim-
bursing itself from the proceeds of the
sale of donated lots pretentious city
was planned and lots were sold by the
Government on the strength of this
understanding. For three-fourths of q
century the Nation violated or neg
lected the obligations which it had thus
incurred. In 1878 the Government,
which had in the beginning impliedly
undertaken to meet all the expenses of
burden, in the main, upon private citi-
zenS, decided that justice required it to
pay one-haf of the Districts expenses
Washington's Equities.
Study of the equitable foundations
upon which proportionate contribution
toward capital maintenance by the Ma
ton is based brings the conviction that
no fixing of that proportion can be just
which ignores national neglects of obli-
cations in the past in determining the
equitable measure of proportionate con-
tribution for the future.
AS an annual contributor to mu-
nicipal maintenance in a definite and
liberal amount the Nation has since
1878, under the wise and fair legisla-
ton Of that year, surpassed other ma
tions in this form of patriotic expendi-
ture. The result has been to restore
the Nations self-respect as a fuIfiller
of Capital obligations, and to build up
the Capital of today, in which every
American has a proprietary interest
and in respect to which every American
now feels proprietary pride.
Obligation Follows Power.
The second obligation, that which is
coupled with and measured by the de-
gree to which the Nation controls its
Capital, is extraordinarily great in
Washington's case.
The teaching of these comparisons
is that obligation is coupled with
power; l. E., financial obligations is
coupled with political power. II the
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