Evening star., 1932-05-12
Fictitious Economy.

NASNeSS
savings IN the District of Columbia ap-
preparation bill, enabling it to cut
$4,000, 600 under budget estimates and
to transfer a $4,000, 600 charge against
the United States Treasury to charge
against the revenues of the District
of Columbia?
How could the House take an econ
omy budget, carefully trimmed both by
the Commissioners and by the Budget
Bureau. and reduce it so drastically
that the District, after enforced as
sumption of s3000,000 Federal obli-
cation, would still have sufficient in
come to meet the estimated expendi-
lures for 1888 and provide small
surplus?
The answer in part is being furnished
through The Star series of articles dis
cussing the nature of the cuts made
by the House.
The answer lies in the fact that the
House, for instance, was willing to cut
the pensions of widowed mothers with
dependent and helpless children to a
maximum of $75 a month-forcing
those most needy families, which by
compliance with the rigid rules of the
Board Of Public Welfare have become
public charges, to live within sums
arbitrarily limited by comfortably fed
gentlemen who know nothing of the
needs or circumstances of the cases
The answer lies in the unexplainable
denial of the right to spend certain
revenues raised through the gasoline
tax. although the money can be spent
for nothing else and must be sent to
the Treasury to gather non-interest
bearing cobwebs. There is no saving
in taxing District residents for street
work and then refusing to appropriate
the money thus raised.
The answer lies In the refusal to
appropriate 100000 out of District Of
Columbia revenue to augment the relief
work by private charity and welfare Or
ganizations in the care of the unem-
ployed, and in writing down this $780,
900 as a reduction below budget esti-
mates and thereby saving" In the
name of economy.
The answer lies in the paradoxical
cutting down of expenditures on the
water system, although the money will
be furnished through water taxes as
usual, and although this money, like
gasoline tax money, can be spent for
nothing else and will be sent to the
Federal Treasury to await some future
taxes two years ago to improve the
water system. Now the fruits of an un-
justified increase In water taxes are to
be withheld from expenditure, forcing
the discharge from the water system OF
meagerly paid day laborers, cutting
down not only the money for mainte-
nance of the system, but the new work
for which the Capital residents were
taxed to finance.
The answer lies in the blind chopping
of salary allowances for teachers, in
the drastic reduction of funds for repair
of schools and purchase of school
equipment, extending even to the cut
ting out OF money asked for replacing
drinking fountains condemned by the
health authorities as insanitary and by
cutting out money to buy the free text
books that Congress. in other legisla-
ton, decreed should be bought.
The answer lies in the absurd pro-
ceeding of cutting allowances for street
lighting down below the amount needed
to pay gas and electric bills, leaving Of
ficials faced with the single alternative
of turning out the lights and leaving
parts of the city in darkness, safer for
the crook. more dangerous for the hap
less pedestrian.
The answer lies in the process fol-
lowed by the House Committee of cut
ting drastically into items for perma-
nent improvements-thu delaying such
expenditures for another year or SO and
piling up unmet needs for future finan-
cling at extra cost to the local taxpayers.
These are few examples OF the sort
of economy represented in the District
of Columbia bill But such reductions
do not in truth represent economy.
Such reductions are not made for
economy. but to repudiate Federal OBJ
legations toward the District of Colum-
bia