Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-06

" was adhered to without change
4 "A in the substantive law from
i L 1878 to 1922, opponents of it
in Congress had begun to agi-
tate for its repeal or alteration num-
Der of years before the latter date
Until 1901, when the 6040 ratio
became the appropriation practice the
people of Washington had been sue
ceSsful in defeating such proposals by
demonstrating conclusively that under
the organic act Of 1878 the local COM
munity bore fair share OF the burden.
Even when the change came in the
substantive law, in 1922, Congress still
sustained Washington's basic conten-
ton that the apportionment OF ex-
penSe should be on percentage ratio,
by adopting the 60-40 rule. Having
made an entering wedge In the Or
ganic law, however those who objected
to the definite ratio Of responsibility
continued their efforts, until in the fiscal
wear 1925 they brought about the prac-
tice of a lump-sum Federal contrlou-.
ton, under which the obligation OF
maintaining the Nations City has oeen
shifted more and more to the backs OF
those Americans who happen to reside
here. And this apparent breaking down
of the definite ratio was not accomplished
bv the direct method of repeating the
| the substantive 60-40 law-for that
law has never been repealed. 1t was
| accomplished by the eXpedient OF plac-
ing the lump-sum provision In each
| District appropriation bill from year 10
wear. what Washington foresaW and
| feared during the years the organic law
was under attack has occurred, namely,
that with no obligation on the Federal
| Government to bear proportlonate
share of each dollar appropriated, the
unrepresented local community Is ana
will be exposed to the danger OF con-
stantly mounting burden. In eight MS
cal wears of lump-sum practice the
total of annual appropriations has gone
I'D steadily, with only one increase, from
| So, 900 900 to $9,500,000, in the Federal
! share.
The Mapes Committee disposes of the
| history of controversies and inquiries
concerning fiscal relations since 1878
as follows: The $3.50 law was in
effect from July /, 1878, to July l, 1920,
when a change was made from 81
per cent proposition to a 40 per cent
proposition of the total District ex-
| penses contributed by the Federal Gov
eminent The 60-40 plan continued
changed from the proportionate con-
tribution to an annual contribution OF
S9, 900 900. The Seventy-f1rst Congress
provided lump sum contribution Of
SIS, 500 ,000"
But it Is a lot of intervening ground
that the Mapes report thus attempts to
cover in this one, broad jump.
Inquiry of 1915.
One of the preliminary onSlaughts on
the organic law, which failed, came in
1915, at which time Congress created a
Joint Select Committee of House and
Senate to consider whether the appor-
tionment of District expenses should be
changed. The arguments raised against
the people of Washington then were
that the doubling OF the local tax
revenue under the half-and-han law
was producing more money than could
be spent wisely and economically In
maintaining the Capital, that the local
community was underasSessed and light
" taxed and, therefore, the national
contribution should be reduced or elimi-
mated.
The Citizens Joint Committee on
Fiscal Relations Between the United
States and District of Columbia took
up and answered fully all the claims
which had been advanced against the
organic law. Appearing as one OF the
spokesman for the Citizens Joint Com
mittee, Theodore w. Noyes replied in
detail to the claims of Embarrassment
and light taxation by presenting an
exhaustive comparison Of the tax bur-
dens of Washington and other Ameri-
can cities.
The tax data submitted by Mr.. Noyes
| for the Citizens Joint Committee at
that time may be summarized as dis
closing the following salient points
FYTl.a 1T rr%N 10 1tTr
assessment exceeded that OF So out of
| the So largest cities of the United
| States-all the cities of the United
| States having over 100000 population.
That it was perhaps the only city in
| the United States whose realty assess
ment actually formed higher percent
age of true value than the nominal and
reported percentage. The law at that
| time required the assessment here TO be
not less than two-thirdS. The assessor
had declared it averaged 10 per cent
and the Citizens Joint Committee was
prepared to show 1t was nearly 10 per
cent.
Washington's Tax Burdens.
That Washington's property tax bur-
| den, combining its heavy realty tax
and its light personally tax, was heavier
| than that of most American cities and
averaged I'D with that of cities approx
mating it in size and general conditions.
That 1856 out of 1879 American cities
of over 80 900 population bore a lighter
| burden. Only one of the group of
neighboring cities and only two Of all
| the Southern cities showed a higher
property tax per capita.
Besides those who attacked the half
and-half law because they thought
! Washington paid too little under it,
there were others in 1915 friendly toward
, the District, who likewise advocated re-
peal of the organic act because they
felt the Nation should pay more than
half and should be free TO contribute
as literally as it desired toward Capital
DEVELOPMENT. In his plea to the Con-
gressional Committee in 1915, Mr.. Noyes
discussed these alternate possibilities as
follows:
"One set of these advocates of repeal
of the half-and- half law Is deceived and
will be disappointed. Which Is 1t? One
prophet predicts that If the self imposed
compulsion Of the act of 1878 Is with
drawn. the Nation will measure its
financial obligation toward the Capital
in smaller and smaller terms until so
far as municipal affairs are concerned,
it will become infinitesimal The other
prophet predicts that If the half limita-
ton upon municipal Capital expendi-
lures by the Nation is removed, the Ma
ton, infiamed by patriotic pride and
inspired by the example of other ma
tions, will spend far more than one-half
the cost of adequate Capital upbuilding
Which is the false prophet? Which is
the victim of psychological delusion?'
The question has been answered dur
ing the past eight years OF indefinite
lump-sum contribution. Washington
share has increased annually, while fol-
six of the eight years the Federal con-
tribution stood still.
Washingtonians also took issue in
1915 with the claim that the half-and-
half plan was producing more revenue
than could be spent economically. Il
was suggested further that if the sun
raised should ever prove more thar
enough to meet immediate prospective
needs, the surplus could be put aside a,