Evening star., 1933-05-21
Little Room for Disagreement.

The task of House and Senate con-
ferees is to reconcile by fair compro-
mise the differences between the two
branches of Congress expressed in the
legislation before them. This give-and-
take compromise is as much part of
the legislative system as the original
reference of bills to committees or the
later consideration of those bills by the
two branches of Congress. If either
branch adopted policy of not yielding
in conference to the extent of at least
meeting the other branch half way, and
arrogantly assumed the position OF de-
manding that its views be accepted
or the legislation be killed, the legis-
Iative machinery would, of course, be-
come paralyzed and fail to function.
Happily for the Nation at large, nei-
ther branch Of Congress has ever adopt
ed such an absurd policy. There have
been, Of course, occasional failures Of
legislation because the conferees could
not or would not agree. Such failures
for the most part have been deliberate,
representing an expedient chosen for
the sole purpose Of blocking legislation.
But everybody agrees that there must
be compromise on essential legislation,
and, once legislation is recognized as
essential, neither branch of Congress
would permit its smothering in con-
ference.
The House and Senate conferees on
the 1884 District appropriation bill have
met twice without agreement and will
meet again this week. There is moth
ing extraordinary about failure to
reach agreement in two meetings be-
cause these are busy days for the legis-
lators and they lack the time for
protracted conferences on matters
that DO not concern the nation
al welfare. 1t is to be hoped, Of
course, that within the next few days the
conferees on this bill-so important to
the welfare of this unrepresented COM
munity-will have agreed, by the nor
NAL method Of fair compromise, and
that the bill can be enacted without
recurrence Of the deadlocks which In
the past have been so hurtful to this
city.
1t is impossible to find in the bill
now before the conferees any single
item that could lead to protracted dis
agreement. unless the House conferees
should take the unreasonable position
that in matters relating to the Dis
trict of Columbia their word must
prevail with or without Senate concur
renee. Such a position, of course,
renders farcical the traditional theory
Of compromise and more or less rele-
gates the views of the Senate as mean
ingless, to be accepted or discarded
at will.
The District bill might have been
passed and signed long ago but for
the existence of legislative condition
that made failure to agree on one point
in the bill synonymous with wreckage
of the whole bill. The conferees had
agreed last Winter on everything in the
bill, and all but one of them were
ready to accept compromise by which
the lump sum contribution was reduced
from the S9,500OO0, proposed by the
Senate to $7,600, ,000-this being an in
crease of slightly over a million dollars
in the sum proposed by the House
But because the compromise figure was
not unanimously accepted by the con-
ferees the bill failed
Now one point of disagreement is
again over the lump sum. The House
took the budget figure of S5,700,000-
although it distorted the formula by
: which 1t was reached in the budget
recommendation, certain increases in
expenditures from local tax funds hav-
ing been authorized, which increased to
over $4,000 900 the lump sum resulting
from the application to the increased
appropriations of the Budget Bureaus
formula. The Senate now recommends
that the lump sum be s6,250, ,00o-which
is a quarter of million less than any
sum previously recommended by the
House.
Even the lump sum proposed by the
Senate Is inadequate and unjust to the
National Capital, which, unhappily, has
no effective voice in determining how
its large contribution to the national
tax fund as well as its millions in local
taxes shall be expended.
The other point of disagreement is
whether the District is to be permitted
to skip the next fiscal years payment
of one million dollars on the park
purchase funds advances. All logic and
fairness would demand that this be
done The Senate has twice proposed
that it be done. 1t merely extends to
the District Of Columbia the privilege
of diverting money into necessary chan
nels in this lean year that lies ahead
instead Of turning into the Treasury a
vastly larger sum proportionately than
che original park legislation contem-
Uiated snouid be repaid at this time. A
postponement of scheduled expenditures
in this connection justifies a CORE
spending postponement of scheduled in
stallments of repayment.
All other changes made by the Sen
ate In the District bill contemplate the
useful expenditure of unexpended bal
ances or surpluses Of local tax revenues
together with placing some discretion
ary power in the hands of the local
oficials which will enable them to exc
out their allowances and make both
ends meet.
The District bill this year is, indeed
D lean bone. There IL not enough
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