Evening star., 1934-12-31
Nations Bounty to States Not Shared
by Capital.

Nations Bounty to States Not Shared
by Capital.
S. Equitable obligation to pay fol
Capital upbuilding in lieu Of hun.
dreds of millions of grants, bounties
subsidies paid by the Nation to the
States from national tax revenues te
which District contributes more than
any one Of half of the States, In a
distribution from which the Capital
has been barred.
Figures in detail, both OF amounts
paid into the Treasury as national
taxes and drawn from the Treasury
in grants, bounties and subsidies by
the District and by the several States
, in the fiscal year ending June 80, 1881
are presented in statistical tables in
the booklet prepared by the Citizens
Joint Committee on District Fiscal
Relations. In an article by George
B. Galloway in Editorial Research Re-
ports (January, 1881 the whole sub
ject is thoroughly and ably discussed.
These figures are shown to emphasize
the numerous and large Federal sub
sides to the States which are not ex-
tended to the District of Columbia.
creating benefits to the States which
are not enjoyed or participated in by
the District.
These figures strongly emphasize
the Nations obligation to increase
largely its annual payment for Ma"
tionaI Capital maintenance and up
building, which has been reduced by
substantive law from 50 per cent to
practice under the lump sum payment
plan is only about IL per cent Of the
total appropriation figure for the
District.
Federal Aid Given to the States.
Discussing Federal subsidies to the
States, Mr.. Galloway points out that
under its power to appropriate
money for general purposes the Fed
eral Government from its earliest
days has assumed the responsible
ity of rendering financial and admins
trative assistance to the State. The
practice of granting subsidies to the
States from the Federal Treasury be-
gan with the land ordinance for the
Northwest Territory in 1785 and has
continued down to the present time.
Congress has made grants to the
States, particularly from the sale of
public lands for schools. roads and
canals. Today the whole field of re-
lationship created by these subsidies
is covered in minute regulations
reached by agreement between State
and Federal authorities. In recent
years Congress has actually entered
the domain of State and local govern
ment and has created new organs cl
administration which, in strict
sense, are neither Federal nor State
in character"
Mr.. Galloway points out that from
modest grants of land or money for
the maintenance of public schools. for
universities, for use as seats of gov
ernment or to defray the cost Of
erecting public buildings. for reclama-
ton or aid to the States in building
canals, to stimulate railroad construc-
ton and for internal improvements.
the system of Federal aid to the States
has expanded until of recent years there
are thirty-one classes of Federal aid
payments made annually at total cost
to the Federal Government of about
$3.50, 100000 a year. Except in cases
where the basis of expenditures or
allotments is wholly Federal, 1t is
generally required that the State must
equal the expenditures of the Ma
tional Government.
Growth Of the Subsidy System.
The rapid growth of the Federal aid
system is shown by comparison of
the payments during the last 20
years. In 1912 this total was approx
mately 100000. BY 1920 it had
risen to $4,000, 900, by 1922 to $134,-
O,O0O and by 1927 to $163 ,000, 900,
the high-water mark of the payments
up to the present time. During the
fiscal years 1920 to 1880, inclusive, Mr..
Galloway points out, Federal aid pay
ments reached the grand total of
ST ,453, ,676 ,224, almost one and a half
billion dollars. OF this huge sum more
than 1898 600, 900, or 81 per cent, went
for the cooperative construction of
highways; over $275, ,O00, 900, or 19 per
cent, went to the National Guard;
over $64,000,0 900. or A per cent, was
devoted to cooperative agricultural
extension work, and an equivalent
to cooperative vocational
and rehabilitation. These
four activities together accounted
during the period for about IS per cent
of the Federal aid appropriations,
highway construction being the chief
of the system.
Only in the fund for National Guard
Is the District of Columbia represented
as being a beneficiary. In article
No l of this series the heavy re-
sponsibility of the Nation in respect
to the development of the extraordinary
street plan of Washington is demon
In national aid to highway
construction the highways Of the Dis
trict should not have been overlooked.
In the educational, health and gen.
eral welfare e-promoting subsidies and
the other miscellaneous items of
donation the District was also in
equity entitled to participate.
Paid to and by United States.
The same inequality in this distribu-
ion of the Federal revenue is shown as
has been indicated in the collection of
that revenue. In fiscal discussion it
has been found of interest to compare
what Washington pays into and re-
ceives from the National Treasury
with what is similarly paid into and
received from the National Treasury |