Evening star., 1934-06-03
Rate by Mail-PayabIe in Advance.
disappearing the District.

District bill in the House on Thurs
day Representative Blanton made the
following statements:
A few-years ago. when the expenses
Of this District got up to $20000,000
everybody thought it was outrageous.
For the present fiscal year this Con-
greSS last session gave to the District
Government for the fiscal expenses of
the District s30,375 900. Congress
adjourned after giving them that
money
Just as soon as members of Con-
gress went home the Commissioners
went down to the P. w A. and the
c. w. A. and altogether got gifts ag-
gregating the huge sum of about
sl1,000,000 more-a pure gift. Your
district or mine did not get that.
Your State did not get that. When I
say s11.00000 from the P w. A and
the c. w A. that means nothing but
public tax money out of the Treasury
of the United States. That means
the taxpayers money, for it all comes
out of the taxpayers pockets.
1U6Se SIdlGIItIlIS are lldSCul olC
and grossly misleading If every
body thought" an appropriation
of s2O,O00,OOO for the District was
outrageous, which is not the case,
why did the outraged members of
Congress appropriate the money?
They alone possess the power of ap-
propriating for the District
Congress did not give" to the Dis
trict $30.375 900 for the current fiscal
year or for any other fiscal year.
Congress appropriated money raised
from local taxation, none of which
came from the National Treasury, plus
the Federal contribution to the Ma
tional Capital Of S5,7O0,000, to which
the people of the District, like the
people of other cities, contribute in
Federal taxes.
The statement is made that "just
as soon as members of Congress went
home the Commissioners went down
to the P. w. A. and the c. w. A and
altogether got gifts aggregating the
huge sum of s11 100000
That is not the fact
The District has received from the
P. w. A., for municipal purposes, the
following amounts:
For highway projects, s1,9ls,469,
which is the Districts share of the
s40O 100000 made available to the
States and Territories on the basis of
population, area, etc. The Commits
sioners. of course. had nothing to do
with any request for this money
which was made available through
national legislation.
For sewer work, s1,759,50O accept
ed by the Commissioners as a grant,
but which Congress has construed as
a loan, and seventy per cent of which
must be repaid.
This is the only money received by
the District from the P. w. A.. There
have been other allotments for Federal
projects in the District of Columbia,
including those for national parks,
with which neither the Commission
ers nor the local community had any
thing to do.
From the C. w. A. the District of
Columbia was allotted S4,176,050, of
which s1,3sO,775 was spent on Federal
projects and S2,795,275 on District of
Columbia projects. The c. w. A. was
inaugurated, as much to the surprise
of the District Commissioners as to
anybody else, last November, about six
months after Congress went home"
The Commissioners did not ask for
c. w. A funds. The Commissioners
were ordered to provide projects OF
work to give every idle man job,
and to bring in men not even on the
relief rolls. They were assigned a
quota of jobs and told to fill them and
the quicker the jobs were filled the
more patriotic the filters were con-
sidered. 1t was like a Liberty loan
drive.
"Your district or mine" Mr.. Blan-
ton suggested, did not get that" 1t
is not known whose district got what.
But the State of Texas received from
the C. w. A s3o,645 ,234 between
November and May last as its
share of the S734,764,29O distributed
among the States.
And from the p w. A. the State of
Texas, according to information fur
nished to The Star. has received in
Federal and non-Federal allotments
S79, 9,888,943 as its share of the three
billion dollars distributed for work.
creation projects by the P. w. A.
Mr.. Blanton was never more cor
rect in his life than when he states
that all of this money comes out
of the taxpayers pocket" and that
fact has. and will in the future, be
made abundantly clear to all Federal
taxpayers Federal taxpayers in
the District of Columbia pay more
than those of any one of twenty-five
of the States, and more than those of
ten of the States combined. The
Washingtonian's per capita Federal
tax payments (s17384) were about
three times the Texans (s5.865) for
the fiscal year 1888.
The District of Columbia has no
fault to find with the Federal officials
who carrying out the policy OF this
administration to create work, have
made allotments for work in the Dis
tSict. But that the District has