Evening star., 1934-05-24
CONTINUE PARLEYS
ON DISTRICT BILL
SenAe and House Con-
feTees Face Fight or Fix
A ing Lump Sum.

OVeNlQe 1890 0SIilC opPAoPA '@SN
bill were resumed today by Senate and
House conferees, with the fixing OF
the Federal share looming as the
nAHpoint of controversy.
Md conferees had to take recess
aAA n brief meeting this morning to
aAM members of the House to an
swer- a roll call vote in the House.
AfhbIgh the conference may be re-
slhU for a while this afternoon,
irhIAtions were that no final con-
clusions would be reached today. The
conferences probably will continue
forI the next day or two.
although there are numerous
Se1ate amendments to appropriation
items, totaling more than $4,000 OOo,
scattered throughout the bill, 1t Is
believed these items can be settled
without much delay if an agreement
is reached on the controversial queS-
ton of what part of the total in the
bill the Federal Government should
pay.
Demand Sewer Deduction.
The Senate group is seeking to sus-
tain the recommendation OF the Bud
get Bureau for the same Federal con-
tribution made for the present year,
S5,700,000, but the House confereeS
insisted during the three hours OF
discussion yesterday that Congress
should take from the Federal con-
tribution an amount equal to 10 per
cent of the sewer allotment made by
A. icfr jnr, 11s
Summer.
This would mean cutting the Fed
eral share of this appropriation down
to 81 1854. .295, reduction of 81 1885, ,705.
The Senate conferees have pointed
out in conference that the District
government understood the sewer al
lotment was a grant, and that Dis
trict officials would have been forbid
den by law from accepting the money
If they had known it was to be re-
garded as a loan.
Senator Thomas, Democrat, of
Oklahoma, chairman of the Senate
confereeS, also has pointed out that
even if the sewer fund be regarded
as a loan, the District should not be
required to pay back the entire 10
per cent at one time, since public
works loans in the States are repay
able over a period Of years.
Committee Reversed.
The House Appropriations Com
mittee, in reporting the District bill
to the House more than a month
ago, stated that the District would
not be required to reimburse the Fed
eral Government to the extent Of 70
per cent Of the sewer allotment, "as
is provided for loans to municipalities
for local improvements, as the sewer
projects provided for in this case are
classified as Federal projects
When the bill was being considered
in the House, however. those in
charge of it reversed this position
with a last-minute amendment which
took from the Federal contribution TO
per cent OF the sewer allotment. This
House action went further and called
for repayment of 10 per cent of an
other public works allotment that was
spent on public parks. .r,
1t has since developed from the tes-
timony of District officials that ap-
proximately S250,000 Of the sewer
allotment probably never will be spent
by the District, although the House
bill requires reimbursement of 10 per
cent Of the full allotment.
Work on Detailed Items.
After failing in their first meet
ing yesterday to reach conclusion
on the main controversy involving
the Federal share, the conferees left
that question for the time being and
worked out a settlement Of some Of
the detailed items in the bill.
The House members indicated they
would yield to the Senate to allow
the furnishing of free text books to
nonresident school pupils, which
was prohibited in the House measure.
The House group stood firmly, how
ever, against Senate amendment to
allow the Highway Department to
resume operation of its own testing
laboratory.
Light Compromise Planned.
The Senate amendment restoring
$4,000 for adequate street lighting
will be compromised at about half
that amount, it was reported.
The Senate amendment allowing
additional funds for the fire alarm
system was agreed to yesterday.
When the conferees adjourned yes
terday they were in the midst of a
discussion of Senate increases in
school funds, including Senator Cope
lands proposal that a start be made
on a character study experiment in
a limited number of class rooms.
Most of the other school amendments