Evening star., 1934-04-24

increases in Appropriation, facilitates
the denial or evasion Of legal I'm
debtedness; 1t invites violation with
good or bad motive Of existing sub
stantive law; and 1t tempts to re-
pudiati0n Of just debt.
Unfairness in Respect to Surplus.
In appropriating for National Capt.
tai purposes the Districts five mil
lions surplus, it robbed this fine action
by Congress of much Of its merit.
1t caused failure Of equitable con-
tribution by the United States in
appropriating and expending the Dis
tricts accumulated treasury surplus.
The tax money creating this surplus
was collected by authority Of the half
and-half law solely to apply upon the
Districts half Of District appropri-
ations. Whenever it came to be ex-
pended 1t would be equitable to spend
1t under the half-and-half law. the
United States duplicating it.
Under the demoralizing influence Of
the lump sum payment practice the
surplus has been expended without
participation by the Nation under
any percentage Of obligation to en-
large the surplus fund for the up
building Of the Capital. Decision that
the tax surplus. collected under the
$3.50 law. existed unavoidably in
volved the decision that q propor-
tionate payment by the Nation was
equitably due whenever the tax sur
plus should be expended. But the
lump sum payment practice. as ap-
piled, violated this equity.
Diversion Of Local Funds.
The vicious influence of the lump
sum payment practice is further sug-
gested in the exaction in full from
the local partner. the District tax
payer, Of the final payment on the
parkway connection between Potomac
and Rock Greek Parks. At first the
Nation paid in full for the national
parks to which it secured title. Then
for parks at the Capital it exacted
from the District taxpayers so per cent
OF the cost and later so per cent. But
in this parkway case the final pay
ment was made solely from District
(surplus) tax money.
Taints With Unfairness Expenditures
for Parks.
The lump sum payment experiment,
as practically applied, converted the
Park Commission law from q benefit
and blessing to the National Capital
community into q threat Of injury.
On its face the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission law is
broadly national. The terms of the law
suggest the patriotid interest in 1t to
the extent of cent year contribution
OF every man, woman and child in the
republic. The title to all the land
purchased by the Park Commission is
vested in the United States.
The annual appropriation of more
than a million dollars a year. author
lied as supplemental and extraordinary
expenditures by the District of Co.
lumbia Park Commission law, is di-
rected by the law itself to be paid
from the revenues of the District of
Columbia and the general funds of the
Treasury in the same proportion as
other expenses of the District of Co.
lumbia"
The current ratio was and is 60-4O.
fixed in the substantive law by the new
organic act of 1922, and still unre-
pealed. The wholesale exceptions to
the 60-40 ratio involved in the tenn
porary lump-payment plan of 1925,
and succeeding years to date merely
suspend the substantive law of 1922
for the year during which the excep-
tions apply and do not repeal or per-
manently amend the substantive law.
The lump-sum payment plan, by
ignoring the laws specific direction of
a 60-40 division of the cost, and by
failing to make a specific increase of
the lump-Sum payment to satisfy the
laws direction of a national 40 per
cent contribution, has practically
thrown the whole cost of Park Com
mission expenditures upon the local
taxpayers. 1t has converted a fine,
wise. broadly national project which
the self-deceived District enthusiast
cally Endorsed, into an unjust increase
Of the local taxpayers tax burden,
against which the District taxpayer
vigorously nr0fests