Evening star., 1935-01-02
ADEQUATE Contribution by
City Taxpayers to Capitals
Maintenance and Upbuilding
AS District Receives no State Benefits, State
Taxes Should Be Eliminated in
City Tax Comparisons.
THEODORE w. MOVES.

United States Supreme Court and the
financial benefits which come from
enjoyment of the land grants, boun-
ties, and so forth, which the Nation
bias lavished upon the States.
The payment Of taxes as the citi-
zen Of a State gives the taxpayer his
proportiOnate share in these financial
benefits. The Washingtonian enjoys
no part in these grants, bounties and
benefits as citizen of a State. Why
should he pay or have charged
against him as part of his equitable
tax burden the taxes which are incl
dental to the status of State citizens
and which are one condition Of the
enjoyment of these financial benefits?
The WaShingtOnian has none Of
these political or judicial rights or
privileges. Why should his fair tax
burden be held to include what the
State citizen pays in connection with
the actual enjoyment of these in
alienable rights, privileges and bene-
fits?
Bears State Burdens but No
State Benefits.
The proposition carries out the old
idea that Washington is to be viewed
as State when burdens are imposed
and not viewed as a State but for
gotten as If n0nexistent when benefits
or privileges or rights are to be con-
ferred. The District has been pro-
nounced a State under a treaty with
France-a construction comforting
privileges on aliens, but not a State
under the Constitution, whose peO-
pie can sue, either as State citizens
or as aliens, in the Federal courts.
The District is a State when direct
taxes are to be collected. but not q
State when Representatives are ap-
portioned, though the Constitution
couples the two things. The District
is not State to make and carry out
through a State Legislature laws for
its own benefit, but it is now re-
preached as State because il
escapes the tax burden incident to
the exercise of this privilege of a
State. The District is not to be a
State to enjoy any of the political,
judicial and financial benefits, privi-
leges and rights of a State, but is to
be a State to the extent that the
equitable tax burden of its people,
in comparison with the tax burden
of other Americans, must be figured
to include consideration of State taxes.
The District is remembered as
among the States when national in
ternal revenue taxes are collected, but
has been forgotten as completely as
if non-existent when the Nation has
distributed grants, subsidies, bounties,
etc, to the value of hundreds of mil
lions of dollars to the States, though
the District has contributed in ma
tional taxes from which these dona-
tions are paid more money than is
contributed by any one of half of the
States of the Union and more than
10 of the States combined.
No Podsnappery.
Uncle Sam as Mr.. Podsnap waves
the District out of remembrance and
out of existence when it is disagree
able for him to remember! Let Uncle
Sam remember that the District pays
into the fund from which public
buildings are erected, salaries of Con-
greSsmen paid-and the billions of
New Deal expenditures must be met
more money than any one of "a of
the States, more than 10 of the States
combined and more per capita than
40 of the States.
When Washington as part of State
enjoys the expenditure within it of its