Evening star., 1935-03-31
A Fair Deal for the District.

N i d14 0CuA AV1 LuS AotAASI
The thorough and able presentation
of the case for the District of Colum-
bia by Edward F. Colladay, in his
dual capacity as spokesman for the
Citizens Joint Committee on Fiscal
Relations Between the United States
and the District of Columbia and as
chairman of the Municipal Finance
Committee of the Board of Trade,
came appropriately as the closing ar
gument on the 1886 appropriation bill
before the Senate Subcommittee on
District Appropriations.
The committee had devoted many
wearisome days to close examination
of the District bill, and to testimony
by the municipal officials and groups
of citizens interested in specific pro-
visions of the bill as it passed the
House or in items which they felt
should be included in the bill.
The case presented by Mr.. Colladay
on behalf of representative organiza-
tions of citizens in the District was
addressed to broad principles rather
than to specific items of proposed
appropriations. Those principles, in
brief, are that citizens of the District
favor retention of the wise system
of sharing the expenses for District
maintenance and development ac-
cording to the fixed ratio system laid
down by unrepealed substantive law;
that al long as substantive law is
evaded by the year-to-year sub
stitute practice of lump-sum appro-
priations, this lump sum should be
increased. And, in anticipation of
the question whether the proposed
increase should not come from the
District, rather than from the larger
lump sum, the citizens argument
showed that the District Is fully and
adequately taxed at the present time
and that such showing is backed
by statistical comparisons made with
present and past tax figures.
In keeping with what has become
accepted as a Senate tradition. the
Senators were not only sympathetic
but warmly appreciative of the man
ner In which the citizens case was
presented. But Senator Thomas has
become convinced, and has persuaded
other Senators to his point of view,
that the great difficulty faced by
the District in what Senator Cope
land termed the education" of men,
bers Of Congress lies in the practice
in the District, in accordance with
law, Of coupling a low tax rate with
100 per cent standard of assessment.
This is in contrast with the prevailing
practice elsewhere with which mem
bers Of Congress are familiar, Of
coupling high tax rate with an as
sessment practice (even in States
whose laws require one hundred per
cent assessment) under which prop
erty has been assessed as low as Is
per cent. Some of the Senators have
felt that as long as this condition
prevails the misconception of the
Districts tax burden in the minds
Of many members of Congress will
continue to result in injustice to the
District.
The only remedy, of course, lies
with Congress. 1t Is not within the
power Of the voteless taxpayers of
the District, or of their municipal
officials. to change the law, or even,
perhaps, to make a radical change in
constituting the law to conform to the
actual practice in the States. Con-
gress may some day become as con-
vinced as Senator Thomas and his
committee colleagues are now con-
vinced as to the desirability of
change IN assessment practice.
But in the meantime? Surely the
admission of an error which may be
rectified only by Congress cannot
be permitted to stand as the Senate's
only contribution toward correcting
some of the long-standing sources of
inequity in appropriations for the Dis
trict.
One immediate step which lies
within the power of the Senate now,
without change of law, is the restora-
ton Of important items eliminated
from the District bill because of a
lack of revenue, when the lack of
revenue, in turn, is due to continued,
arbitrary reductions of the national
lump sum.
And the accompanying step is to
increase the lump sum to the point, at
least. that the Commissioners recon-
mended in suggesting a figure repre-
senting an average of the past ten
years lump-sum appropriations
something over 100000.
AS Washington has grown, as its
taxable area has been diminished, as
the needs Of the Federal Government
have increased in the past ten years,
the lump sum which is supposed to
represent the Governments obliga-
tions has been diminished.
But the Governments obligations
have not dininished-they have in
creased. And in keeping with these
increased obligations the lump sum
should be increased. II Lies within