Evening star., 1936-06-19
Well Done.

Under the circumstances, and there
Is no need to elaborate on what they
are, the Senate conferees obtained the
best possible District bill for their vote
less constituents of Washington and have
earned their grateful appreciation.
Senator Nye undoubtedly voiced the
opinion of many members of the Sem
ate. as well as the confereeS, when he
said that he did not believe $5,000,000
represented an adequate Federal contri-
button. But it was necessary to accept
that figure under the conditions.
Local citizens realize that. And il
they do not share the optimism of Sem
ator Thomas in the belief that the in
dependent investigation of the Federal
obligation by the President will settle
the fiscal relations issue next year, cit
izens of Washington certainly agree
with Senator Thomas that his solution
of the matter this year was far preferable
to a continuing resolution which would
have been the only acceptable alter
native. continuing resolution would
have meant added hardship to the
District, further postponement of urgent
undertakings that are now possible under
this bill.
AS for the Investigation of the Federal
obligation-which Senator Thomas and
his fellow conferees demanded before
they accepted the reduction of 100000
In the lump sum-it is interesting to note
that the final agreement on this matter
differs considerably from the original
resolution proposed by Senator Thomas.
Under the language of the conference
agreement, fifty thousand dollars is made
available to the President for an inde-
pendent study to determine what, in
his Judgment, is a fair equitable amount
to be paid by the United States as an
annual contribution toward the expenses
of the District of Columbia"
That, it is believed, is preferable to
the original resolution. The conference
agreement means that the President is
free to conduct the investigation in any
the appointment of commission OF
three in which the Speaker, the Vice
President and d-the President would par
ticipate. 1t establishes no conditions,
and restricts the purpose of the investiga-
ton to the main issue-"the equitable
amount to be paid by the United States
as an annual contribution toward the
expenses of the government of the Dis
trict of Columbia"
The District has no reason to fear the
outcome of any fair investigation. And
II the results of the investigation, as
Senator Thomas said yesterday, are un-
derstood as binding the members OF
Congress, thus eliminating the source
of discord represented in the annual
controversy over what the amount
should be, the District, as well as men,
bers of Congress, will have cause to be
duly grateful.
Whether the results of the Presidents
investigation will be binding is, of course,
something else. Senator Clark summed
up about all there is to be said on that
matter, as follows:
THE Congress of the United States,
with the District as its ward, had
once before solemnly entered into an
agreement on this matter, which has
been fagrantly disregarded by the Gov
eminent of the United States, through
the action of one or two particular men,
bers of the body at the other side of the
Capitol; and do not know what more
force this new investigation and a new
agreement will have with q future Con-
gress, If some members of the Appropri-
ations Committee of the House Of Rep
resentatives shall desire to disregard it,
than the previous agreement has had"