Evening star., 1936-08-30
Civic Problems, Civic Bodies
Blanton's Defeat and Beginning of Fiscal Survey
Are Milestones in Week for District.

Week tor District.
owned by the Washington & SUBJ
urban Co., q Massachusetts, in
vestment trust company. Roberts
and others have contended that
such stock ownership is prohibited
by the La Toilette act.
The matter is brought to public
attention at this time through the
notification by the Washington &
Suburban Co. to the Securities
Exchange Commission that 1t pro-
poses to sell its holdings Of the
common stock Of the Washington
Gas Light Co.
There are 100000 shares Of
common stock to be offered for
sale. and 1t is understood that
Washington capital will have an
opportunity Of buying this stock.
The probabilities are that there
Will be q wide distribution Of stock
through this sale. There Is no
telling where the prospective pur-
chasers live. The result may be
local control, but In any event the
present foreign holding company
Will pass out Of the picture.
In this connection a prominent
citizen was heard to remark re.
Gently that a popularity of the
local civic attitude was seen in the
urge that District enterprises be
financed by local capital. In most
communities, he continued, they
move heaven and earth to induce
outside investors to put their
money into developing the town.
He added that he had never
known Of any town which had
been built up and expanded on
local capital.
Commission One-Man Hearing
Authorized by Utilities Act,
CRITICISM has been made Of
Richmond B. Keech, public
utilities commissioner, for con.
Quoting a hearing Of the Public
Utilities Commission as an in.
dividual member. That such
hearings by a single member are
entirely legal Is shown by refer.
ence to the act creating the pres.
ent commission.
Section 127 Of the public utilities
act defines quorum and its powers
In event Of a vacancy. and then
continues as follows: ANY investi.
cation, inquiry. or hearing may be
made or held by any commissioner,
whose acts and orders, when ap-
proved by the commission, shall be
deemed to be the order of the com.
mission" There is a marked diff
ference between hearings before the
P. U. c. and the District Commis-
sioners. A complete stenographic
record Is made of utilities hear
ings, but hearings before the
Commissioners are seldom re-
ported. And civic leaders often
complain that many times one
or even two Of the District Com
missioners will slip away from such
unreported hearing at the same
time. This is an old custom not
originated by the present board.
Many citizens believe that the
fault, if any. of one member utili-
ties hearings is to be found with the
statute rather than with Commits
sioner Keech.
VIII the Fiscal Inquiry
Mean Fiscal Equity for d. c.?
VExATIOUs beyond expression
~ has been the annually recurring
controversy over the part Of the ex-
penses of the National Capital to
be borne by the United States.
This column has uniformly listed
this civic problem OF fiscal equity
as being outranked only by our
problem of political equity. And
outright fiscal equity is only looked
for when residents of the District
OF Columbia are recognized as
American citizens and as such are
represented in both houses of Con-
gress and are able to vote for
President and Vice President.
Civic organizations have long
urged the creation of competent
and impartial agency to make a
thorough inquiry into the fiscal re-
lations which have existed, now
exist and should equitably exist in
the future. The item Of $50, 900 out
of the S5,000,000 lump sum, which
the fight by the Districts friends
in the Senate made possible, for the
making Of such an inquiry has had
general approval.
The President has appointed J. L.
Jacobs, an efficiency engineer Of
Chicago, to direct the inquiry. He
is to be assisted by an Advisory
Committee of three gentlemen of
impressive background. The Ad-
viSory Committee Is composed Of
George McAneny, president of the
Title Guarantee Trust Co. Of New
York; James w. Martin, chairman
of the Kentucky State Tax Com
mission, and Clarence A. Dykstra,
city manager of Cincinnati.
Director Jacobs has started ac-
tivities by assembling statistical
data from Federal and District
Government sources. Facts and
figures in the files of the Public
Library and all other sources of
information of value are being
sought.
The inquiry is to be conducted in
secrecy, but at later stage it is un-
derstood there will be opportunity
for civic groups and individual citi-
zens to be heard.
In civic circles there is an air OF
hopeful optimism regarding the re-
suit of the studies. Citizens recall
that in every instance where there
has been a fair and impartial study
of the fiscal relations the decision
has been favorable to the District.
Impartial studies in the past have
usually been by joint congressional
committee.
The result of this Independent
study is designed to enable the
President ''to report to Congress at
the next regular session, what, in
his Judgment, Is q fair and