Evening star., 1937-01-31

n in support of the National
needs-as distinct from National
Capital needs-would be diminished
And 1t has been shown that municipal
and National Capital needs are SO
closely interviewer that their logical
separation Is impracticable.
To repeat: BY reason Of the ex-
cessive cost Of local government re-
sulting from the fact that this is the
National Capital, coupled with the
fact that the National Government
exercises supreme control over the
raising and spending of local tax
money, there results a direct Federal
obligation in support Of the National
Capital.
Basic Conception Of National City.
There is a broader, though accom-
panying. obligation which has seldom
been more eloquently expressed than
in the report of the Joint Congress
sional Committee Of 1915:
"The National City, the Nations
home, should be a district where
the national authority is not only
supreme, but district where the
just pride of great people should
insist upon its maintenance in q
manner most fitting to the dignity
of the citizens whose manifestation
Of central government it is.
Nothing Is clearer to us than
that 1t never was the intent that
this District should bear all the
extraordinary burden of expense
incident to its plan and occupancy
as a national city, and any such
proposed burden would be most in.
equitable and unjust now -
Our unanimous conclusion Is
that the rate of taxation in the
District should be fixed and cer-
tain; that the Congress should pur.
sue a definite policy of regular ard
liberal appropriations, having in
view not only the permanent moral
and physical advantages of the
city, but also its pre-eminent beauty
and grandeur as the municipal ex-
preston Of the Nations home and
its peoples pride.
I'VE urge upon Congress that its
appropriation for the expenses OF
the District Of Columbia should
always be in such sum as will not
only continue the city of Washing
ton and the District of Columbia
in every respect as the splendid
and beautiful central residence Of
this great Nation. but also cause
1t to become and be forever MAIN
tanned as a model for all the cities
Of the world"
Views Of Past Presidents.
The same thought. that the power
Of exclusive legislation conferred upon
Congress imposes a special and pecul-
lar obligation, has been expressed in
varying forms Of words by many OF
the Presidents, including Van Buren,
Polk, Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln
Hayes and Benjamin Harrison, COM
bining with the recognition of the
obligation based on power sugges-
tions for other obligations springine
from national sentiment and patriotic
pride. President Coolidge asked that
Washington represent the soul oi
America" and President Hoover
washington is not only the Nation.
Capital; 1t is the symbol Of America.
The Capital was built on broad ma.
tional lines. and the wisdom of 1t.
plan is more apparent now thar
even in the early days. During ths
period when the national obligation
tardily recognized by the act Of 1878
was neglected, Washington was a by.
word and reproach. Since the Natior
returned even part way to its origina
obligation the Capital has become ar
object Of national affection, in tn.
attractiveness of which the who'll
American people take pride. The de.
fects today are not due to faulty con.
ceptions Of Washington as the Ma.
tional Capital, or the plan by which
its development was brought about
but result from the failure to continu,
consistently the application of thu
fine principles which were followed
in the half century which witnessed
Washington's greatest development.
Residents as National Taxpayers.
There is another source of Fedora
obligation represented in the relative.
ly heavy national taxes paid by the
District. The District ranks high a.
a national taxpayer, its people con.
tributing, according to the 1886 fig.
ures, more than half of any Of the
States, more than nine of the States
combined and, in per capita, more
than 80 Of the States. The Citizens
Joint Committee on Fiscal Relations
has prepared statistics comparing ir
various ways the national taxes paid
by the District and by the individual
States. Their purpose is not to dis
credit the smaller contributors among
the States. They are presented, or
the other hand, as the answer to the
contention that the Washingtonian i
q tax-dodging mendicant, forever
asking something for nothing. The
District is a heavy payer of national
internal revenue taxes, the only ma.
tional taxes that fall directly and un-
mistakably and in ascertainable
amounts upon Americans and that
normally supply about three-fourths
of the national revenue. In the ab-
sence Of the national representation
coupled everywhere else with the pay
ment of taxes, the equitable obligation
Is upon the Nation to see that equity is
done and that fair play prevails ir
the ALLEGATION of burdens for National
Capital maintenance and develop.
ment.
Grants and Subsidies to the States.
Closely coupled with the heavy pay.
ments Of national taxes by the Dis.
trict Is the fact that the District has
not shared In many Of the millions
Of dollars distributed as bounties and
grants to the States. In one Of the
last predepression years Of norma
national expenditures (1931) there
were 81 classes of Federal aid pay.