Evening star., 1937-01-26

exchanging them for ready cash at
r. r. c., Congress committed the Dis
trict to q 81 ,000. .000-a-year repayment
and set aside 10 cents Of the tax rate
as q special reimbursement fund. The
waving Of interest was also In con-
sideration Of the fact that the United
States, as well as the District, was
benefiting from expenditure Of the
loans. In the case of the sewage dis
posal plant, the District Is only an
Incidental beneficiary, for while it
helps purify the Potomac below the
District, the Potomac above Washing
ton and Rock Creek, which runs
through Washington, are polluted by
sewage from Maryland and Virginia.
In estimating value Of services rem
dered to the National Government by
the District the report is more inter-
esting for what it fails to include
than for what 1t actually does in
clude. 1t refers to the fact that main
tenance of the Police and Fire De-
partments in Washington costs about
S425,0 annually above the compa-
rable cost Of other cities because OF
the annual leave and sick leave pro-
visions Of the law, conforming to
Federal standards. It mentions that
If working hours for police and fire.
men are brought into accord with
statutes governing working hours in
the Federal Government, about ST.
33s ,060 would be added to the cost OF
fire and police departments. The re-
port also shows that salary levels for
District employes-covered by the
Federal clasSif1cations act-are higher
than In other cities. But no allow
ance to the District Is recommended
on account Of these extraordinary ex-
penditures.
The report credits the District with
nothing for its Fire Department. from
which the National Government, OF
course, receives direct benefit through
the protection Of its property. The
report allows no credit to the Dis
trict on account of the Police De-
partment, except for occasional spe-
cial details for the National Govern
ment. The report treats the National
Government as municipal taxpayer
in charging 1t for the water it uses
and for the paving Of streets on
which its property may abut, but
blandly ignores any charge against
the National Government for the vast
amount Of It's property which is ex-
empt from taxation, or for the street
system laid out for q national capital,
not an average community, or for the
FACT the National Government enjoys
exclusive power over the District.
But the report becomes most con-
fused in dealing with possible charges
against the District or the United
States which somebody might sug-
gest.
For instance, the estimates for use
Of the Smithsonian museum facilities
| by District residents (although these
facilities are available to every citizen)
run all the way from $20,0 to $780,
900 a year. For the maintenance OF
a botanic garden, the District residents
might be charged anywhere from S.
900 to $4,000, depending on who is
doing the estimating. These estimate.
are put down in the report, although
not assessed against the District. But
if the District residents are to be
charged, say, $4,000 a year for the
museum facilities at the National Mu-
scum, with no like charges against
the people Of Chevy Chase, Md, OF
Arlington County, Va. what is the es-
timated charge for the facilities oi
the G-men museum at the Depart
ment Of Justice, or the medical mu-
scum Of the War Department? What
Is the difference?
The cost Of service rendered the
people Of the District by the Library
Of Congress Is estimated at $55,000
although no reimbursement is rec
commended" What is the cost of the
library services to the people OF Ar
lington County. Va. or Chevy Chase
Nd, some Of whom live about as neal
the Library Of Congress as some people
in the District Of Columbia?
If the theory Of interdepartmental
services is a logical or equitable basis
for measuring the national obligation
to the Capital, it could be applied ir
its entirety, without exceptions. The
theory is illogical because it cannot
be logically applied. In addition tc
the complications over actually esti-
mating value of services, it runs into
the collateral difficulty Of selecting
what services are to be measured. And
recognizing in some cases the curious
ly interviewer nature of the District
and national governments, the report
abandons such recognition entirely ir
other cases. Its application would be
not only confusing but productive OF
constant friction over the equities OF
individual judgment.
| inert article: The Erperts Disagree.