Evening star., 1939-07-30
Fifty Years Ago
In The Stur

lie hlSpcollIOll VI SOliSItSS W duu
inequitably to the financial burden of
Who Is ,he t,e +s,s,o asra,onon, Va ~o'a ~ ,ha ~,
10 roy National Capital was evi-
for zoo! denced so years ago in the
matter of the appropriation for the
purchase of Geological Park which be-
came part of Rock Greek Park The
Star of July 25 1889. contains the fol-
lowing letter. written by the Commits
sioners to the first controller of the
Treasury, upon this subject:
The Commissioners invite your at
tention to what appears to be an am
blguity in the act making appropria-
tions for the support of the District for
the current fiscal year. upon which they
desire your opinion.
Section 4, under the head of the
Water Department, provides for the
establishment of a geological park in
the District of Columbia and appropri-
ates 100000 therefor. The Commits
sioners desire to be informed whether.
in your opinion, any portion of this
appropriation is chargeable to the reve-
nues of the District of Columbia In
their judgment it was not the intention
Of Congress to place any portion of this
burden upon the taxpayers of the Dis
trict The appropriation contains no
requirement of that character, but on
the contrary has every evidence of being
an independent provision. having no re-
lation to the municipal administration
of the District.
The clause in which it is contained
comes under the head of Water Depart
ment,' the appropriations for which are
required to be paid wholly from the
revenues of the Water Department. It,
therefore, cannot consistently be held
that the park appropriation is governed
by the first clause in the appropriation
law, which prescribes that 'one-half of
the following sums, named respectively
shall be appropriated out of the District
revenues If this were so, that clause
would control the entire bill, and all the
Water Department appropriations would
also be chargeable in equal parts to the
United States and to the revenues of the
District
Neither can it be reasonably pre-
sumed that Congress intended to pur-
chase this park wholly out of the reve-
nues of the Water Department, with
which it has no conceivable connection
THE object of the park, as stated in
the bill, Is the advancement of science
and the instruction and recreation of the
N0fbiv,n ~, LII
show that the District is so specially
interested in the advancement of science
that park under the control of the
United States should be established at
its expense for that purpose. The
Smithsonian Institution, the Agricultural
and other departments have their OBJ
ject in view, but no part of their ex-
penses is charged to the District gov
ernment. Therefore, 1t is evident that
the advancement of science referred to
in the law under consideration is the
improvement in national education and
the facilities provided are not to be re-
stricted to the few persons permanently
located in this District. The instruction
and recreation of the people evidently
means all the people of the Union who
may desire to visit the Capital for the
advantages it offers in these respects.
Furthermore, the fourth clause of
the section referred to provides that
the land purchased shall be held for pub
lie use without restricting such use to
the District or giving the District Off
GERS any part in controlling it. The
ivat4 - ,;,,
is further indicated by the requirement
that payment for it shall be approved by
the President of the United States: that
the United States shall take the title to
the property so acquired and that the
survey should be made by United States
officers.
"The only possible color for a claim
that Congress intended any part Of the
. expenses of this park to be borne by