Evening star., 1942-01-26
We Must Act Now!

Sunday week ago Budget Director
Smith, representing the executive
agencies, outlined in broad strokes
the physical proportions of the prob
lem to be created in Washington by
the prospective influx of 250,000 per-
sons, drawn here in the next twelve
months by the war program.
Yesterday, a week later, District
Budget Officer Fowler, representing
the municipal government, furnished
a statement of estimated increases
IN Capital City expenses to result
from this extraordinary population,
added to an already overcrowded
city.
Thus we have two sides Of tri-
angular problem. The third side
or the base-is represented in the
steps to be taken by the exclusively
controlling Congress in enacting nee
essary legislation and appropriating
the money enabling the municipality
to meet the load which the Nations
war needs will impose on the Capital.
Obviously, extraordinary steps
must be taken to meet an extraordi-
nary situation. Obviously, 1t cannot
be met in unrelated, piecemeal steps
without careful coordination be-
tween the three agencies of Govern
ment involved-the executive and
legislative branches and the mu-
nicipal government, the latter serv-
ing both legislative and executive
branches in administration of Dis
trict Of Columbia affairs.
District estimates for fiscal 1943
were drawn and in effect approved
by the President before Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor knocked them out
rendered them virtually without
meaning in respect to changed con-
dltlons. Why not withdraw these
estimates, before hearings on them
begin, and start over again in an at
tempt to plan in some orderly fash
ion to deal with the unprecedented
realities of the situation now facing
the District? Either that should be
done or an emergency war budget
should be Superimposed on the nor
NAL budget and dealt with separately.
We can no longer hope for desir-
able results by depending on the
normal-but now obsolete
Of local budget making, involving the
practically independent functioning
of the Commissioners, the Budget
Bureau and at least four subcommit-
tees and four full committees of Con-
gresS, in addition to House and Sen
ate.
The situation calls for basic de-
cisions to be reached jointly by repre-
sentatives Of the Budget Bureau, the
Commissioners, the District legis-
lative and appropriations committees
of Congress. These decisions should
be based on the Budget Bureaus best
estimates Of the load to be imposed
on the Capital by the war, the Com
misSioners' best estimates of the new
capital outlays and increased main
tenance funds necessary to meet the
load and congressional plan for
some equitable and practical method
in apportioning the expense between
the National Government and the
local community Decisions thus ar
rived at should be strengthened by
the prestige Of presidential approval.
Can we not act now, before it is
too late? Can there not be agree:
ment on sensible conception of the
Capitals problem and an equally
sensible method of meeting it? Ger
tainly we cannot permit, In the
Nations Capital, repetition in
another form of the disgraceful trag-
edy of Pearl Harbox-a tragedy which
would have been averted by proper
coordination of responsibility and
action in the face of adequate warn
Ing