Evening star., 1945-06-06

paying residents OF the District Of
Columbia.
The Capper Scranton Act Of May
90, 1880, authorized the appropria-
ton of SIG, 100000 out of the Treas
ury Of the United States for the
purpose of acquiring lands in the
District OF Columbia suitable for
the continuous development of park,
parkway and playground systems In
the National Capital to be appro-
priated as needed and to be reim-
bursed to the United States by the
District of Columbia in payments
of 81 10000 per annum. The reim-
bursement provision was amended
by the acts of June "a, 1884; May g.,
1885, and June IS, 1898, so as to re-
quire the District OF Columbia to
reimburse the Federal Government
at q rate Of not less than $500, 900
per annum.
To June 80, 1914 the National
Capital Park and Planning Com
mission had purchased 2,491. .73 acres
of land at cost Of $l3,226,459 and
has plans to acquire an additional
1890 acres, at an estimated cost of
IS .e3s, ,0s4.
At the present time the area OF
park land in the District of Colum-
bia is. 2234 per cent of the total
land area, excluding streets, and
1857 per cent including streets, title
to which is In the United States.
There will be further expansion as
years go by. While this percentage
Is excessive for a community the
size of the District OF Columbia, it
is not believed excessive for the
National Capital.
Responsibility for the administra-
ton, maintenance. operation. i'm
provement, and protection of the
park system Of the District of Co.
lumbia is in the National Capital
Parks. an agency under the iuris-
dlction of the Department of the
Interior. However. the cost of i'm
proving. maintaining, and policing
the park is borne by the United
States and the District of Columbia
IN the same proportion each con-
tributes to the general fund of the
District of Columbia. Under this
arrangement the portion paid by
the United States has decreased
from SO per cent prior to 1921 to II
per cent for the fiscal year 1914.
During this period the cost of main
tanning and policing public parks In
the District Of Columbia has been
continuously increasing, and at the
present time Is in excess of 81 900 600
per year. excluding the National
Geological Park. The cost of main
tanning operating and policing Ma
tlonal Geological Park is now ap-
proximately 1925 900 per annum.
1t is quite evident, therefore, that
Congress has been conscious of its
responsibility for the development
OF the parks in manner benefiting
the Nations Capital. 1t does not
appear. however, that adequate pro-
vision has been made for providing
the Nations share for the purchase
and upkeep of these parks. On the
other hand, the residents of the
I]StrlCt nave had TO bear more than
their just share.
Land Owned by the United States,
The extent to which revenues NAV
be raised in a community is to a
great extent governed by % the
taxable property in the community
and t2) a fair and Just rate of taxa :
ton on the property. From this
standpoint the District Of Columbia
is in a very peculiar position. due
to its development as the National
Capital.
The total land area OF the District.
excluding streets, is 3l,033 acres
Fiscal year 1945). of which only so 8
per cent is taxable. There Is given
below a statement covering the fiscal
years 1885 through 1945, inclusive.
which upon analysis will be found
most enlightening. 80. 3
1t will be seen that during the
course of II years the percentage OF