Evening star., 1947-11-02

ktpVH NCeullliilcHuS
Clear Separation Of
D. E., U. 5. Agencies
IA partial tert of the Auchin-
Gloss preliminary report on the
organization Of the District
tolloWs)
Your subcommittee believes that
no substantial improvement can be
made in the government of the
District unless a new organic law for
the District is, passed which, in
effec1, will be a charter for the
CAPITAL City. The present organic
law. passed in 1878. has been amend
ed so often that it represents a
crazy-quilt pattern poorly suited to
the requirements of modern mu-
nicipal government.
Under the present organic act
there Is no clear separation of legis-
latiTe and executive functions which
students of municipal government
consider essential. There is no clear
definition of powers, in many impor-
tant respects, for the present head
of the District Government, which
has been the major reason why mu-
ricipal affairs have taken so much
congressional time. Responsibility
for the conduct of District affairs is
scattered among scores of national
and local agencies. Numerous ad-
ministrative boards and commissions
as we'll as independent agencies at
test to this lack of centralized au-
thority One representative of the
Bureau Of the Budget commented
that there are more separate
agencies of government for the Dis
trict. of Columbia than there are in
the Federal Government.
Lack of Authority.
1t is a primary principle OF good
administra ton that an adminlstra-
tor should have authority commen-
surate with his responsibilities. Be
cause of direct fiscal and legislative
control by the Federal Government,
the present administrative heads Of
the District, the Board of CommlS-
sioners. have no authoritative voice
as to what their budget shall be,
what their appropriations shall be,
what the taxes shall be, what the
governmental organizations of the
District shall be, and, except for
minor matters. what laws shall gov
ern the District. Under such condi-
tions, it is futile to expect response
BILE administration from the collec-
tive head of the District government
To conplicate the picture further
since 1878 there has been a gradual
and continuous encroachment by
agencies Of the Federal Govern
r1ent in District affairs. In 1929
when DR.. Schmeckebier made his
pioneer study of District govern
nnent, 81 Federal agencies were par
ticipating In it's administration. Now
there are at least 48. It is para
dox that some of these Federal
agencies are financed in whole OF
in part by District funds, either by
inclusion in the District budget OF
by reimbursement
For those financed by reimburse.
ment, the District has no control
of what they spend of District
funds: For those Federal agencies
included in the District budget
such as the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission, National
Guard, National Capital Parks
United States District Engineer
and National Geological Park, once
each budget is approved. the Dis
trict no longer has any control
over such agencies whatsoever
These Federal agencies have ex-
elusive Jurisdiction to provide serv-
ices to the residents of the District
"a jurisdiction which does not ex-
ist in any other large urban COM
munity in the United States.
No responsible government of the
District can exist unless there be
clear separation between those
agencies designed to serve the resi-
dents of the District and those
which serve the Federal interests in
Washington as the Nations Capital
This separation must also apply to
sources of funds with District agen-
cies financed entirely by District
funds and Federal agencies financed
wholly by Federal funds. Only in
this way can District residents con-
troll the rate of expenditures fol-
services which they wish, and SC
exercise their democratic will.
X Il \
Half Of Area Tax Free.
Finally the District cannot sup
port its essential services exclusively
from revenues at present or poten-
TALLY available. No other large ur-
ban center is faced with the fact
that SO per cent of its land area is
tax-exempt, and therefore its larg-
est single source of revenue Is serl-
ously curtailed. At the same time
the Federal Government, which
owns 41.9 per cent Of the land, all
of which is taX-exempt, receives
MANY services from the District. in
cluding fire and police protection
water supply, street construction
and maintenance, sewage and trash
disposal. health services, public edu-
cation of children of Government
workers, many Of whom pay nc
taxes in the District. etc. On the
other hand, the Federal Govern
ment contributes to the District q
sum for the general support of the
= District plus grants-in-aid fol
various projects. But 1t Is impor-
tant to note that, except for con-
trihuting to the general support OF
the District, the money contributed
to the District by the Federal Gov
e1nment is identical in character
with that contributed to any State
and is for the Pun pose OF encourag-
ing specific programs.
In other words, except for the
grant for general support of District
government. the Federal Govern
ment does no more for the District
than it does for States and other
communities throughout the Nation
No other State or large urban CEN
ter exists where 4l9 per cent of the