Evening star., 1949-03-18
1t Makes Sense, Anyway

Senator McGrath has chosen a novel
way to dramatic the Districts budget
emergency. The House having killed by
. ten-vote margin bill levying new and
higher local taxes to raise $18,000,000, he
proposes an outright Federal grant of
about the same amount.
His bill is completely logical Congress
exercises exclusive legislative authority
over the District. The people who live
here and pay the taxes have nothing to
say about it. After months OF careful
study the appropriate committee OF the
House produced tax plan to raise the
money to pay the bills. The House turned
it down comparable measure cannot
originate in the Senate. Senator McGrath
therefore suggests filling this vacuum by
an appropriation of Federal funds, in
finitesimal in amount as compared with
similar funds given the people of Italy,
Greece, France, Great Britain, China and
places all over the world to keep them on
their feet.
Accompanying this grant would be an
appropriation for an independent, nom
political study of District finances and the
best way to tax the people here. Here The
Star differs with Senator McGrath. He
suggests s50,0OO to pay for the study. That
is a little high. In order not to burden
the Senates contingent fund, it is sug-
gested that $3.50 be appropriated and spent
in rewriting the report on the same subject
made in 1899 under direction of the Con-
gressional Joint Committee on Internal
Revenue Taxation. That report covered
precisely the same condition faced now.
1t was the sort of independent, objective
study that Senator McGrath feels is needed
now. It produced the very plan, with
minor changes of detail, that the House
defeated last Monday.
BY following The Stars suggestion,
therefore, Senator McGrath can save
$49,750 of the Senate's contingent fund
and produce a report that will fill the
need The House can study this report,
bring in a bill based on it's findings and
start over again at the very point it started
ten years ago in attempting to raise reve-
nue. in the most equitable and scientific
fashion to meet the Districts budget de-
mands. What will happen to that bill is
something else again.
As Senator McGrath, Representative Nc
MILAN, Representative Howard Smith,
Representative George Bates and a great
many of their good brethren know very
well, the problem is not to devise the best
tax plan for Washington. That has been
done, very conscientiously done, in the past.
The problem is to obtain the intelligent
interest of the members of the House in
understanding and supporting such plan;
an interest which will last longer than the
three or four hours of windy and pointless
debate on the floor of the House once or
twice a year, on any measure involving
the affairs of voteless and helpless local
taxpayers Having obtained that interest
and understanding it remains to per-
suade the members to vote on revenue
legislation for the District of Columbia in
the same spirit they would vote on COM
parable measures affecting their home
communities, where they are held account
able to the voters.
If that cannot be done, of course, Sem
ator McGraths proposition of granting the
money from Federal funds is the sensible
alternative.