Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-02
McGrath 10 Ask
For Full Sesqui
Fund in Senate
Doubts Possibility Of
Reel 1850 Celebration
If Cut Stands

eral advance of $4,000, 900 to cover
the costs of the 1850 sesquicenten-
NAL celebration of the founding
Of the National Capital will be
made on the Senate floor by
Chairman McGrath of the Sen
ate District Committee.
He told reporters it would be
up to Congress to determine If
there was to be a real program
and celebration here. as has been
planned.
The pending proposal for a
matching money grant, requiring
local interests to underwrite up
to 81. $780, 900 of the cost, he said,
was neither fair nor practical.
IF the conditions laid down by
the Senate Appropriations Com
mittee cannot be changed" Sena-
tor McGrath said, then I can't
see how the sesquicentennial cele-
bration can be staged as planned.
National Observance.
He said he did not believe It
possible or to be expected that the
local merchants would raise ST.
500, 900. A similar view has been
taken by officials of the Sesqui-
centennial Commission, who have
explained that it has no money
to finance a Embarrassing cam
paign.
This Is not an undertaking
Of the District government" SEN
ator McGrath continued. 1T is
celebration of the founding OF
the Nations Capital, and it is
wholly up to the Congress to
determine whether this 150th an
IniverSary is to be observed or not"
Since Congress made a grant
for the New York World Fair, he
said he felt that certainly it would
be willing to take a similar step
for the Capital of the Nation.
House Denied Funds.
The House, acting on the rec
concentrations of its Appropria-
tons Committee, denied any fund
at all for the sesquicentennial pro-
gram.
The Deficiency Subcommittee
of the Senate Appropriations
Committee approved a requested
SO ,000.000 advance. Commission
officials had given assurances that
this whole sum-and a million
more-would be returned to the
Treasury as a result of estimates
of the returns from the visitors
expected to come here for the
celebration.
The proposal struck a snag in
the full Senate Appropriations
Committee. At one point, it Is re-
ported. the full committee struck
out the entire fund but later
agreed to a consideration Of this
action.
Cut to $1,500,O0
The result was that when the
second deficiency bill was sent to
the Senate late Tuesday, it called
for a Federal advance limited to
81 100000 and the exact amount
was to be determined by how
much Washington and interested
business raised as matching money.
Some Senate sources said the
matching money plan developed
from a thought that, if the pro-
gram was considered to be a pro-
fitable affair, it likewise should be
possible for business interests to
raise half of the advance funds
needed to underwrite the project.
Under the pending appropriation
plan, this source explained. half
of any profits would go to the pri-
vate underwriters and half the
Government.
Senate action on the bill is ex-
pected to be taken probably within
a few days.
Meanwhile. a firm known as
Industrial Displays, Inc, of Brook
lyn, today informed Chairman
Mcclellan of the Senate Appropri-
atoms Committee that it already
had set up a branch Office and
plant at Alexandria. looking for
ward to participation in the ses-
quicentennial.