Evening star., 1952-12-31
Chapman
Continued From First Page)

great deal of congressional de-
bate on this matter, but one or
two points as usually overlooked.
For one thing, the District in
many ways occupies a position
much more like that Of a United
States territory than an ordinary
municipality. In other American
cities, there are a great many
functions which are provided by
the State government, paid for
by State revenues. That is not
so in the District. There is no
State government here: govern
mental services, if provided at all.
must be provided and paid for
by the District.
Certain Hazy Areas.
"On certain services which do
not fall in that classification, there
is a hazy area which makes it
very hard to tell which functions
are municipal and which are not.
The National Capital Parks are
an illustration. These are paid
for in part by the District and
in part py Federal appropriations.
Although these parks do pro-
vide the services which municipal
parks provide in other cities. they
are really definite part of the
Federal Governments functions.
They make the National Capital
pleasant and beautiful for all the
citizens of the country. They pro-
vide space for rs national me-
MORALS. and settings for our pub
lie buildings. They will contain
many more national memorials in
the future It seems to me obvious
that the entire cost of these parks
should be borne by the Federal
Government, in the Interior De-
partment appropriation.
LAS I see it, the whole cost of
maintaining these parks should be
considered a part of the Federal
contribution to support of the
DlSCrlcG government.
THAT question, indeed, leads
to the basic problem of the whole
District government. Because the
District is the seat of the Federal
Government, the population of the
Washington metropolitan area has
vastly increased in recent years.
The increase in the number of
people who work in the District,
and for whom city services must
be provided, has been even greater
than the actual increase in the
population of the District itself !;
and growing proportion of the
people who work in the District
and use its facilities usually have
their residence in nearby Mary
land and Virginia, and pay their
taxes to the States and not to
the District government.
Responsible for Demands.
'Now it is obvious that these
people would not be here at all
if it were not for the Federal Gov
eminent. It brought them here;
it is responsible for the steadily
increasing pressure on District
services and facilities-f1re pro-
lection. streets, sewers, police
water and all. the rest. It seems
to me obvious that the Federal
Government must assume some
responsibility for the operation OF
municipal services and the provi-
sion OF municipal facilities.
For these reasons, am con-
vinced that the Federal Govern.
ment, from now on, must contrib
ute a substantially larger pro-
portion of the income of the Dis.
trict. The responsibility is clear
We would not allow a United
States territory to slide deeper
and deeper into a financial i'm.
passe Of the kind which now con.
fronts our District government
Much less can we afford to igD
more the plight of our Nationa
Capital"
In response. President Truman
sent the Interior Secretary {
memorandum acknowledging hi
communication and adding:
= when I was on the Appropria
tions Committee. Senator Over