Evening Star Newspaper, January 3, 1932, Page 3

NEW CHICAGO TAX SYSTEM APPROVED Cook County Legislators Adopt Plan to Abolish Board of Assessors. By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, January 2.—Cook Coun- ty's legislative delegation met the crisis in government finances today with the first step to restore the public confi- dence deemed essential to break the “taxpayers’ strike.” By a vote of 43 to 12, amid a chorus of cries against yielding “home rule” to down-State political power, the leg- islators approved a revised measure to | abolish the elective boards of assessors | and review and set up new tax ma- chinery. If the General Assembly adopts the plan of its Chicago members, the Gov- | mor and the president of the county Board will be given power to choose each one member of a Board of Re- view. Together, the same offictals will name a single assessor. But the scheme | formulated by Gov. Emmerson and civic | leaders was amended to retain the pres- ent village and township assessors in | the 31 subordinate governments within | Cook County. | Change Held Imperative. Bankers and civic advisers had held this change imperative if Chicago and | the county, hovering on the brink of bankruptcy and deprived of any chance of immediate tax collections, are to escape ruin “If the people are not paying taxes because of inaccuracies in the tax roll,” Melvin A. Traylor, president of the Pirst National Bank, had told the General Assembly recently, “and if the roll is naccurate because of the system, and 4f credit can only be restored by pay- ing our debts, then my personal feel- ing is that the beginning point is to change the system of assessments.” As the lawmakers debated the plan today, some of them bitterly opposing the delegation of appointive power to the Governor, Representative James Earbour said: “Every banker says credit will not be restored until the taxing machinery is changed. Cook County and the State will smash if something isn't done.” Verdict Alarms Officials. Meanwhile, the county assessors and commissioners worried together _over the year-end verdict of County Judge Edmund K. Jarecki holding the 1928 mssessment, on which tax bills for 1928, 4929 and 1930 were based, grossly fraud- ulent and invalid because no effort was | made to list personal property for taxes. | Charles E. Fox, director of apprais- als, said personal property cannot be| taxed under existing law, for taxing of- ficials are ut power to subpoena property owners and question them un- cer oath. With $13,000,000,000 worth | of personal property, much of it intan- gidle wealth, in the county, the assessors can only invite the citizenry to sched- ule it for taxation, he said. | Three Wounded in Mob. SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain, January 2 (#).—Three men were badly wounded and a number of others were less seriously hurt in a riot here yesterday. Police charged a mob #hich attempted to parade to the military headquar- ters and demand the release of sev-| eral soldiers who face court-martial proceedings in connection with a recent | disturbance among the men of the THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BTOCK- holders of the American Building Associ- ation will be held at the office of the As- sociation, 300 Pennsylvania avenue south- east, on Thursday. January 7. 1932, between the 'hours of 2 and 7 o'clock pm, for the election of officers and directors’ for the ensuing vear and for the transaction of such business as may properly come before the meeting. gt CHARLES H. KINDLE. Becreiary. THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE STOCK- holders of the SBeventh Street Savings Bank. | or the election of directors and such other usiness as may properly come before the meeting, will be held in the bank at 3 o'clock P.m. on Tuesday, January 12. 1932 JOHN M. DeMARCO, __— Cashier. THE ANNUAI THE STOCK- holders of the Georgetown Masonic Hall As- ociation will be held at Masonic Hall, 1210 jconsin ave. m.w. on Tuesday evening, January 5th, at 7 o'clock, for the purpose of ‘slection of directors and r«elvln{ Teports. ISAAC BIRCH. President. Attest: B. W. SPILLE. Secy. iy ANNUAL MEETING OF THE STOCK- tholders of the Home Building Association #dor the election of officers and directors and uch other business as may properly come g:llore the stockholders’ meeting, will be held {’Tuesday, January 12, 1932. at 8 o'clock p.m. in the office of the treasurer, §vania ave. nw. Books now open for sub- wcription to the stock of the 53rd series. JAMES M. WOODWARD. Secretary WOTICE OF STOCKHOLDERS MEETING The_annual meeting of the stockholders of A_S. Pratt & Sons. Inc.. will be held at the offices of the company, Wilkins Building Washington, D. C.. at 11 o'clock am. on Tuesday, January i2. 1932 G. C. TRUE. Secretary. _ KOTICE 1S HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE snnual meeting of the Wockholders of The Capital Traction Company for the election of | @ board of directors for the ensuing year and £he transaction of fuch other business as may e brought before the meeting, will be held at the office of the company. 36th and M gts. n.w. Washington. D_ C.. on Thursday, January 14, 1932, at 10:45 o'clock a.m. e polls’ will be open from 11 o'clock a.m until 12 o'clock noon. H. D CRAMPTON. Secretary. TG WHOM IT MAY CONOERN_TAKE NO- tice that the certificate of sale for taxes on lot 31, square 2698. the ‘second half of 1924, Faust of Cleveland. Ohio, has been lost or Cestroved, and 1 have applied to the Com- 10 issue to me & duplicate SAMUEL MARKS, 1509 Varnum 8t. N.W. * OT BE RESONSIBLE FOR one other then my- 3743 30th st.. Mt. 2006 Pennsyl- of Washington and Georgetown, | street and Indiana avenue north- stockholders of the Firemen's y of Washington and | meet at the office on MON: | 1932, for the purpose of ectors for the ensuing open from 11 am. to 12 m ALBERT_W. HOWARD. Secretary. _ 1S HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE t the stockholders of the ague Base Ball Club | of the club. Base | D.'C.. on Tuesday. 00 o'ciock noon, for pose of # board of directors | ensuing year, and for such other ss as may be properly brought before meeting DWARD B. EYNON. JR.. Secretary. _ RICAL REPAIRS VACUUM CLEAN- s, washing machines and ail elec- appliances repaired: effcient work able prices. Dist. 831 Eathdiis TRIPS. FULL AN RT LOADS Philadelphia, New York. Boston: | unexcelled DAILY Ealtimore and ell way points e Nai N Government Necessary | (This is the first of a series of special articles discussing the history | of the fiscal relations controversy and how the problem has been dealt with in the past.) NY attempt to solve the recurrent | problem of dividing the expenses for normal maintenance and development of the Capital City between the exclusively-con- trolling Federal Government and the | taxed but unrepresented community of Jocal taxpayers should in equity be ap- proached by a study of what has gone before. It is only on the basis of a thorough understanding of the back- ground, it is believed, that one may ob- tain a clear conception of the nature of | the partnership that exists between the | Federal Government and the local com- munity in the matter of Capital main- tenance and development. And it is| AY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 3, 1932—PART ONE History of Fiscal Relations 1 Proper Conception of Washington as the Seat of to Understand Present Problem—Mapes Committee’s Incomplete Quotations From Southard Findings of 1835 Discussed. shifted from a basis of equality under the half-and-half law to a point where it is largely on the shoulders of local taxpayers under the lump-sum plan, is more forcefully revealed by a set of comparative figures inserted by the Dis- trict auditor at the hearings in Decem- ber, 1930, before the Special House Committee then studying the subject. Here Is what they show: “In 1920, the last year under the half-and-half system, the appropria- tions totaled $19,709,292, the District paying $9,990,386 and the United States $9,718,906. “In 1924, the last year in which ap- propriations were made on the 60-40 basis, the appropriations totaled $20,- 05,454, the District paying $12,424,349 and the United States $8,081,105. “In 1925, the first year of the lump- sum plan, the appropriations totaled $31.183,151, the District paying $22,- only with lhisdconfiepuon well esls.l:-i‘ofl_stma;\ld the mud States §9,145,355, lished in mind that one may at-| “In . the year for ap- tempt fairly to appraise the weight of | propriations have been made, the ap- the many factors that enter into the propriations (including certain perma- situation as it is today. | nent and indefinite appropriations) to- mittee on Fiscal elations betwee 7, E an e es United States and the District of Co- | $9.500,000 lumbia, of which Representative Mapes | “It will be seen that between 1920 of Michigan was chairman, properly |and 1931 the appropriations have in- prefaces its discussions and conclusions | creased nearly $26,000,000; that the concerning fiscal relations today with | District’s proportion of $9,900,000 in a brief history of such relationship in | 1920 has mounted to $36,000,000 in the past. Unfortunately, the Mapes| 1931, and that the United States’ pro- Committee departed at the outset from | portion of $9,700,000 in 1920 has drop- the role of historian and reverted to|ped to $9,500,000 in 1931. the part of an interpreter of historical | “In other words, in the face of an events. While any one has the right | increase of 130 per cent in appropria- to interpret history, a correct interpre- | tions during this period, the United tation obviously depends upon & full | States is paying less today (excluding and unprejudiced survey at the outset | consideration of certain divisible items of facts that shbo:dld be commonly ac- | of mlscz!lar;eougsz revenue) by $200,000 cepted by everybody. than it did in 1920.” ?n meydiscustlon of the background . of the fiscal relations problem in this | Nation's Obligation Always Dominating. and subsequent articles an attempt Will| since the day of the creation of the it has remaine: same—] ex- possibly faulty inferences drawn by the | clusive and dominating—but the degree e g ey vo. be ol fal |0 which the obligation has been rec- conclusions that may be drawn from | P0152d,and met has been the fluctuat- | ing_factor. schTas The Mapes Commitice, correctly stat- rpose L ing in its report that the subject of I noeciet the Tesnden fiscal relations and of the division of - | Federal Government and the local com- tion obviously had in mind, when, Prior | munity has always been a subject of to 1800, they turned from already es- tablished cities and came to the unde- veloped shores of the Potomac to place controversy, declares that “tte govern- ment of the City of Washington and later the District of Colurbia has never | taxpayers | cause, the seat of Government in &an area | peen very successful in the management where, from the very start and for all of jts finances when left t> its own time, national interests and control | gevices,” and in substantiation of this would be paremount. | conclusion quotes the following extract When the original owners of Wash- | from the report of Senator Southard, ington donated five-sevenths of the city's | chairman of the District Committee in soil and gave up the right of self-gov- | February, 1835 ernment to the Nation, the understand- |~ “The city is involved in recurring ing and implied agreement was that the| opligations, from which it is utterly Nation would develop a magnificent| jmpossible that it can be relieved by Capital at its own expense, reimburs-| any means within its own control ing itself in part from the proceeds of | or by any exertiors which it may the sale of the dcnated lots. make, unaided by congressional legis- Notwithstanding this conceded rela- | lation.” tionship between Nation and Capital.| Again, to emphasize the undisputed for three-fourths of a century local fact that the Capital City was set aside taxpayers found it necessary to assume | as the seat of Government, over which almost the entire burden of Capital| the Federal Government should exer- development. From 1800 to 1874-1878 cise exclusive control, the repori selects there was no definite or related method | this portion of the Southard report for of dividing the expense of developing reproduction A the National Capital. In that early | “The design of the Constitution period each. partner contributed what and its founders was to create a it pleased. But, although the local residence for the Government wlhere community raised and disbursed local| they should have absolute and un- taxes at its pleasure in that era, it| limited control, which should be went_considerably bevond the limits of | regulated and governed by them its slender taxable resources in meas-| without the interference of partial uring its obligations toward the Capital | interests in the States, which should City The Nation measured its obliga- | b built up and sustained by their tion meagerly in terms of dollars dur- authority and resources, not de- ing this period of the city’s infancy pendent upon the will or resources Twice during that period the local com. of any State or local interest.” munity beceme virtually bankrupt ir | The Mapes Committee was Wwise in striving to meet unaided the task of | studving the Southard report. But for Capital development. melsuk;. of giving full meaning to the . spirit of that document ft should have Recognition of Neglect. | gone into it more thoroughly. In 1878 the Nation recognized the| For the Nation’s degree of responsi- prior neglect of its responsibility | bility toward the Federal City has sel- toward development of the Capital City | dom been stated more clearly than it was and gave practical expression to this in the Southard report, made to the revival of its obligation by agreeing Senate in February, 1835, by the Dis- to pay one-half the accumulated fund- | trict Committee, which had considered ed indebtedness of the District and petitions of the local inhabitants to one-half of future expenses. At the Congress for assistance in meeting in- same time it took the power of self- | debtedness resulting from the early ef- taxation away from the District, thus | foris on the part of the local com- giving the Federal Government the munity to improve the infant city. right to fix the local contribution as| _After it had taken up and discussed well as its own. the several factors making up that early While this meant taxation without | indebtedness, the Southard report ex- representation in the municipal govern- | pressed the basic principle of the Na- words: “In the investigation of the subject was in effect the local community was protected against excessive taxation by the Nation’s pledge that every dollar committed to them, and of the relief collected from the unrepresented local to be proposed, the committee have been for Capital maintenance | unable to separate the interests of the would be matched with an equal sum | District from the interests of the by the Federal partner, who exercised | United States. They regard it as the complete control. Even while the half- | child of the Union—as the creation of and-half plan of the organic act of | the Union for its own purposes. The 1878 remained in operation the loca) | design of the Constitution and its community's 50 per cent did not repre- | founders was to create a residence for sent all of its contribution toward de- the Government, where they should velopment of the National Capital, be- | have absolute and unlimited control, as Americans paying national taxes, Washingtonians also contributed by them without the interference of their proportionate share of the Fed- | partial interests in the States, which eral money expended on the Capital. should be built up and sustained by When Congress by the act of their authority and resources, not de- June 29, 1922, changed the long-|pendent upon the will or resources of standing 50-50 principle to 60- any State or local interest. If this 40, the local community still had a had not been the design, a temporary modified degree of protection against or permanent seat of Government would maintaining the Federal City, for the annual appropriations increased jurisdiction. And if this was the de- in che aggregate, there was an assur- sign. it is not easy to comprehend ance that the Federal obligation would either the principle which would pre- be raised at least in a definite ratio, vent the Government from a liberal if not in the same amount as the local appropriation of national resources to community paid. accomplish the object or the policy But after a few years of 60-40 the which would confine the city to the national partner, possessing all the means possessed by the inhabitants for power of decision, though bearing the its improvement. In accomplishing smaller end of the ratio of expense, their object, the Union undertook the departed entirely from the percentage K guardianship of the District, deprived basis and substituted the arbitrary lump | its inhabitants of the right of self-gov- sum. It did not repeal the substantive | ernment and of the elective franchise 60-40 law, but brought the lump sum and made them dependent upon the into practice by writing it into the Dis- | will of the Representatives of ths trict appropriation bill in the House States, to whom alone they can look each year. The Senate originally op- | for relief.” posed this substitution and fought ‘When the Southard report was made, against confining the Federal share to 289,000,000 Jump sum in the beginning ;o0 gz ry0 °0 Accumulated debt of and has advocated a more equitable ar- i e & rangement since. While these efforts | ooy V25 0 Do sense of criticizing the resulted after a number of vears in| raising the Jump sum to $9.500.000 for 1931 and 1932, it still left the local port called attention to the debt it had accumulated—a debt that reached “the enormous sum of $1,806,44289." The on '] 1460. AL DELIVERY ASSOC. INC.. York_Ave Local Moving Also anted by col- | anteed . NOT BE RESPO! han those contracted by myself 5 20th st nw. 4 | I Wi de _han t W. D._CHRISTIE I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY | @ contracted by any one other than my- CALVERT D. BARNES, 1827 Oregon nw INVALID ROLLING CHAIRS. FOR RENT OR sgle; complete line of new and used chal all sizes, styles and adjustments: reduced prices _ Also folding chairs, wood or metal. UNITED STATES STORAGE CO. 18 10th 8t N.W________Met 1843 MOVING OUT OF TOWN? TAKE AD- vantage of our unusual service made possible by the operation of huge fleet of yans. Satls- faction since 1896 avidson Transfer & Btorage Co.. Nat'l 0960. Branches in other cities. WANTED—LOADS TO NEW YORK SRR A 1\ R TO BOSTON At JAN. 10 TO NORFOLK IL JAN Ané_all_points North snd West. AGENT N LINES We also pack snd E CO., Phones North 3342-3343. JUICE Corp.. 3 1TH 1313 You | 5 GRAPE Je st Terminal Refrigerating Bt N.W 5.1b. can. best, 90c delivered. THE HONEY POT, 1065 3ist 8t AAPPLES, SWEET CIDER we have & large supply of our usual Write NW. | the burden in & city which belongs to | ¢ty | all Americans and in which the Na- | tional community carrying the lion's share of | criticism was of congressional neglect. | The small community that mace up the City of Washington had been goaded Government exercises all the | power. into desperate efforts to perform the Fixed Responsibility Necessary. tesk intended to be performed by the | Government but left undone. Sums The history of the Capital has dem- | beiond their resources were spent upon onstrated that the contributions of the| the improvement of the streets, in Nation and the community should be | erecting city buildings, and in the en- definite and related, especially when all| deavor to give the Capital a ‘commer- pauthority is vested in one partner—the | cial footing by digging the Chesapeake Nation—and the other partner has no! & Ohio Canal; but the effort was beyond function but to present his plea and their unassisted strength, and the then abide by the result, whatever it| Southard report, listing the various may be | causes of debt, declared that the city | That the definite percentage rule was | authorities had been misled into ex- | & necessary measure of protection for | penditures which did not properly be- the local taxpayer after the taxing long to them, although the views by wer was taken over by the Nation | which they were governed were of a as been amply shown by the experi- liberal and public-spirited character, ence of the last eight fiscal years, un-|and that nothing was found in the con- der the lump-sum device of Federal| cuct of the inhabitants or the authori- contribution. For, with the oblization | ties to excite in Congress a reluctance no longer on the national partner to|to come to their relief furnish a proportionate part of each| The committee concluded that Con- dollar appropriated, the total appro- | gress should afford some relief to the city priated annually has mounted steadily. | and pointed out that the Government During these eight years that the| possessed a means of doing this with- national partner has relieved itself of |out taking from the Treasury any a definite ratio of the city’s cost the money which had been drawn from total amount appropriated annually has | the people of the States. In this sug- gone up from year to vear, With the | gestion the commitiee had in mind us- evitable result of adding constantly to ing a part of the funds which had ac- the burden of the local pa: ) in total | crued to the Government by reason of amount and proportionatel; the arrangement under which the Capi- The extent to which burden of | tal was established here, such as the maintaining the Capital City has been | proceeds from the sale of the bullding which should be regulated and governed ! being saddled with an unfair share of | have been selected in some populous | as city or some territory subject to State | local community that the Southard re- | by taunts at the Capital of the Nation | 1 llou which had been donated to the Nation by the original proprietors. The expense incurred by the city in opening and repairing streets in these early years was listed as one of the causes entering into this financial em- barrassment of 1835. Grand Plan of City. The Southard report, after calling at- tention to the unusual magnitude of the plan adopted for the city and the fact that the city necessarily had to be created in a short space of time, made this comment on what had been spent up to that time on the streets: “The expenditure upon the streets under these circumstances has unques- causes of the embarrassment of the city, and the committee believe that it is one which ought not to have been thrown on the inhabitants to the ex- tent which it has been. They found tLhAs opinion upon the early history of the city, the object of the Nation in its establishment and the contracts made it possesses within its limits.” Referring again to the elaborate scale on which the plan of the future Capital was laid out, the Southard report con- tinued: “It 1s a plan calculated for the mag- nificent Capital of a great Nation, but oppressive, from its very dimensions and arrangements to the inhabitants, if its execution to any considerable extent is to be thrown upon them. No people who anticipated the execution and sub- sequent support of it out of their own funds would ever have dreamed of form- ing such a plan. It would have been the most consummate folly.” The committee which made this first comprehensive study of the relations which should exist between Nation and local community in developing a Na- tional Capital came to the conclusion that at the outset neither the Govern- ment nor the proprietors contemplated that the whole or even a large propor- tion of the burden should be thrown upon the inhabitants of the city. “This assertion,” the report added, “is amply sustained by two considerations. In the first place, the contract between the Government and the owners of the land gave to the former a large extent of public lots, sufficient for all the edi- fices and improvements which its con- venience could require, and, in addi- tion thereto, one-half of all the build- ing lots within the limits of the city, thus making the Nation itself an equal owncr of all the private property, and equally interested for the benefit of this private property in all the improve- ments which might be made. In the next place, the Government assumed, and from that day to the present time has claimed and exercises, entire and absolute control over all the streets of the city, so that the inhabitants or the corporate authorities have no power either to enlarge or to diminish them or to open or close them, but the authority in these respects has been exercised at all times by Congress.” City Took the Lead. In reviewing the broader and more basic aspects of the fiscal relations problem, however, the impression which stands out from this 1835 study of the subject is that in this first period of the city’s history, prior to 1835, the Wash- ingtonian of that day not only did not shirk from but took the lead in rear- ing the infant city and giving it a start in life. Although that first comprehensive study of fiscal relations in 1835 showed that the Government had made appro- priations from time to time up to that date, they were not based on any defi- nite or equitable apportionment. The discussion of street expenditures, for example, Is one of the most enlight- ening features of the Southard report in showing the extent to which the people of Washington put their shoulders to the wheel in trying to do their duty toward the newly established Capital | Before looking at the figures for street | improvements during_those early years it is pertinent to recall that in the orig- inal laying out of the city the avenues and streets were transferred to the Government without compensation be- ing made therefor. Discussing the street improvements which had been made up to that time, the Southard report said: ‘There has been appropriated for the streets and paid out of the city treasury the sum of $420,971, and, in tionably been one of the principal! by the Government for the land which | addition to this very large sum, it is a low estimate to say that not less| than $200,000 have been paid by the | inhabitants for the improvements of | the streets in various directions. Pre- | vious to the year 1830 there had been | 106,371 running feet of pavement made, besides the curbstones and paved gut- | ters, and paid for by special taxes upon the lots, to which the private building ' lots of the Government had contributed | no part, although they derived an equal benefit therefrom. While this has bee done, the Government and Nation have | expended upon their own streets, which | they formed for their own purposes and |to answer their own objects, in which | they have the exclusive property, over | which “they have exercised unlimited | control, and which they may close and | | sell at pleasure, only $208,925, and the | Whole of this sum, with the exception | | of about $10,000, has been devoted to | immediately around and adjoining the | Capitol and President's squares alone, the improvement of which was indis- | pensable to the Government itself and promotive of its own interest, in the | convenience of its officers and the transaction of the public business. Where Congress Shirked. i “Congress has expended nothing ex- ' cept upon streets which adjoin the pub- lic squares, and even upon such has only made some pavements and walks and set out some trees along the squares, | leaving the rest of the expense of even those streets to be borne by the city. | While on the other hand the city has | not only expended its money on the| streets wherever the population was | scattered over its immense area, but | has especially opened and improved | those leading to the national estab- | lishments at the navy yard and ar- senal and those leading to and around ' the public squares and reservations be- | longing to the Nation, and thus, by its | own means, enhanced the value of the | public property.” | | _ The report added that while the city | | Was not bound to spend the money of | | its inhabitants upon the streets which the Nation claimed and regulated, the committee believed that “the narrowest measure of justice would have required, and does now require, that the Govern- ment, having in its private building lots and public reservations at least an equal interest in the improvement of the streets, should pay at least one- | half of the expenses of those streets, and that one-half of the money ex- | pended by the city for this purpose ought now to be refunded to it, being $214,965.” | | In considering the plea of the city| for assistance in meeting the obliga- | tions it had incurred up to that time, | the Southard Committee very properly looked at the benefits that had ac-| | crued to the Nation by reason of the | arrangement under which the seat of | Government was established here. | The Deal in Lots. First of all, the original pmpnetnrs! conveyed the space required for the | streets and avenues and the 17 squares | selected as reservations for the accom- | modation of the Federal Government. The remaining lots were divided equally | | between the original owners and the | Government. _For the street spaces no | will find desir- | Patent Attorneys 5. ine. s’ in The Star Building at very reasonable | rates. Apply Supt. Office, Room 610. Star Bldg. _Telephone National 500 { THE ARGONNE | 16th and Columbia Road 1 ATTRACTIVE FURNISHED AND UNFURNISHED APARTMENTS Electrical Refrigeration. Moderate Rentals. 6% RGO L. W. GROOMES, High-Grade 1st Mortg. 1st Mtge. Notes for sale; on detached all- brick, new and modern homes near 16th St. ex- tended. Eve 8t. Wt Sinee 1901 compensation was required, and, al- though the owners received $36,099 in payment for the public reservations, the Southard report pointed out that “this sum was not drawn from the general Treasury, nor one cent of it contributed by the people of the United States. The whole of it was taken out of the pro- ceeds of the sales of the building lots, which had also been secured by the Government in the contract with the | land owners.” “It thus appears,” the report of Sen- ator Southard continued, “that the peo- ple of the United States have paid nothing for all their public lots, nor for the property in the streets. They procured them, and now own them, without the expenditure of a single dollar.” That committee in 1835 estimated the value of the public grounds at between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000. In the erec- tion of buildings and other improve- ments cn these grounds for “national use,” the Government spent §$1,214,- 292.98 prior to the destruction of the Capitol in 1814 and $2,127,800.94 from that date to 1835, or in all, $3,342- 093.92. This led the committee to com- ment that “the Government now owns in lands and buildings, exclusive of the building lots, between four and five mil- lions' worth of property, which is sub- ject to no assessment or taxation.” Would Use Money From Lots. The building lots the Government had received numbered 10,136. In its| study of the situation in 1835 the committee found the following set-up with regard to them: Recelved | from the sale of building lots up to| that time, $741,024.45; lots given to| charitable and ' literary _institutions, | $70,000; lots still undisposed of, on the | basis of the 1824 assessment, worth $109,221.84; grants received by the Gov- ernment from Maryland and Virginia in 1790 and 1791, §192.000. These items amounted to $1,112,246.29, and the committee added that if it be a CGP; rect estimate to value the public res- ervation at $1,500,000, the total would | be $2,612,246.29. It was further pointed out that a large part of the money re- ceived had been enjoyed by the Govern- ment for many years without interest, since the larger portion of the lots were sold prior to 1794. The committee, therefore, suggested that the Nation could help relieve the city from its financial difficulties of that early period by using a part of those donated assets without taking from the Treasury runds‘ drawn from the citizens of the country. The Southard Committee did not overlook the fact that Congress had made some specific appropriations at different times prior to that year for objects in Washington, but stated in its report that it did not regard “the greater part of them as proper deduc- tions from the amount which has been received from the grants made to the Government."” ‘That the Mapes Committee failed to catch or in its report transmit the really | significant features of the Southard re- port can be seen by comparing its brief references with the parts that have been quoted above. —~ (Next Article—The Period 1835 to 1878.) ROBBERY SUSPECT HELD TO JURY IN $10,000 BAIL Man Accused of Three Recent| Crimes to Await Action of Inquisitorial Body. Accused of perpetrating three recent | hold-ups and robberies, McKinley Blackwell, alias “Slim Jim,” alias “Toledo Jim,” colored, 23, 225 Four-and- a-half street southwest, was held for the grand jury under $10,000 bond yes- terday by Police Judge Ralph Given. Blackwell was arrested at Third street and Maine avenue southwest, December 30 by Policeman F. J. Rowen, Traffic Bureau, immediately after he is said to have used a revolver in robbing a gro- cery store operator and a police in- former. Judson Johnson, an informer, at- | tached to the headquarters vice squad, said that Blackwell poked a gun in his ribs, forced him int> an alley and re- lieved him of $6 in cash last Wednesday Shortly after this alleged hold-up Blackwell is said to have entered the store of Peter Manos, at 713 First street, and robbed him of $2.50 in cash. Policeman Rowen testified that Black- | well was also wanted in connection with the robbery of Joe Rivera, taxi driver, | 225 Morgan street, of $30 and a watch December 28. —_— TEMPERANCE LEADERS TO DISCUSS EDUCATION True Wilson Others to Speak at Mass Meeting. Dr. Clarence and “The urgent need of an energetic re- | vival of education on the effects of al- ment, as long as the half-and-half plan | tion's obligation to its Capital in these | Pennsylvania avenue and the streets Cohol, tobacco and other druge, wil be stressed in speeches at a mass meet- ing of temperance l-aders tonight at 7:30 in Mount Pleasant Hall, 1813 Columbia road. The speakers will include Mrs. Giles Scott Rafter, District superiritendent of the Department of Scientific Temper- ance Instruction in the W. C. T. U., | and Dr. Clarence True Wilson, general secretary of the Methodist Episcopal | Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals. ROOM 14°%17° Consider these features: A long; parquetry floors; two ventilated kitchen, the building! in Washington. Then you send a car for you, at your No obligation, of course. RATES $6500 AND UP. WESTC VERY APARTMENT A 000 CATHEDRAL AVENUE | mittee's decision. | The WESTCHESTER—an Apartment in a Park New 6-Room Apartment Has Three Lovely Exposures OTE the splendid arrangement and spacious dimensions of the rooms in the floor plan above. in colors; structed exposures, overlooking acres of parkland. Think of the convenience of having: A splendid Market, Dining Room, Drug Store, Garage, Beauty Salon, Barber Shop and Valet—all located right in See The Westchester this week end. Compare its features and advantages with those offered by any other apartment or apartment-hotel ‘1l agree that rentals are indeed reasonable at The Westchester. We will gladly 1 ROOM, KITCHEN AND BATH TO 7 ROOMS, 3 BATHS OFFICE OPEN EVENINGS %‘rs ONLY TEN WINUTES DRIVE OUT MASSACKUSETTS AVENUE TO DEMOCRATIC SIGNS POINT TOHARMONY. National Committee Meeting Acceptances Show Party in Exultant Mood. The exultant mood in which Demo- crats are approaching the 1932 presi- dential campaign has been disclosed in practical fashion weeks before the Na- tional Committee meeting here January 9 to select the convention city. It is evident in the volume of ac- ceptances poured in on the committee | secretariat on receipt of invitations to the Jackson day dinner on the night of January 8, the traditional feast of po- litical oratory with which the party ushers in each campaign season. It is discernible in the widespread talk of party harmony among Demo- crats and congressional leaders, big and little, illustrated b~ references to the success of House Democrats in organiz- ing that body under their narrow mar- gin of control without a shadow of dis- cord over such matters as committee assignment and patronage marring their partial return to political power. Ten months ago, when the Demo- cratic National Committee last met on call of Chairman John J. Raskob, it adjourned in an uproar of fiery debate over Raskob's proposal that the com- mittee recommend to the coming con- vention a definite course of action as | to prohibition. Almost on the eve of the regular com- mittee session this month to pave the | way for that convention, it is freely | intimated that whatever further data as to prohibition the chairman may sub- | mit, he will not, in the interests of harmony, press for committee action. Aside from that possible revival of the prohibition question as a storm center, there seems little more than a party love feast in prospect as the National | Committee members gather. ! Several cities seek the honor of play- ing host to the 1932 convention, but Chicago, with the Republican conven- | tion already bagged for late June, is ac- | corded advantageous position by most | observers. Practical questions of dollars and cents are apt to determine the com- | The body has had before it tentatively for a long time counter claims of San Francisco on the West Coast, Atlantic City on the East Coast and Clevelandl on the lake front for preferment. | Whether any of these contenders, or | a dark horse from the Middle West like ! Kansas City, will be able to outbid Chi- | cago is uncertain as final proffers (roml‘ all are awaited. | Should Chicago triumph, a senou.s‘ | question will present itself for the Na-| tional Committee in fixing the date of | the convention. The Republicans are, to nominate in the letter part of June.| There has been evident a feeling among | some Democratic leaders that if they, too, are going to Chicago, their con-; vention should precede, not follow, that | of their political opponents. | Judgment_of Democratic leaders in| | House and Senate as to when it might | be possible to complete an essential | legislative program and adjourn for | the conventions probably will have| much to do with the committee’s final action. Should they believe it impos- | sible to close up “on the Hill” by June | 1, some other city than Chicago may| benefit from that fact There is always renewal at these pre- | convention National Committe sessions of the Democrats of the argument fa- voring abolition of the two-thirds ma- jority nominating rule at the conven- | tions. NG CUP of cheer that leads all other coffees in freshness. I's Vacuum Sealed! BROWNING & BAINES | (»rifnia _Uoifee LIVING Room 14/6x 25" living room over 26 feet tile baths, in colors; fan- three lovely, unob- convenience, if you wish. HESTER HOME IN A BEMOTIFUL PARK N.W. CLEVELAND 7708 LLOYD CRUISERS t0 the Mediterranean and West Indies The COLUMBUS The running-mate of the BREMEN - EUROPA, the fastest liners afloat, makes her second cruise de luxe to the West Indies January 9 (the first was filled to capacity). 18 days. $225 up. Then her cruise (of course de luxe) to the Mediterranean January 3o0. 67 days. 28 ports. $950 up including shore excur- sions and return passage on the BREMEN Of EUROPA. The BERLIN Three cruises to the West Indies with a Lloyd liner whose cruises last season werean extraordinarysuccess. Jan. 26. Feb. 13. March 5. 16 to 19 days. $168.50 up. + LLOYD EXPRESS to England, France and Germany The BREMEN ¢ The EUROPA The two fastest liners afloat in the only four-and-a- half-day service to Europe... A First Cle's that offers the utmost in transatlantic luxury; in cuisine, en- tertainment and comfort. .. A Second Class that pro- vides the swiftest inexpensive de luxe passage to Europe and makes economy a joy; a mode of travel in which the Lloyd expertly specializes... A Tourist Class that rivals the First of not so very former days «..A Third Class that makes each passage a pleasure. The COLUMBUS The famous de luxe cruiser takes an appropriate place during the height of the transatlantic season with the BREMEN - EUROPA. A six-day passage. Spacious First Class. A greatly improved and vastly enlarged Tourist Class, and a Third Class with every possible comfort. Special summer calls at Cobh (making the coLuMBUS the largest and fastest liner to Ireland). L - v [ e 5 ¥ LLOYD CABIN to England, Ireland, France and Germany The BERLIN ¢ The STUTTGART The STEUBEN ¢ The DRESDEN A quartet of modern cabin liners that carry on the Lloyd tradition of providing finer comfort, con- venience and cuisine than the passenger anticipates. Cabin Class, Tourist Class, Third Class. (Special sailings direct to Dublin for the Eucharistic Congress.) 4