WASHINGTON CITY-THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. 
 
 Memorial to Congress 
 
 BY THE 
 
 JOINT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITIZENS' ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
 
 AGAINST THE REPEAL OF THE FIFTY PER 
 
 CENT. ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL 
 
 APPROPRIATION LAW. 
 
 JANUARY, 1894. 
 
 , <r>, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 LAW REPORTER COMPANY, PRINTERS 
 
 518 FIFTH STREET, N. W. 
 
TABLE OF CONTEI^TS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction 1 
 
 1— First Period, 1787-1791 2 
 
 2— Second Period, 1791-1802 6 
 
 3— Third Period, 1802-1812 9 
 
 4— Fourth Period, 1812-1865 10 
 
 5— Fifth Period, 1865-1874 13 
 
 6— Sixth Period, 1874-1894 14 
 
 7 — Government solely responsible 16 
 
 8^ — Departures from the organic pledge 17 
 
 9 — The bulk of real estate exempted 21 
 
 10 — Rapidly decreasing tax lists 24 
 
 11 — Consequences of repeal 25 
 
 12— Appendix 28 
 
 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
 
 Acres, in city, 5 ; in county, 19, 20, 21, 23 ; Avenues and streets, 
 width and length, 7 ; surface, condition of, 12 ; length of, 7, 20. 
 
 Board of Public Works, abolished, 14. 
 
 Capital, removal of, 2, 12 ; Charters, 10, 11, 13 ; City and ward debts, 
 11 ; City insolvent, 12 ; Expenditures before 1835, 12 ; Commis- 
 sioners, 14, 15 ; Constitution, 2 ; Courts, U. S. local, 18. 
 
 DeArmond, Mr., 2, 25 ; District of Columbia, indefinable, 15. 
 
 Executive Committees, 27 ; Exempted property, 21, 23. 
 
 Franchises given away, 17 ; Fifty per cent, clause, 1, 14, 15. 
 
 Ingalls, Senator, 15. 
 
 Jefferson's letter and message, 8. 
 
 Lots, proceeds of, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 ; free from taxation, 9. 
 
 Moore, Tom, 10 ; Mt. Pleasant, 20. 
 
 North Capitol Street, 2. 
 
 Parks, Rock Creek, Zoological, 1, 2, 18, 23 ; Partition, with pro- 
 prietors, 4, 5, 19, 20 ; Plan, City, 3, 4, 6, 7 ; Suburban extension, 
 19 ; Pledge of U. S., 17 ; Proprietors, original, 4, 5, 19, 20 ; Subur- 
 ban, 20, 21. 
 
 Repeal, consequences of, 25 ; Reservoirs, 18, 23 ; Revenues, lost, 
 double taxes lost, 24 ; Rock Creek Park, 2, 18, 23. 
 
 Seventh street, extended, 17 ; Senator Southard's report, 6, 8, 9, 10 ; 
 Special assessments, 11, 13, 15 ; Streets, (see avenues) for nothing, 
 3, 4, 5 ; Condition of, 12 ; Improved by the U. S., 8, 9, 10, 16; Su- 
 burban street extension, 19. 
 
 Tax lists decreasing, 24 ; Taxpayers, number of, 2 ; Territorial Gov- 
 ernment, 13. 
 
 United States improves streets, 8, 9, 10, 16, &e. ; U. S. property in 
 real estate, in city, 22 ; in county, 33. 
 
 Valuation and rates, for taxation. Appendix. 
 
 Washington, President, 3; hifc fetJ^er, 8. 
 
MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 
 
 To the Senate and House of Itepresentatives of the United States 
 of Anierica in Congress assembled : 
 
 This memorial showeth : 
 
 111 the Act of June 11, 1878, giving a permanent form of 
 government to the District of Columbia, it is provided that 
 tlie District Commissioners shall annually submit, the Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury revise, and the Commissioners trans- 
 mit to Congress, estimates of the amount necessary to de- 
 fray the expenses of the District of Columbia for the next 
 fiscal year and — 
 
 "To the extent to which Congress shall approve of said es- 
 timates, Congress shall appropriate the amount of fifty per 
 centum thereof ; aud the remaining fifty per centum of such 
 approved estimates shall be levied aud assessed upon the tax- 
 able property and privileges in said District other than the 
 property of the United States and of the District of Columbia. ' ' 
 
 The above law was adopted at a time when the relations 
 of the District and the Capital City to the United States 
 were fully understood. Five years of successive investiga- 
 tions by Congress, conducted by its best talent and result- 
 ing in four large volumes of reports, numerous debates in 
 the House and Senate and constant discussion by the pub- 
 lic press, had made the whole nation familiar with District 
 affairs. The law of 1878 was the expression of thoroughly 
 informed Congressional wisdom and was acccepted by the 
 intelligent minds of the country as an equitable adjustment 
 of a question which had been left for eighty-seven years 
 without definite settlement. 
 
 But the membership of Congress has greatly changed 
 since 1878, and the facts then familiar to Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives are remembered by only a few. It is chiefly 
 to new members we owe the passage of laws ignoring the 
 annual estimates and charging the District revenues with 
 half the expenditures for improvements not municipal but 
 national, such as the one of April 30, 1890, making the 
 District responsible for half the current expenses of the 
 Zoological Park ; the one of September 27, 1890, making 
 
the District responsible for $600,000, lialf the purcliase 
 money of the Eock Creek Park, and for half the annual 
 expenses of its maintenance ; the one of this Congress, plac- 
 ing upon the District the whole expense of opening North 
 Capitol Street to the Soldiers' Home ; and the one of March 
 2, 1893, providing for the extension of the Washington City 
 plan of streets and avenues over the suburban part of the 
 District, at the sole cost of the District and private owners 
 of land. All these are departures from the text and the 
 principle of the law of July 11, 1878. 
 
 Last year, 61 members of the House voted to reduce the 
 annual appropriation in question from 50 to 25 per cent., 
 and, at the present session, Mr. De Armond, in Bill No. 
 4562, proposes to repeal altogether the 50 per cent, appro- 
 priation laws. The enactment of this bill would throw 
 upon the 28,913 taxpayers of this District, the whole ex- 
 pense of local improvements and administration and would 
 exempt from taxation, or its equivalent, more than half 
 the real estate values in the District limits. Such a system 
 is without precedent and, in the light of experience and ex- 
 isting facts, must be pronounced an impracticable vagary. 
 Mr. De Armond's resolution to remove the capital is its 
 companion piece. 
 
 We propose to pass in review the different methods used 
 since 1787 by the National Government for the regulation 
 of its financial relations with the Capital City, to add a 
 statement of existing conditions and to conclude with a 
 presentation of the consequences of the innovation i)roi)Osed 
 by Mr. De Armond. 
 
 I. FIRST PERIOD. 1787 1791. 
 
 Congress shall have power "to exei'cise exclusive legislation 
 in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exeeeding ten 
 miles square) as may by cession of particular States and the 
 acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of 
 the United States.'" (Const., Art. 1, Sec. 8.) 
 
 New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland were each willing 
 
 to cede to the United States its chief commercial city to be- 
 
come the seat of Government ; but these and other cities were 
 rejected and it was determined to locate the District in an 
 interior rural region, central and accessible by tidewater, 
 where the Government might have not only exclusive jur- 
 isdiction of ten miles square, but, without cost, the owner- 
 ship of land enough to lay out its future capital on a scale 
 of grandeur unequalled in Europe. 
 
 Owing chiefly to the influence of Washington, the pres- 
 ent site was chosen. He had hunted over it, surveyed 
 parts of it, resided near it, and was familiar with its advan- 
 tages and disadvantages. Its extensive water front was 
 partly covered by marshes. Its undulating high grounds 
 in the north and east were separated by a creek and morass 
 from a flat area nearly two miles long, only a few feet aDove 
 high tide and extending from the present Capitol Hill west- 
 wardly to the Potomac and southwardly to Anacostia ; and 
 more than 400 acres were subject to overflow by freshets. 
 (See map by Board of Sanitary Engineers, June, 1890.) The 
 uplands made miry roads and would need paving ; and 
 the lowlands needed dyking, sewering, draining, the build- 
 ing of sea-walls, and the filling up of marshes. The place 
 was a most unsuitable site for a city of ordinary municipal 
 resources, but a suitable one in every way for the capital of 
 a great Republic with the revenues of a nation to improve it. 
 
 Washington undertook to get the land from the owners 
 
 and effected his object by persuasions and, in the case of 
 
 David Burns, by threats of condemnation. His bargain 
 
 was creditable to his shrewdness as a business man. March 
 
 3, 1791, he wrote to Tliomas .Jefferson that he had purchased 
 
 the land for the Federal District, as follows : 
 
 ''The terms entered into by rae on the part of the United 
 States with the landholders are that (all the land) is ceded to 
 the public on condition that wlien tlie whole is laid oft" as a 
 city (which Major L'Enfant is now directed to do) the present 
 proprietors shall retain every other lot ; and for such parts of 
 the land as may be taken for public use for squares, walks, 
 etc., they shall be allowed at the rate of £25 [.fOG.G(;] an acre. 
 Xothing is to be allowed for the ground which may be 
 occupied for streets and alleys." 
 
4 
 
 The assertion so often repeated, tliat, at this interview, 
 Washington exhibited to the owners a plan of the city is 
 contradicted by the hmguage of the above letter. A rough 
 sketch of the White House and the Executive Departments 
 near it was probably shown. (See N. King's letter of Sept. 
 25, 1803, Burch's Dig., 351.) 
 
 March 30, 1791, nineteen proprietors signed an agree- 
 ment that — 
 
 "lu cousideration of the great benefit we exiject to derive 
 from having the Federal City laid off upon our lands, the 
 President is to have the sole power to order the city to be 
 laid off iu what manner he pleases," etc. 
 
 repeating the terms as stated by Washington in the 
 above quoted letter to Jefferson. 
 
 June 29, 1791, the proprietors deeded their lands to 
 trustees for the use of the United States — 
 
 '"For a Federal City, with such streets, squares, parcels and 
 lots as the President for the time being shall approve." 
 
 The United States were to have " streets " for nothing, 
 all squares, parcels and lots for its own use, at =£25 an acre, 
 half the residue of all other lots for nothing, and the price 
 (|36,099) of all parcels, etc., for its own use, to be paid for 
 out of the proceeds of lots donated, when such lots should 
 be sold. The surplus of sales wrs to go to public buildings 
 and city improvements. (See Burch's Digest, 225, 330.) 
 
 The omission to mention "avenues," in the letters, agree- 
 ments, and deeds relating to this transaction is remarkable. 
 
 There is nothing in the documents to show that the 
 proprietors had any notice whatever, that the proposed city 
 was to be laid out on a plan widely different from the plans 
 of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. L'Enfant's 
 plan w'as not ready for several months after the deeds were 
 made by the proprietors. It was submitted to Congress, in 
 an imperfect form, December 13, 1791. (Burch, 356.) 
 
Partition op City Site with Former Owners. 
 
 Acres. 
 Donated to the United States, for streets and alleys... 3,606 
 Donated to the United States, 10,136 building lots*.. 982 
 Bought by the United States for public buildings 
 
 and use 541 
 
 Total number of acres taken by the United States... 5,129 
 10,136 lots deeded back to former owners 982 
 
 Total number of acres divided 6,111 
 
 In 1790 and 1791, Maryland donated to the United States 
 172,000, and Virginia $120,000, in consideration of the lo- 
 cation of the District within their limits. 
 
 In a report made February 2, 1835, for the Senate Com- 
 mittee on the District of Columbia (23d Cong., 2d Session), 
 Senator Southard says : 
 
 ' ' It appears that the peoj)le 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." 
 
 U. S. Profits on Transaction. 
 
 In the same report (1835), Senator Southard states the 
 account as follows : 
 
 " The number of building lots acquired by the Government 
 was 10,136. A large proportion of them have been sold and 
 given away by Congress, and it appears by the records in the 
 office of the Commissioner of Public Buildings, that the ac- 
 count of the Government in regard to them may be thus 
 stated : 
 
 ^Erroneously stated in several publications as 1,508 acres. From 
 the city surveys we get the correct number. The number 1,508 was 
 obtained by assuming the city area to be 7,163 acres, which contra- 
 dicts the surveys, unless the marsh lands on the east and west are 
 included. The city suiweys establish the area at 6,111 acres. The 
 number of acres taken for streets was, by all the authorities, 3,606, 
 and the number bought by the United States (541 acres, IJrood and 
 39 perches) was ascertained by survey and the price paid. The total 
 of these established factors is 4,147 acres, which, deducted from the 
 surveyed area, 6,111 acres, leaves 1,964 acres, divided as building 
 lots. 
 
6 
 
 The cost of said lots was nothing. 
 
 There has been received from the sale of the 
 building lots 1741,024.45 
 
 There have been given away to charitable and 
 literary institutions ($2,500 of which was 
 given to a college out of the city), lots to the 
 value of 70,000.00 
 
 The lots undisposed of, according to the assess- 
 ment of 1824, are worth 10,221.84 
 
 There was received by the Government in grants 
 from the States of Maryland and Virginia (in 
 the years 1790 and 1791) .... 192,000,00 
 
 Amounting in all to . . . . 11,112,246.29 
 And if it be a correct estimate to put the value 
 
 of the whole public reservation at . . 1,500,000.00 
 
 The amount will be ... . $2,612,246.29" 
 In a report made to Congress in 1816 by the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, the amount " accruing to the U. S., from the 
 mere circumstance of locating the seat of Government at 
 this place " is stated at $1,979,791.77. If Congress had not 
 forced sales of lots when there was little demand for 
 them, or donated lots given to it for a different and special 
 purpose, what was then known as the " Federal City Fund " 
 might have been made to yield at least four millions, an im- 
 mense sum compared with the Government revenues at the 
 end of the last century. 
 
 II. SECOND PERIOD. 1791 TO MAY 3, 1802. 
 
 These eleven years are distinguished in the early history 
 of Washington City by the fact that the United States 
 managed its capital, without using the intervention of any 
 subordinate municipality. It acted through the President 
 and city Commissioners appointed by him. The principal 
 act of this period was the announcement by President 
 Washington of 
 
 The Plan of the National Capital. 
 This plan was the result of the skill and genius of 
 L'Enfant, stimulated to the highest by the patriotic enthu- 
 
siasni of Washington and Jefferson. The last named sent 
 from Europe for suggestion the plans of the finest cities of 
 the world, and the former was in frequent consultation witli 
 the architect. L'Enfant was familiar with the radiating 
 avenues from hunting lodges in the royal forests of France 
 and with the three grand avenues diverging from the 
 palace of Versailles, the most beautiful government city of 
 Europe. In his ardent imagination, the widest street in 
 A^ersailles was to be narrower than the narrowest of the 
 leading streets in the Federal City, and the three avenues 
 of Versailles were to be thrown into insignificance by more 
 than twenty in the capital of the young and growing 
 Kepublic. These avenues, some of them diverging from 
 the Capitol and others from the White House, and others 
 still connecting the parts of the city most distant from each 
 other, were to form, at their intersection with the streets 
 and with each other, triangular public spaces, intended for 
 ornamentation, with fountains, flowers and statuary, and 
 circles, intended for national monuments, beautiful shrub- 
 bery, and pleasure grounds for the people. Numerous 
 reservations for public buildings, a broad Mall in the 
 central part of the city, extending from the Capitol to the 
 Potomac, and a boulevard around the northern boundary, 
 completed the plan. It was a grand conception of great 
 men, who left it to be wrought out by a posterity worthy to 
 follow in their footsteps. 
 
 Of the original streets, there were 44 lettered and 52 
 numbered; and the average width of the lettered was 92 
 feet and of the numbered 93 feet. There were twenty 
 auenues, varying from 120 to 160 feet wide, the average 
 width being 148 feet. (Rothwell's Laws of Washington 
 City, 489.) The aggregate length of streets and avenues 
 was 228 miles, which has been increased to 234|- miles, a 
 distance greater than from the Capitol to New York City. 
 The total surface of all the streets and avenues in Wash- 
 ington is, approximately, 14 million, 840 thousand 814 
 square yards. All this was to be graded, metalled, paved. 
 
8 
 
 drained, sewered, lighted and kept in repair. To gain a 
 conception of the street work to be done in this city alone, 
 imagine a street one hundred feet wide, extending from 
 Washington to New York City, graded, with its carriage- 
 way asphalted, its gutters made, its curbstones set and side- 
 walks laid, with drains, sewers, lamp posts, and shade trees. 
 In the Senate report above quoted, the following statement 
 is made: 
 
 "The District was the creation of the Union for its own 
 purposes, the plan of which was formed by the public au- 
 thorities, the dimensions of the streets determined by them 
 without interference by the inhabitants or regard to their 
 particular convenience or interest, a j^lan calculated for the 
 magnificent capital of a great nation, but oppressive from 
 its very dimensions and arrangement to the inhabitants, if its 
 execution to any considerable extent was thrown upon them." 
 
 The U. S. Improved the Streets. 
 
 Abundant proof of this exists in the records of the City 
 Commissioners of that period. A few facts on this point 
 will suffice for the purposes of tliis memorial. On the 14th 
 of December, 1795, President Washington wrote to the 
 Commissioners : 
 
 "When you are in a situation to begin the opening of the 
 avenues, it is presumed those which will be more immediately 
 useful will be first cleared." 
 
 August 29, 1801, Jeflf'erson wrote to the Commissioners: 
 "Gentlemen : Your favor of the 24th is duly received, I 
 consider the erection of the Representatives Chamber, and 
 the making a good gravel road from the new bridge on Eock 
 Creek, along Pennsylvania and Kew Jersey Avenues, to the 
 Eastern Branch as the most important objects for insuring 
 the destinies of the city which can be undertaken, -k * » 
 $4,000 for four miles of road were then estimated to be suffi- 
 cient, but, from your statement, $3,695.99 have been expended, 
 and half the distance (though not half the work) remains to 
 be finished, * * * But if anything remains of that fund, 
 I will venture to direct a further portion of the price of the 
 site to be paid you for completing this road," &c. 
 
 In a message by President Jefferson to both Houses of 
 Congress, January 11, 1802, he says: 
 
 " The lots in the city which are chargeable with payment of 
 these monies are deemed not only equal to the indemnification 
 
of the public, but to insure a considerable surplus to the city, 
 to be employed for its improvement, provided," &c. 
 
 In a letter from the Commissioner of Public Buildings, 
 
 tlie following item is given as a copy from the records of 
 
 expenditures of the Government for the improvement of the 
 
 streets of Washington : 
 
 " 1800, Making footway from Georgetown to the 
 
 Capitol . . ' $10,000" 
 
 (For the last four documents, see Senator Southard's Re- 
 port, 1835, republished in full in Board of Public Works 
 Report for 1872.) 
 
 (The United States built the Chain Bridge in 1797.) 
 Though the city population was 3,210 in 1800, it does 
 not appear that Congress made any demand upon the citi- 
 zens for contributions, or imposed any taxes upon them ibr 
 city improvements. The general belief was that the 
 United States would bear all the expenses of the new city. 
 We find on page 67, Vol. 3 of Winterbotham's History of 
 the American United States, London, England, 1795, a 
 notice of the gift of Washington City lots by the proprie- 
 tors, ending with : 
 
 "This grant will produce about 15,000 lots and will be suf- 
 ficient, not only to erect the public buildings, but to dig the 
 canal, conduct water through the city and to pave and light 
 the streets, which will save a heavy tax that arises in other 
 cities, and consequently render the lots considerably more 
 valuable." 
 
 The first two sales of lots were extensively advertised in 
 England, and Thomas Law and other Englishmen were 
 among the purchasers. 
 
 That the prices of the lots sold before May, 1802, were 
 higher because of their supposed future i'rcedom from taxa- 
 tion, there is no reason to doubt; but no express pledge by 
 the Government to that effect can be proven. 
 
 III. THIRD PERIOD. 1802-1812. 
 
 The growth of the population creating a necessity for lo- 
 cal government, to relieve Congress of the petty business of 
 
10 
 
 licenses, police regalations, &c., resulted in the charters of 
 1802 and 1804. Under these, the Maj'or was appointed by 
 tlie President and his veto could be reversed only by a 
 three-fourths vote of both branches of the City Council. 
 Among the minor powers were — 
 
 "To erect and repair bridges ; to keep in repair all neces- 
 sary streets, avenues, drains and sewers, and to pass regula- 
 tions necessary for the preservation of the same, agreeably to 
 the plan of said city.'" 
 
 No power was granted to open or close a street or alley, 
 construct a sewer, or to assess for special improvements. 
 Congress does not seem to have changed its course in regard 
 t(; the city. The following items appear in the accounts of 
 the Government with the capital: 
 
 1802. Building a jail in Washington . . $5,800.00 
 
 1803. u 44 u ... 5,906.00 
 1803. Imj)roving Pennsylvania Avenue . . 13,466.69 
 1807. l^epairs and ojiening streets and avenues, 3,000.00 
 
 (Senator Southard's Report, supra.) 
 
 From the same authority we learn that the new city ex- 
 pended upon the streets from the beginning " an average 
 annual sum of not less than $13,000." This amount was 
 beyond its means, the population being only 8,208 in the 
 year 1810, and there being no special taxes. At the end of 
 the period, the city was heavily in debt, and its streets and 
 avenues were not yet cleared of forest trees. " In 1812 
 these debts amounted to |17,000." (Webb's Digest, 166.) 
 
 In 1804, the poet Tom Moore visited Washington and 
 
 wrote his celebrated satire upon it: 
 
 "This embryo capital, where fancy sees 
 Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees, 
 Which second-sighted seers even now adorn 
 With shrines unbuilt and heroes yet unborn." 
 
 The city streets were in little better condition in 1812 
 than in 1804. 
 
 IV. FOURTH PERIOD. 1812-1865. 
 
 The features characterizing this period of fifty -three years, 
 in regard to the financial management of the city corpora- 
 
11 
 
 tion, is the system of special assessments on abutting prop- 
 erty, for local improvements made on petition of owners. 
 Ten years effort by the city to meet necessary expenditures 
 on streets by a general tax of three-fourths of one per 
 cent, on real estate and by occupation taxes, had brought 
 the corporation into bankruptcy. In the charter of May 4, 
 1<S12, Congress authorized special assessments not exceeding 
 $2.50 per front foot for improvements made on petition of 
 two-thirds of the owners of inhabited houses fronting on the 
 desired improvement. (Sec. 5.) In the charter of May 15, 
 1820, this power was renewed, the cost not to exceed $3.00 
 per front foot, and the petition to be signed by the owners 
 of more than lialf oi the property fronting on the improve- 
 ment. This gave a standing fer the first time to the owners 
 of vacant lots and made much easier the work of getting 
 petitions for the improvement of streets. 
 
 This system of street improvement was regulated by ordi- 
 nances passed from time to time, notably by three passed in 
 May, 1853 ; one providing for Commissioners of Improve- 
 ments, the Act concerning Paved Footways, and the Act 
 relating to Paved Carriageways. (Sheehan's Corp. Laws, 110.) 
 
 The new powers of the corporation increased its receipts, 
 but the pressure for urgent street repairs was too great to 
 be resisted. In 1818 the city debt had grown so large that 
 .$00,000 of it was funded, and a fourth of each year's taxes 
 was set aside for its redemption. (Webb, lOH.) The dif- 
 ferent wards also became insolvent and their debts were 
 funded in 1821. (The amount of ward debts in 1837 was 
 1108,513.11.) In 1829 a joint committee of the City 
 Council reported on the state of the cor})oration finances- 
 
 The debt, not including a million due for stock 
 
 subscriptions, was stated at $361,826.92 
 
 Annual receipts at 50,408.48 
 
 Annual expenses at 33,821.84 
 
 Leaving a })robable annual surplus of.... $1<),586.64 
 which if contiiuied and if the debt for stocks should not 
 
12 
 
 be called for, would pay off the current indebtedness for 
 street work in about twenty-eight years ! If the stock sub- 
 scriptions should be called for, the corporation was hope- 
 lessly bankrupt. 
 
 From the last date until 1865, Congress was resonant 
 with the despairing cries of this corporation. Citizens 
 petitioned, and the Mayor and Councils memorialized the 
 Senate and House for relief. (See particulars, H. R. Doc. 
 No. 14, 2d Session, 23d Congress, H. R. Doc. 68, 1st Session 
 same Congress ; and Senate Doc. 23, of January 2, 1834 ; 
 and H. R. Rep., 366, of same session.) At the end of this 
 period tlie city debt was stated by the Mayor in his message 
 at $793,000. 
 
 And yet, with the single exception of the subscription to 
 the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal stock, no improvidence or 
 unfaithfulness could be imputed to the city corporation. 
 The taxes had been diligently collected and honestly 
 applied. Prior to 1835 the expenditures by the city for 
 local improvements had been $430,000, in addition to the 
 amount contributed by the United States. 
 
 The enormous outlay upon the streets and avenues of the 
 National Capital would have sufficed to put the final 
 touches of improvement on any city of narrow streets like 
 St. Louis ; but, as every Union soldier in the late war who 
 visited Washington at that time will testify, none of its 
 best avenues were then in good condition and most of its 
 streets were muddy in wet weather and ankle deep in dust 
 in dry weather. Mud holes, dirt and cobblestones were the 
 rule. It is not to be wondered at that a few western men 
 proposed to remove the Capital to St. Louis : it must be 
 admitted that, at that time, the Capital City did not appeal 
 to the pride or a?sthetic taste of the American people. One 
 of the potent causes of its condition was, it had for many 
 years been regarded by an influential and sometimes domi- 
 nant political element as the capital of a Confederation 
 soon to pass away. Its public buildings were temporary 
 
13 
 
 barracks, and its broad avenues were soon to become pas- 
 ture grounds. The duty of Congress to the Capital city 
 was, however, never repudiated and seldom forgotten. 
 
 V. FIFTH PERIOD. 1865-1874. 
 
 The enactment of the law of February 23, 1865, was one 
 of the first symptoms of the popular consciousness of estab- 
 lished nationality. It was the first movement of the new 
 population of Washington to make the city what a national 
 capital ought to be. The limitation of three dollars a front 
 foot in the expense of street improvements had made them 
 cheap and rude ; and the prohibition of such improvements, 
 unless petitioned for by the owners of more than half the 
 abutting property, had enabled rich men and syndicates 
 of land owners to prevent the laying of sidewalks and the 
 paving of carriageways. The new law abolished the limita- 
 tion and prohibition. The city corporation began to act 
 freely. Ordinances in great number ordered improvements, 
 the total cost of which was to be taxed on abutting prop- 
 erty. The charges were onerous and caused much discon- 
 tent. Discussion and agitation involved the entire District 
 and Congress, and resulted in the enactment, February 21, 
 1H71, of a law providing a Territorial Government for the 
 District of Columbia. This law gave to the people tho 
 election of the House of Delegates and of a delegate te 
 Congress ; and to the President the appointment of the 
 Governor, the Council, the Register, the Recorder, the At- 
 torney, the Marshal and the Board of Public Works. This 
 Board was given " entire control of * * * the streets, 
 avenues, alleys and sewers of the city" and the right to 
 assess special taxes and disburse the moneys when collected. 
 These special assessments were against abutting property 
 and were not to exceed one-third of the cost of the improve- 
 ment, a reduction favorable to owners. The former system 
 of charging the whole cost was oppressive, tending to force 
 owners in straitened circumstances to sell out to capitalists. 
 
14 
 
 In practical operation, the effective powers of the new 
 Government proved to be vested in the Governor and 
 Board of Pubhc Works. These went to work with amazing 
 energy on a "Comprehensive Plan" of grading, sewering, 
 paving and sidewalking the city, without regard apparently 
 to the limits of revenue. All moneys in the District 
 Treasury, from taxes, special assessments and appropria- 
 tions, was spent, debts were incurred by millions and 
 special assessments were showered upon real estate owners. 
 These appealed to Congress against the Board of Public 
 Works and asked an investigation. This was granted. 
 After exhaustive inquiry, the United States officials com- 
 plained of were condemned. Congress passed, June 20, 
 1874, "An Act for the Government of the District of Col- 
 umbia," &c. This abolished suffrage in the District with 
 the representation by delegate, and transferred the powers of 
 the Governor and Board of Public Works to three officers 
 called Commissioners. It left in them unimpaired the 
 power to levy special assessments, wliicli had been the chief 
 evil complained of. The complaining citizens wore justi- 
 fied and, at the same time, punished. The Board of Public 
 Works was condemned but continued under a new name. 
 See H. R. Rep., 647, 1st Sess., 43d Congress. 
 
 VI. SIXTH PERIOD. 1874-1894. 
 
 The law of June 20, 1874, providing a temporary form of 
 government for the District, and the law of June 11, 1878^ 
 " providing a permanent form " of said government are sub- 
 stantially similar, so far as regards our present inquiry. Tlie 
 titles are misleading. The casual reader is led to think of 
 the District of Columbia as a municipal corporation, with 
 some attributes of independence of the United States, with 
 its own revenues and separate functions ; and of its citizens 
 as clothed with the rights and privileges of the freemen of 
 other cities. He is apt, too, to be struck with the generosity of 
 the "fifty per cent, appropriation" clause, which reads as if 
 that fifty per cent, were a donation from a munificent, patron 
 
15 
 
 The truth reveals a different state of facts. From June 
 20, 1874, the District of Columbia has been an undefin- 
 able myth, a Corporation not to be classified, for it has 
 no parallel. It cannot make a bond, create a debt or pay 
 one. It is liable to suit and judgment, but it cannot pay a 
 judgment, for its revenues are taken from it daily and 
 locked up in the United States Treasury. Its managers are 
 agents of a higher power. It is an executive department 
 of the United States and not a government though so-called 
 in the statute, ironically. Its citizens have no rights or 
 privileges as such. They are the only citizens of the Re- 
 public who have no voice in framing their own laws or 
 managing their own affairs. They don't vote taxes; they 
 only pay them. They have no control over the assessor 
 and collector. The}^ can't oppose oppression by any means, 
 except the courts and humble petition. They live, said 
 Senator Ingalls "under an absolute despotism." (See 
 Record, December 21, 1883, page 229.) "If the citizens of 
 the District don't like it, they can go elsewhere." (Senator 
 Ingalls, in Washington Post, July 22, 1888.) In their al- 
 lusions to the District as if it were an independent cor- 
 poration or government, the laws of 1874 and 1878 are 
 examples of sardonic pleasantry in legislation. The fifty 
 per cent, appropriation clause, instead of purporting to be a 
 gracious gift by the United States to the District, should 
 have read as follows : 
 
 "In consideration of being permitted to hold property within 
 the District, the owners of real estate shall be taxed one-half 
 of the amount of the estimates, made by United States officials 
 and approved by Congress, of the annual expenses incident 
 to managing the District of Columbia." 
 
 The District Commissioners followed zealously in the 
 path trodden by their predecessors, the Board of Public 
 Works. From July, 1874, to June, 1878, their chief work 
 was to continue and complete the improvements begun by 
 the Board, and to add to them when they could. Their 
 acts were not disapproved by Congress, but their power to 
 levy special assessments was abolished by the law of June 
 11, 1878. 
 
16 
 
 VII. GOVERNMENT SOLELY RESPONSIBLE. 
 
 From the preceding review, it is clear that for eleven 
 years beginning with 1791, and the twenty years beginning 
 with June, 1874 — in all 31 years — Congress has had the 
 exclusive control of the improvement of the streets, avenues, 
 alleys, etc., of the Capital City ; and for the last twenty 
 years of those of the entire District of Columbia; also, that 
 during all the years in which aid was distributed by the 
 city corporation or the District Territorial Government, 
 Congress exercised a supervision and made appropriations 
 as needed. In Senate Ex. Doc, No. 84 (2d Sess., 45th Cong.) 
 a Treasury statement of appropriations and expenditures 
 in the District of Columbia, from July 16, 1790, to June 30, 
 1876, we find (p. 204) the following totals: 
 
 Bridges $1,290,568.12 
 
 Streets and Avenues 5,975,294.98 
 
 Total $7,265,863.10 
 
 The names of the streets and avenues improved are: 
 
 Pennsylvania avenue. Indiana avenue. 
 0{)ening and improving Maryland avenue. 
 
 streets and avenues. New Jersey avenue. 
 
 Paving Fifteenth street. Twelfth and Fourteenth 
 
 Four-and-a-half street. streets. 
 
 Seventeenth street. Delaware avenue. 
 
 B street south. Fourth street sewer traps. 
 
 Improvements, per Act of Maine avenue. 
 
 May 17, 1848. Missouri avenue. 
 
 Flagging sidewalks, Virginia avenue. 
 
 East Capitol street. Arch over Tiber Creek. 
 
 Sixth street west. B street south, Sixth to Sev- 
 
 Executive avenue. enth west. 
 Miscellaneous improvements. Sewers under Penn. Ave, 
 
 Completing the grades. Sewer under Fifteenth street. 
 
 The above expenditures began in the last century and 
 ended in the first half of 1876. If to the more than 
 7 millions 265 thousand dollars expended by the United 
 States we could add all the expenditures made by the 
 city corporation, and the sj)ecial taxes paid by the 
 property owners, and the expenditures of the Terri- 
 
17 
 
 torial Government during the same time, we would 
 have the sum total up to 1876 of the cost of street 
 improvements in the National Capital. 
 
 But, although the city corporation and lot owners 
 have contributed to the expenses of avenues and 
 streets, they have never had, or pretended to have, 
 any proprietary right in them. This has been as- 
 serted and exercised by the United States. From 
 the time when it gave away to colleges and charit- 
 able societies lots deeded to it for otlier purposes by the 
 original proprietors, the Government has been the master 
 in this matter — Congress lias ordered the sale of reserva- 
 tions and parts of streets, has appropriated to its own uses 
 lands reclaimed by filling u[) the canal, and has granted to 
 railroad and other cori)orations, with or without considera- 
 tion, franchises worth many millions in the streets of the 
 Capital and even in the roads of the District. It is but a 
 short time since the Seventh street road, one of the oldest 
 approaches to the city, (built and kept in repair by the 
 Levy Court and used chiefly by farmers for the transporta- 
 tion of their products to our markets) was, without consid- 
 eration, practically confiscated by the Government for the 
 benefit of a passenger electric railway line. Tiie consent 
 of citizens has not been asked to the grant of these valuable 
 franchises. In assuming the sole responsibility of owner- 
 ship and management Congress admits its liability for 
 necessary expenditures. 
 
 VITI. DEPARTURES FROM THE ORGANIC PLEDGE. 
 
 The fifty per cent, clause in the " permanent form of gov- 
 ernment" Act of June 11, 1878, was understood when made 
 to be in the nature of a pledge of honor and good faith of 
 the United States to the citizens of this District. In the 
 general run of legislation, it has been observed by Congress, 
 but there have been several departures from it, by inadvert- 
 ence or misintorjnetation of t!ie i)ledge. Among (liem a few 
 may be mentioned : 
 
18 
 
 (a) The Local United States Court Expenses. 
 
 These were not included in the annual " estimates," but, 
 for several years, half of them have been imposed upon 
 the District taxpayers. For this, there was no precedent 
 either in the District or the States. 
 
 {h) The Empty Reservoir. 
 This work was ordered by Congress, and done under the 
 supervision of the U. S. Engineers, at \he cost of nearly two 
 millions, six hundred thousand dollars. Though not in- 
 cluded in the annual estimates half this cost has been im- 
 posed upon the District taxpayers. The injustice of this is 
 flagrant : The United States owns the site and is to get a 
 free water supply forever for its public buildings ; the tax- 
 payers acquire no right of ownership and have individually 
 to pay "water rent" forever, the aggregate being sufficient to 
 keep the reservoir in repair. Unfortunately for both parties, 
 the reservoir is useless. The taxpayers are charged, includ- 
 ing interest, nearly a million and a half for what now seems 
 to be a useless " hole in the ground." But the United States 
 owns the property ! 
 
 (c) Maintenance of the Zoological Park. 
 This park was originated by Smithsonian scientists for 
 the preservation of specimens of the rapidly disappear- 
 ing wild beasts of America. In its design, it is purely na- 
 tional. In no sense is it properl}' a municipal affair. It was 
 not asked for by our taxpayers, yet half the maintenance^ 
 improvements, repairs, &c,, is charged to them annually. 
 This annual half is now $25,000. 
 
 (d) Rock Creek Park. 
 This is purely a national affair and intended to eclipse 
 the great national })arks in England, Franco and Germany. 
 The taxpayers of this District have the same relation to it 
 which they have to the Yellowstone Park in Montana. As 
 Americans, we approve, and have approved, the creation of 
 the Park; and we know posterity will be proud of it; but 
 
19 
 
 we fail to see why u few resident taxpayers of this locahty 
 should pay $600,000 of the purchase money and half the 
 annual expenditures made on a park whose beauty' will 
 not be fully brought out for half a century. Is it right to 
 tax us half the cost of the Army and Navy Monument be- 
 cause we admire it ; or half the maintenance of the Navy 
 Yard and Arsenal because some of us visit and enjoy their 
 well kept grounds? As yet, we can pay our half of ex- 
 penses purel}' municipal, but we are quite unable to stand 
 U}) under half the cost of sustaining the national glory. 
 (c) The Suburban Street Extension Law. 
 
 March 2, 1893, Congress passed '-'An act to provide a 
 permanent system of highways in that part of the District 
 of Columbia lying outside of the cities." The system is the 
 extension over the District of the street plan of Washington 
 City, the highways to be not less than 90, nor more than 160 
 feet wide, and to have circles and reservations at their 
 intersections, as in Washington. In short, the National 
 Capital is to be extended on its present plan to the boun- 
 daries of the District ! 
 
 The scheme is brilliant, worthy to be ranked with the 
 Panama Canal and the Railroad of the Three Americas. In 
 grandeur, it is worthy of the country of Niagara Falls and 
 the inland sea of the Mississippi. It stirs the blood of 
 patriotism, expressing unbounded faith in the stability of 
 the Republic, the resources of its Treasury, and the future 
 glory of its Capital City. 
 
 Examine it for a moment. The territory to be thus 
 added to Washington comprises about 31,92.'> acres in all, 
 but excluding 1,923 of them for villages and the Eastern 
 Branch, 30,000 acres. These, under the proposed system, 
 are to be divided between the United States and private 
 owners as the site of Washington was, except that no reser- 
 vations are to be bought for public buildings and uses. In 
 the original Washington, the 5,570 acres, excluding the 
 purchased reservations, were divided as follows: 
 
20 
 
 Acres. 
 
 Streets and Avenues 3,606 
 
 Building lots 1,964 
 
 Total "5,570 
 
 For the proposed addition to the city, following the pro- 
 portion of the division between the United States and the 
 original proprietors, the 30,000 acres of the county, accord- 
 ing to the scheme of the suburban street law, will be divided 
 as follows : Acres- 
 
 Taken by the United States for streets, avenues, &c., 19,422 
 Left to the owners 10,578 
 
 Total number of acres 30,000 
 
 The streets, avenues, &c., in the addition would be 1,250 
 miles in aggregate length. 
 
 The new city will be more than five times as large as the 
 present one. When its improvements will be finished it is 
 hard to foresee. If it has taken more than a century to 
 bring Washington into its present half-finished condition, 
 it may take several centuries to perfect the District — even 
 if Congress should be liberal. 
 
 When we turn from the grandeur of the plan to the 
 means provided for paying the first cost of the land to be 
 taken for the streets and avenues, our admiration is changed 
 to astonishment. In the 15th section, it is provided in 
 effect, that one-half of the value of the land taken shall be 
 assessed to land benefited and the other half to the District. 
 The United States is to pay absolutely nothing, but gets a 
 clean title to 19,422 acres ! Thus, the owner of a hundred 
 acres has his farm latticed with streets and avenues, nearly 
 two-thirds of it taken, and is told to look to the District for 
 half the damages and to his neighbors for the other half. As 
 his neighbors are in the same plight with himself and look 
 to him for their damages he must rest content with his 
 claim of half against the District Treasury ! 
 
 The owners of small county properties which are cut 
 diagonally by avenues will be left with valueless triangular 
 
21 
 
 corners. It is said that the extension of Sixteenth street, 
 which is 160 feet wide, through Mt. Pleasant, will destroy 
 more than twenty dwelling houses and throw numerous 
 premises into forms and sizes unavailable for any purpose. 
 
 The so-called " system " is one of confiscation, under 
 color of law. It will certainly give rise to much litigation. 
 
 A large majority of our citizens would probably have 
 voted for the extension of three or four city avenues to the 
 District boundaries ; a respectable minority, we think, would 
 have voted for the extension of all of them ; but hardly a 
 vote would have been cast for the law as it stands on the 
 statute book. 
 
 IX. THE BULK OF REAL ESTATE VALUES EX- 
 EMPTED. 
 
 The number of square feet of real estate owned by the 
 United States in Washington City, exclusive of the streets, 
 avenues and alleys and of a few recent acquisitions, is 
 34,828,362. The number of acres owned by it in the sub- 
 urban part of the District, is 3,384. The bulk of the city 
 property is tlie White House lot, the Treasury, Interior, 
 General Post Office and Capitol buildings and grounds, 
 the Judiciary Square and the Mall, all situated in the heart 
 of the city. We claim no valuation for them different from 
 that of the private property in their vicinity. Taking a fair 
 average valuation on the above principle, the value of the 
 
 United States city land is not less than $130,000,000 
 
 Cost value of improvements, &(i 60,000,000 
 
 Value of land in county 4,500,000 
 
 Value of improvements 4,000,000 
 
 1198,500,000 
 
 In support of these conclusions, we present a detailed 
 statement of the area and designations of parcels taken from 
 the District surveys and records. 
 
22 
 
 Lnited States Property Lying in Washington City, 
 
 Sq. 
 
 225. 
 
 141. 
 
 169. 
 
 221. 
 
 231. 
 
 293. 
 
 377. 
 
 624. 
 
 636. 
 
 683. 
 
 249. 
 
 430. 
 
 927. 
 
 948. 
 
 Res. 
 
 10. 
 
 Sq. 
 
 82. 
 
 158. 
 
 985. 
 
 100. 
 
 230. 
 
 259. 
 
 260. 
 
 Res. 
 
 2. 
 
 2. 
 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 
 4. 
 
 5. 
 
 6. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 15,16. 
 
 17. 
 
 Lot. Sq. Feet. 
 
 lto8 153,240 
 
 Of 11 1,500 
 
 Subs 1, 6, 17, 18, 19 31,394 
 
 Of3, 4, 6, 7of8 23,075 
 
 13 to 25 70,920 
 
 Of 15 2,300 
 
 Of 4 600 
 
 Of 10 9,612 
 
 55 to 62, part 59,015 
 
 Ofl2ofl3 11,442 
 
 1 14,775 
 
 All 174,416 
 
 All 64,299 
 
 All 156,175 
 
 All 30,711 
 
 Columbia Hospital. 
 
 Old engine house used for school. 
 
 Winder Buildings. 
 
 Department of Justice. 
 
 Bureau of Engraving & Printing. 
 
 Engine House. 
 
 Stable, Post OfRce Department. 
 
 Medical Museum. 
 
 Government Printing Office. 
 
 Architect's Office. 
 
 Engine House. 
 
 Franklin Square. 
 
 U. S. General Post Office. 
 
 U. S. Marine Barracks. 
 
 U. S. Naval Hospital. 
 
 Of 38, 39. 
 
 All 
 
 18, 19 
 
 1, 2, 18.... 
 Part 
 
 1,019 Store House for Cong. Globe. 
 
 10,610 
 21,828 
 14,010 
 
 3,354 
 14,806 
 
 9,664 
 
 9,666 
 
 Sq. 
 1140. 
 1140. 
 1142. 
 1150. 
 1151. 
 1152. 
 1153. 
 1154. 
 1155. 
 1156. 
 1157. 
 1158. 
 1159. 
 1160. 
 
 2, 9, 12. 
 6 to 9. 
 3 to 9.. 
 
 All 
 
 All 
 
 All 
 
 All 
 
 All 
 
 1,378,172 
 
 2,553,378 
 
 1,454,354 
 
 3,631,562 
 
 839,074 
 
 3,054,017 
 
 161,201 
 
 181,221 
 
 836,374 
 
 3,361,199 
 
 1,871,333 
 
 118,752 
 
 1,360,191 
 
 2,636,865 
 
 487,417 
 
 4,600,222 
 
 392,040 
 
 20,301 
 16,821 
 31,162 
 58,950 
 62,538 
 54,384 
 58,950 
 40,243 
 80,598 
 62,332 
 58,950 
 6,400 
 80,700 
 62,332 
 
 Ground south of Square 230. 
 Ground south of Square 259. 
 Ground south of Square 260. 
 
 Agricultural Bld'g Hot Houses. 
 Smithsonian Institute, Nat. Mus. 
 Armory Building, &c. 
 Washington Monument. 
 U. S. Observatory. 
 Arsenal Buildings. 
 
 Patent Office Building. 
 Judiciary Square. 
 New Jail, Powder Magazine. 
 Navy Yard. 
 
 Capitol Grounds. 
 Botanical Gardens. 
 Intersecting street-circles, 
 
 spaces, &c. 
 National Library. 
 
 Sq. Sq. Ft. 
 
 1161 42,436 
 
 1162 62,332 
 
 1163 62,332 
 
 1164 20,600 
 
 1165 80,597 
 
 1166 62,332 
 
 1167 80,546 
 
 1168 62,332 
 
 1169 80,597 
 
 1170 62,332 
 
 Res. 1 3,599,064 
 
 Square feet 
 
 34,828,362 
 
23 
 
 To the above should be added the Maltby Building, the 
 Butler Building, the new Post Office and all other land and 
 improvements acquired in Washington City, since 1889, by 
 the United States. 
 
 The 3,606 acres in the city streets and avenues are not in- 
 cluded. 
 
 United States Suburban Property — Acres. 
 
 55.86 Reservoir (near Georgetown). 
 
 166.25 Receiving Reservoir. 
 70. Naval Observatory. 
 
 1. Battle Cemetery. 
 
 11. Howard University Park. 
 
 1. Smith's Spring. 
 
 20.40 New Reservoir. 
 
 20.34 New Reservoir. 
 
 474.75 U. S. Military Asylum (Soldiers' Home). 
 
 110.42 Columbia Institution for Deaf and Dumb. 
 
 266.84 Reform School. 
 
 423.26 Government Hospital for Insane. 
 84.03 U. S. Navy Magazine. 
 
 1515.27 Rock Creek Park. 
 166.48 Zoological Park, 
 
 3383.90 Acres. 
 
 The District of Columbia property and the churches and 
 charitable institutions should be appraised on the same prin- 
 ciple — the valuation of property in their vicinity. There is 
 no official valuation of recent date, and we are obliged to 
 form an approximate judgment from situation of land and 
 value of improvements. The District properties, including 
 engine houses, property yards, school houses and their sites, 
 are worth six millions. The two hundred churches and 
 their sites certainly average twenty thousand dollars each, 
 equal to four millions, and the land and improvements of 
 cemeteries and of educational, art, and charitable institutions 
 may fairly be valued at five millions. The following esti- 
 mate of exempted property is approximately fair : 
 
 United States land and improvements $198,500,000 
 
 District of Columbia land and improvements, 6,000,000 
 Other property exempted by Statute 9,000,000 
 
 $213,500,000 
 Deduct total assessed value (1893), of taxed 
 
 property 191,417,804 
 
 Excess of exempted property $22,082,196 
 
24 
 
 The excess of property not taxed is more than twenty- 
 two millions. No result widely differing from this can be 
 reached by any one who will adopt the most recent valua- 
 tions of private property as a rule for appraising public 
 and other exempted property. 
 
 X. RAPIDLY DECREASING TAX-LISTS. 
 
 Within a very few years the following are among the 
 properties transferred from the taxed to the exempted class: 
 
 The Maltby House, the Butler House, the City Post Office, 
 the Winder Building, the Department of Justice, the New 
 Observatory, the Zoological Park and the Rock Creek Park, 
 Expensive buildings have been erected on the exempted 
 property, the cost of the marble building alone at the Sol- 
 diers' Home being more than a million. The following- 
 squares have been, at different times, condemned to the 
 uses of the United States and made non-taxable: Nos. 169, 
 221, 430,505, 506, 548, 549, 687, 688, 729, 730, 731, 883, 
 884, and 885; and also two lots in square 636. 
 
 Under the existing law the injury to the District, caused 
 by the removal of property from the tax-lists, is double the 
 loss of the taxes and the loss of an equal amount appropri- 
 ated. Five hundred dollars lost in taxes is a loss of one 
 thousand to the revenues. 
 
 For example, take recent purchases and condemnations 
 by the United States, valued as per last assessment, or at 
 cost: 
 
 Valuation. 
 
 The Maltby Building, cost $130,000 
 
 The Butler Building, cost about 161,250 
 
 National Library site and buildings destroyed., 556,924 
 Postoffice site, Pennsylvania Avenue, and build- 
 ings destroyed 583,975 
 
 Total propertv taken from tax lists .$1,432,149 
 
 Total of taxes lost..."! 21,481 
 
 Total of revenues lost 42,962 
 
25 
 
 As with the growth of the operations of the Government, 
 its necessities for more kind are ever increasing, it is easy to 
 foresee the time when, if the present policy is pursued, the 
 taxable real estate in the District will be ver}^ small in pro- 
 portion to the non-taxable, and, consequently, unable to 
 contribute more than a small part of the revenue necessary 
 to meet the expenditures. This result is unavoidable. It 
 cjinnot be prevented by raising valuations or rates. The 
 j)roblem now pressing for solution is how to raise from less 
 tlian half the real estate in the District and from special 
 taxes on occupations, enough revenue to meet half the ex- 
 penditures of a city which, owing to its plan, is more ex- 
 pensive than any one of the same population in the world. 
 It is a problem which will, in a few years, task the ingenuit}' 
 of the most exacting Chinese tax-gatherer. 
 
 XI. CONSEQUENCES OF REPEAL.. 
 
 The enactment of Mr. DeArmond's bill (4582) would re- 
 sult in an immediate winding up of District affairs. The 
 receipts of the District of Columbia from all sources, 
 
 In '92, were $2,826,861 
 
 And in '93 $2,946,892 
 
 They may, in 1894, possibly reach $3,000,000 
 
 though the hard times ma}' make them much less. 
 
 The expenditures for 1894 will not be less than for 1893, 
 
 in which year they were $5,594,012 
 
 Deduct possible receipts $3,000,000 
 
 Deficit $2,594,012 
 
 This deficit can be greatly reduced only by closing the 
 
 schools, dismissing the police, stopping street repairs and 
 
 improvements or suspending payment of the interest on the 
 
 funded debt 
 
 It must not be forgotten, too, tli at in the last twenty years 
 
 the officials of the United States have incurred a large debt, 
 
26 
 
 in the name of this District, and that the funded part of it 
 amonnted on the first day of July, 1893, to...$] 8,575,400.00 
 On which the annual interest is 710,414.40 
 
 The only connection we, as real estate owners, have with 
 this debt, which was contracted without our vote or consent, 
 is that we can be forced to pay it. 
 
 We have entire confidence in the justice, wisdom and 
 statesmanship of Congress, and most respectfully submit 
 for its consideration, as just and equitable principles: 
 
 That the burdens of local land taxation should not be 
 imposed upon less than half the real estate situate in the 
 District, but upon the whole ; 
 
 That if for reasons of public policy and the supposed 
 interest of the United States any portion of real estate should 
 be exempted by Congress, the just assessment against that 
 portion should be assumed and paid by the United States; 
 
 That if Congress shall make appropriations for monu- 
 ments, statues, park improvements or salaries of a national 
 character, the taxpayers of the District shall not be required 
 to pay, except as other citizens of the United States ; 
 
 And, also, that a great national capital should be main- 
 tained and extended by the nation^ and not by a few 
 individuals who happen to live in it. 
 
 Respectfully submitted to the Special Committee. 
 
 WILLIAM BIRNEY, 
 Subcommittee on Memorial. 
 
 Submitted on behalf of the Special Committee. 
 
 ELLIS SPEAR, 
 
 Cliairman. 
 
 Adopted, January 11, 1894, at a joint meeting of the 
 following Executive Committees of Citizens' Associations : 
 
 East Washington. 
 
 J. W. Babson. a. F. Sperry. M. I. Weller. 
 
 F. A. Lehman. William Birney. 
 
27 
 
 W. J. Frizzkll. 
 A. J. Donaldson. 
 
 Northeast Washington. 
 
 Evan H. Tucker. 
 
 N. L. King. 
 
 Walter A. Johnston. 
 
 J. D. Hintenesch. 
 A. N. F. Holsten. 
 
 Dr. L. W. Ritchie. 
 Jos. H. Lee. 
 W. H. Manogue. 
 H. B. Looker. 
 S. T. Brown. 
 
 Georgetown. 
 
 E. P. Berry. 
 
 Archibald Greenless. 
 
 Geo. W. King. 
 
 J. Blundon. 
 R. B. Tenney. 
 
 John Marbury. 
 
 F. L. Moore. 
 Geo. Hill. 
 
 J. G. Waters. 
 
 G. G. Boteler. 
 
 W. L. Cole. 
 N. E. Young. 
 John B. Sleman. 
 
 Mt. Pleasant. 
 
 Ellis Spear. 
 
 S. R. Raby. 
 
 L. S. Emery. 
 
 J. W. SOMERVILLE. 
 
 E. W. Woodruff. 
 
 F. L. Campbell. 
 
 S. S. Shedd. 
 
 Takoma Park. 
 
 Geo. a. Warren. 
 Morris Bien. 
 
 J. A. Finch. 
 
 Brookland. 
 J. A. Massie. 
 
 South Washington. 
 
 J. Harrison Johnson. O. T. Thompson. J. N. Birckhead. 
 
 Charles B. Church. W. T. Walker. R. A. Walker. 
 
 Andrew Archer. Hamilton Gray. 
 
 A. L. Keene. 
 a. g. osborn. 
 Daniel Ramey. 
 
 Brighiwood. 
 
 T. W. Lay. 
 
 C. G. Stone. 
 
 W. H. Heron. 
 
 W. A. Gatley. 
 H. Darling. 
 
 J. L. NORRIS. 
 
 R. B. Buckley. 
 Geo. H. Armstrong. 
 J. N. Minnix. 
 W. Marden King. 
 
 Anacostia. 
 Carroll W. Smith. 
 
 J. W. TOLSON. 
 
 Geo. O. Watson. 
 
 F. H. Kramer. 
 
 James E. Halley. 
 
 Charles Kerby. 
 Geo. p. Pyles. 
 Dr. A. M. Green. 
 Geo. H. Gray. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The following statistics taken from the World Almanac for 1894, refute the statement 
 made in the House, that the rate of taxation in this District is lower than inany citj-, large or 
 small, in the United States, They should have included another column showing the total 
 revenues coiJected in each city. The tax-payers of this District paid into the Treasury last 
 year $2,946,892. Is there any other population of 260,000 which has paid m that amount in 
 one year ? 
 
 STATISTICS OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The statistics in the following table were furnished to the World Almanac by the 
 of the respective cities : 
 
 mayors 
 
 Cities. 
 
 Area 
 in Sq. 
 Miles. 
 
 Estimated 
 Population 
 Jan. 1, 189J. 
 
 Net 
 
 Public 
 
 Debt. 
 
 Assessed 
 Valuation 
 
 of all 
 Property. 
 
 Per Ct. 
 
 of 
 
 Actual 
 
 Value.* 
 
 Tax 
 Rate.t 
 
 Albany, N. Y 
 
 9 
 
 n 
 
 9f 
 3U 
 
 6" 
 10 
 
 8.1 
 37" 
 
 14i! 
 
 26.1 
 
 42" 
 
 11 
 
 6.V 
 
 51- 
 
 5i 
 
 4J 
 21- 
 
 180l 
 24} 
 271 
 
 3| 
 161 
 17.1 
 
 2i 
 
 81 
 
 8 
 1Q% 
 43* 
 54 
 29 
 11 
 44 
 
 9 
 
 'to 
 6«4 
 
 41' 
 
 4 
 
 171 
 12 
 17 
 24 
 
 l.V 
 
 6' 
 15 
 
 8i 
 12.1 
 13l 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 111 
 9 
 
 n 
 
 29" 
 14 
 
 100,000 
 
 115,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 525,000 
 
 35,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 45,000 
 
 478,000 
 
 55,000 
 
 999,046 
 
 320,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 75,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 63,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 33,000 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 340,000 
 
 330,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 110,000 
 
 36.000 
 
 40,000 
 
 45,000 
 
 35,000 
 
 76,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 76,000 
 
 300,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 45,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 37,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 90,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 45,000 
 
 56,000 
 
 31,500 
 
 52,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 115,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 $3,202,865 
 
 2,186,500 
 
 2,954,000 
 
 16,100,854 
 
 565,000 
 
 326,500 
 
 1,405,000 
 
 30,539,290 
 
 1,469,600 
 
 46,847,912 
 
 10,967,677 
 
 328,000 
 1,666,720 
 1,269,800 
 3,887,000 
 
 935,000 
 
 800,000 
 
 18,476,450 
 
 26,077,490 
 
 5,600,942 
 
 319,319 
 7,183,400 
 
 146,000 
 2,249,300 
 1,971,600 
 
 275,000 
 1,979,275 
 1,852,768 
 
 760,220 
 2,163,292 
 
 863,142 
 1,466,650 
 3,591,880 
 
 570,000 
 
 901,200 
 2,650,494 
 
 688,000 
 1,860,100 
 1,102,600 
 1,724,391 
 
 356,642 
 1,094,750 
 
 776,877 
 1,384,500 
 
 200,000 
 16,700,000 
 
 886,500 
 
 451,500 
 1,258,571 
 1,052,000 
 
 238,593 
 2,161,000 
 1,330,600 
 9,211,000 
 
 164,717,210 
 72,000,000 
 54,526,078 
 
 292,000,000 
 10,664,013 
 19,152,208 
 22,000,000 
 
 893,975,704 
 25,522,181 
 
 496,054,706 
 
 222,572,885 
 4,500,000 
 7(i,281,689 
 32,590,988 
 21,987,122 
 16,500,000 
 21,413,285 
 
 243,732,138 
 
 190,000,000 
 
 121,280,015 
 11,356,365 
 58,203,606 
 5,700,000 
 19,000,000 
 23,131,600 
 9,580,555 
 40,500,000 
 72,000,000 
 16,246,647 
 
 199,681,210 
 21,000,000 
 34,649,792 
 1.5,968,868 
 15,669,505 
 15,740,000 
 60,534,005 
 20,500,000 
 25,000,000 
 22,500,000 
 48,890,060 
 20,411,395 
 22,895,195 
 25,649,656 
 
 103,547,925 
 12,540,800 
 85,000,000 
 64,792,975 
 12,325,031 
 33,007,372 
 6,000,000 
 11,428,503 
 17,000,000 
 47,281,788 
 90,000,000 
 
 100 
 90 
 50 
 75 
 70 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 70 
 
 ... 
 
 20 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 (6)50 
 
 45 
 
 100 
 
 58 
 
 100 
 40-50 
 
 (c)25 
 100 
 
 m^ 
 
 50 
 50 
 20 
 25 
 70 
 75 
 50 
 70 
 50 
 60 
 90 
 66 
 25 
 
 100 
 75 
 75 
 66 
 60 
 80 
 
 100 
 70 
 40 
 66 
 80 
 9 
 33 
 40 
 40 
 75 
 
 11.80 
 1 75 
 
 Allegheny, Pa 
 
 Atlanta, Ga 
 
 1 50 
 
 Baltimore, Md 
 
 1 55 
 
 Bay City, Mich 
 
 Binghamton, N. Y. 
 Birmingham, Ala.... 
 Boston, Mass., (d)... 
 Bridgeport, Ct 
 
 1.90 
 1.54 
 .50 
 1.29 
 2 40 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y 
 
 Burlington, la 
 
 2.84 
 
 1.67 
 
 33 
 
 Cambridge, Mass 
 
 Camden, N. J 
 
 1.64 
 1 80 
 
 Charleston, S. C 
 
 Chattanooga, Tenn.. 
 Chelsea, Mass 
 
 2.30 
 1.30 
 1 56 
 
 Chicago, 111 
 
 Cincinnati, 
 
 6.00 
 2 70 
 
 Cleveland, 
 
 2 79 
 
 Cohoes, N. Y 
 
 1 00 
 
 Columbus, 
 
 2 80 
 
 CouncilBluffs,Ia. (d) 
 Covington, Kv 
 
 2! 20 
 2 07 
 
 Dallas, Texas 
 
 1 50 
 
 Davenport, la 
 
 175 
 
 Dayton, 
 
 2 52 
 
 Denver, Col 
 
 1 00 
 
 Des Moines, la 
 
 5 40 
 
 Detroit, Mich 
 
 1.51 
 
 Dubuque, la 
 
 1,50 
 
 Duluth, Minn., (d)... 
 Elizabeth, N. J 
 
 2.62 
 2 98 
 
 Elmira, N. Y 
 
 1.53 
 
 Erie, Pa 
 
 1.50 
 
 Fall River, Mass 
 
 Fort Wayne, Ind. ... 
 Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
 Harrlsburg, Pa 
 
 Hartford. Ct 
 
 1.74 
 1.10 
 
 "so 
 
 1.05 
 
 Haverhill, Mass 
 
 Hoboken, N. J 
 
 1.8x 
 
 2 08 
 
 Holy oke. Mass 
 
 1.58 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind 
 
 Jacksonville, Fla 
 
 Jersey City, N. J. (d) 
 
 Kansas City, Mo 
 
 Lacrosse, Wis 
 
 .75 
 1.05 
 
 2.84 
 
 150,000 
 32,000 
 50,000 
 63,000 
 40,000 
 41,000 
 80,000 
 
 180,000 
 
 1.02 
 2.00 
 
 Lawrence, Mass 
 
 Lincoln, Neb 
 
 1.68 
 3.90 
 
 Little Rock, Ark 
 
 LongIslandCity,N.Y 
 Los Angeles, Cal.... 
 Louisville, Ky 
 
 2.17 
 
 i.'sio 
 
 2.17 
 
 
 
 * This is the percentage of assessment upon actual valuation. 
 
 t Tax on each $100 of assessed valuation. 
 
 (h) On realty only, (c) Not to exceed 25 per cent, (d) Report of 1893. 
 
Statistics of Cities in the United States— Continued. 
 
 Cities, 
 
 Area 
 in Sq. 
 miles 
 
 Lowell, Mass.j 
 
 Lynn, Mass 
 
 Manchester, N. H.. 
 
 Memphis, Tenn 
 
 Milwaukee, Wis 
 
 Minneapolis, Minn.. 
 
 Mobile, Ala 
 
 Nashville, Tenn 
 
 Newark, N. J 
 
 New Bedford, Mass. 
 NewBruiaswick, N.J 
 
 New Haven, Ct 
 
 New Orleans, La 
 
 Newport, R. I 
 
 Newton, Mass 
 
 New York City 
 
 Omaha, Neb 
 
 Peoria, 111 
 
 Petersburg, Va 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa 
 
 Portland, Me 
 
 Portland, Ore. g 
 
 Poughkeepsie, N.Y.. 
 
 Providence, R. I 
 
 Quincy, 111 
 
 Reading, Pa 
 
 Richmond, Va 
 
 Rochester, N. Y 
 
 Rockford, 111 
 
 ' Sacramento, Cal 
 
 Saginaw, Mich 
 
 Salem, Mass 
 
 San Diego, Cal 
 
 San Francisco, Cal... 
 
 Savannah, Ga 
 
 Schenectady, N. Y... 
 
 Scran ton. Pa 
 
 Seattle, Wash 
 
 Sioux City, la. ^ 
 
 Somerville, Mass 
 
 Springfield, 111 
 
 Springfield, Mass 
 
 Springfield, O 
 
 St. Joseph, Mo 
 
 St. Louis, Mo 
 
 St. Paul, Minn 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y 
 
 Tacoma, Wash 
 
 Taunton, Mass 
 
 Toledo, O 
 
 Topeka, Kan 
 
 Troy, N. Y 
 
 Utica, N. Y 
 
 Washington, D. C 
 
 Wilkesbarre, Pa. ?... 
 
 Williamsport, Pa 
 
 Wilmington, Del 
 
 Worcester, Mass 
 
 Yonkers, N. Y 
 
 13J 
 13.\ 
 33 
 
 4 
 21 
 55 'i 
 
 6.V 
 11 
 18 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 8.V 
 60 
 
 ' 10 
 
 16 
 41 
 
 24J 
 
 bl 
 
 3" 
 129i 
 274 
 12.1 
 22J 
 
 2| 
 15tV 
 
 61 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 18J 
 
 81 
 
 4.V 
 12| 
 
 7 
 14.V 
 42i 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 19.V 
 31' 
 42 
 
 41 
 
 6 
 37 
 11 
 
 7 
 61'. 
 55' 
 15J 
 30 
 50 
 28.! 
 
 6" 
 
 ^ 
 
 6 
 691 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 9J 
 36" 
 12.i 
 
 Estimated 
 Population 
 Jan. 1,1894 
 
 6-5,000 
 50,000 
 75,000 
 
 265,000 
 
 200,000 
 40,000 
 90,000 
 
 210,000 
 55,000 
 20,000 
 94,500 
 
 255,000 
 
 21,000 
 
 27,000 
 
 1,914,148 
 
 160,000 
 
 55,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 1,170,000 
 
 240,000 
 42,000 
 90,000 
 23,000 
 
 150,000 
 35,000 
 80,000 
 90,000 
 
 160,000 
 35,000 
 30,000 
 58,000 
 32,000 
 17,000 
 
 350,000 
 60,000 
 25,000 
 85,715 
 60,000 
 45,000 
 50,000 
 36,000 
 50,000 
 37,000 
 58,000 
 
 650,000 
 
 175,000 
 
 110,000 
 55,000 
 27,000 
 
 110,000 
 33,685 
 65,000 
 50,000 
 
 265,000 
 40,000 
 30,000 
 67,000 
 95,000 
 35,000 
 
 Net Public 
 Debt. 
 
 $2,570,051 
 2,671,099 
 
 832,933 
 3,101,400 
 5,044,000 
 7,482,500 
 2,269,000 
 3,354,000 
 12,249,694 
 1,760,000 
 1,237,245 
 
 918,524 
 15,871,047 
 
 351,171 
 
 2,252,302 
 
 98,996,392 
 
 3,011,100 
 
 609,500 
 1,223,100 
 22,141,063 
 8,872,940 
 1,367,661 
 1,450,000 
 1,771,000 
 11,787,921 
 1,580,400 
 1,111,500 
 6,525,065 
 6,730,000 
 
 281,100 
 
 800,000 
 1,162,500 
 ^^901,475 
 
 417,000 
 
 ^617,914 
 
 3,525,450 
 
 396,000 
 
 534,641 
 3,165,000 
 
 834,000 
 1,279,500 
 
 916,000 
 1,632,471 
 
 950,000 
 
 1,450,700 
 
 21,376,021 
 
 10,614,628 
 
 3,937,500 
 
 3,083,803 
 
 225,812 
 4,337,589 
 
 337,000 
 
 944,899 
 
 37,500 
 
 19,233,726 
 
 250,000 
 
 634,958 
 1,599,600 
 3,368,435 
 2,000,000 
 
 Assessed 
 Valuation 
 
 of all 
 Property. 
 
 Pr. Ct. 
 
 of 
 Actual 
 Value.* 
 
 164,088,275 
 
 
 49,969,309 
 
 85 
 
 27,439,642 
 
 70 
 
 35,645,732 
 
 60 
 
 135,884,570 
 
 65 
 
 142,490,887 
 
 40 
 
 13,500,000 
 
 33 
 
 . 40,000,000 
 
 55 
 
 127,875,134 
 
 60 
 
 1144,475,095 
 
 
 10,200,000 
 
 70 
 
 54,344,500 
 
 60 
 
 136,977,107 
 
 100 
 
 34,853,800 
 
 100 
 
 41,853,800 
 
 100 
 
 al, 933,518,529 
 
 
 22,000,000 
 
 io 
 
 8,000,000 
 
 17 
 
 10,410,240 
 
 100 
 
 75-2,763,382 
 
 75 
 
 275,650,000 
 
 100 
 
 36,823,990 
 
 100 
 
 48,000,000 
 
 40 
 
 12,623,135 
 
 66 
 
 159,812,560 
 
 100 
 
 5,383,112 
 
 25 
 
 41,000,000 
 
 66 
 
 59,227,318 
 
 100 
 
 103.891,282 
 
 100 
 
 7,200,000 
 
 20 
 
 15,363,175 
 
 66 
 
 17,447,000 
 
 60 
 
 36,901,956 
 
 
 14,483,464 
 
 50 
 
 342,64.3,179 
 
 60 
 
 32,798,396 
 
 100 
 
 9,300,000 
 
 50-75 
 
 18,612,773 
 
 33 
 
 38,239,738 
 
 60 
 
 19,000,000 
 
 33 
 
 41,773,600 
 
 100 
 
 5,694,434 
 
 17 
 
 55,239,919 
 
 100 
 
 17,250,000 
 
 50 
 
 24,909,063 
 
 33 
 
 279,810,390 
 
 50-60 
 
 125,239,589 
 
 50 
 
 47,780,720 
 
 100 
 
 41,553,440 
 
 60 
 
 19,000,000 
 
 100 
 
 50,000,000 
 
 60 
 
 9,329,353 
 
 33 
 
 47,082,352 
 
 100 
 
 19,116,827 
 
 60 
 
 202,624,167 
 
 
 5,600,000 
 
 19 
 
 (.x)8,623,613 
 
 60 
 
 38,000,000 
 
 100 
 
 84,076,705 
 
 100 
 
 26,000,000 
 
 95 
 
 Tax 
 Rate, t 
 
 $1.56 
 1.64 
 1.85 
 1.75 
 1.52 
 2.00 
 
 .60 
 1.50 
 1.82 
 1.75 
 2.48 
 1.95 
 2.00 
 
 .92 
 1.48 
 1.82 
 4.40 
 6.39 
 1.50 
 1.85 
 1.10 
 2.05 
 1.00 
 2.50 
 1.60 
 6.88 
 1.30 
 1.40 
 1.59 
 5.39 
 2.20 
 2.70 
 1.73 
 
 .85 
 1.61 
 1.50 
 1.65 
 3.50 
 12.60 
 3.00 
 1.55 
 6.50 
 1.28 
 2.05 
 1.55 
 1.40 
 2.00 
 1.72 
 1.00 
 1.80 
 2.70 
 1.58 
 1.3^ 
 1.68 
 1.50 
 4.80 
 1.73 
 1.10 
 1.50 
 1.56 
 
 ? Report of 1892. || Actual value. % Report of 1891 . 
 + Tax on each |100 of assessed valuation. 
 
 (a) Assessed value of real property, $1,,562,.W2,.393; assessed value of personal property, 
 $370,936,136. 
 (x) Total State, county, town, city, and school taxes. 
 
WASHINGTON CITY-THE NATIONAL CAPITAL 
 
 Memorial to Congress 
 
 BY THK 
 
 JOINT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITIZENS' ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
 
 AGAINST THE REPEAL OF THE FIFTY PER 
 
 CENT. ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL 
 
 APPROPRIATION LAW. 
 
 JANTJARY, 1894. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 I,AW REPORTER COMPANY, PRINTERS, 
 
 518 FIFTH STREET, N. W.