The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-07-30
ALWAYS READ THE TINES.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 lSV'
.y~rs Am CITY EXTENSION.

called the attention oi tnt "c'""
r,-,.,o,d In the o,eat advantages wh'ch
would accrue TO them from the enlargement
n, our corporate limits, namely, inc oIl'"'
,uri,ics which il would open up to them io'
purchasing cheaper homes, or lot Io"''"7
houses AT lower rates than they al H."
able 10 do owing TO the existing res'r'c''o"
in our municipal area. The same reasons
should influence, With almost equai loI0''
oil ,vho earn a livelihood As recipients Oh
salaries for different f'nds OF service FER
formed. As a body, this class IN the conh
munitv is in much better pecunl'E
condition than the majority OF our ihcch"h-
les. but they suffer in proportion 10
their means almost as much from the
highncss of our rents. 4 house
that will be let, say, foI SIX hundred
dollars in Richmond, can be secured IN Bal-
timore for three hundred dollars AT the
most, and probably for less. y Baltimore
tenant IN such a house who il paid the
same salary, although occupying IA home
of exactly the same character as hich
mond tenant. can nevertheless lay Dy three
hundred or more dollars which the Rich
mond tenant would have 10 spend as part
of his necessary expenses. There should
not be such marked difference as this be-
tween the two cities in this respect. 1he
population and wealth Of Richmond are
not growing with such rapidity as to JUS
tify il. The disprOpOl ton is due to purely
local causes, which should be modified -
being more detrimental than advantageous
TO the interests of the city.
Comparatively low rents, as we have be-
fore pointed out, do not constitute any evil
dence Of inactivity or general lack OF pros
perity. Low rents may arise from dispo-
sition on the part Of capitalists to invest
their means principally in the erection Of
houses, a disposition generally originating
in desire to make permanent and conser-
yative investments. but which may be car
ried 10 point where the supply of houses
exceeds the demand for them. In such
case. rents decline in amount to the advant-
age OF tenants.
The delay in extending the limits of Rich
mond and the high rents that have followed
the expansion Of our population within the
present corporate boundaries, are due in a
very large measure to Discrimination on
the part Of our capitalists generally, TO in
vest their surplus means in the erection OF
new houses in the line of the clty's growth
in expectation OF its certain and early COL
porate enlargement. Our vacant spaces,
il is true. are being rapidly filled up, but
there is little Of that building going on in
our outlying districts which is TO be oil
served in the vicinity Of every northern, not
To speak Of every western town. Who can
accurately calculate the amount of money,
the aggregate gains from legitimate bus
mess. which have been sent out of Rich
mond to be invested where the speculative
conditions prevailing seemed TO be more
favorable TO rapid expansion of values.
Suppose all these sums had not been III
vested at distant points, but had been di-
rected to enlarging the present suburbs OF
the city or in extending rows OF buildings
up to the present corporate line, what an
impetus this would have given to the pros
perity of Richmond. As new houses would
have been far more numerous if this capital
invested elsewhere had been invested here.
there would not have been observed under
these circumstances, that tendency OF rents
10 rise higher and higher in our city limits,
which il now so notable. Low rents, there
fore. as long as our population and wealth
continued TO increase would imply greater
,ft fnh
would mean larger and larger amount
invested at home by our capitalists in the
form OF new houses.
In lifelong run, we believe that far more
is to I've made by investments in real pro
perry in Richmond than by 81 eculatiye in
vestments in the South and West. Extend
the limits of the city, and there will not be
a single class in our midst who Will not be
benefited by the increased inducements
which will be thus offered our men of means
to invest their surplus incomes or earnings
in the immediate vicinity of Richmond, and
in a form that will have a permanent and
substantial, and not speculative value. The
capitalist will be benefited because he viii
have an excellent field for investment which |
will be directly under his own eye. The |
wage or salary Garner generally Will be
benefited, because he will be able to pur-
chase or rent a cheaper home than be
can now do. Finally, the merchant and the
manufacturer will be benefited by the
growth OF the city in wealth and population
that will follow from such step. Every
personal consideration, therefore, calls Tor
the enlargement Of our boundaries, and not
one can he advanced that would seem to
make IL inadyisablc.