The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-07-29
ALWAYS READ TIE TINES
TUESDAY. JULY %, 1890.
80 u,ou,>Ics AND HIGH RENTS

OUR MECHANICS NM
Tho proposi,ion looking to the extension
of the corporate limits, whlch Is NOW ~
cciying 50 much popular attention. snou'"
,nnoal most forcibly TO the interest OF ever!
class in our community, but IL sho"'"
appeal. above all, most directly 10 our
mechanics. As circumstances no" s'"''"'
tho mechanics by which term we mean !"
ioclude the whole operative class-haNe 70
,.oar tho chief burden Of the Disadvantages
attending the confinement of the ci'Y 10 '''
present boundaries. The leading dis"dN"h-
face. certainly so far rs they are cohcern'"'
is the difficulty Of securing homes cNccP'
nj rate dispropOrtionate to the amount OIL
WAGES which they earn from day to day
The rents at which houses are let III llch-
mond are unquestionably high Tor every
class; but they are, on the whole more 50
in the instance Of the mechanic class IMAM
Of any other. and yet 1t is the members oil
This very class who should be able TO rent
homes most cheaply in proportion TO the'r
means.
Moreover. high rents increase the value OF
the land upon which houses are buili' ana
This fact. as illustrated at present in Rich
mond. has diminished the ability of our me-
chanics topurchase sites and erect homes ol
their own. This very great disadvantage
from which the mechanics -four city are now
suffering. would be at once removed by the
enlargement Of our municipal area LOT VIVID
advantages Of gas, water, sewers ana puDHc
schools extended 10 our outlying DISTRICTS
many Of our mechanics would be IN posi-
lion either 70 buy at once homes OF their
own. which have been erected by capitalists
or to purchase sites for homes 10 be erected
hereafter by themselves, or at least to rent
homes more cheaply than they can now 40
the corporate limits. 1t would follow from
these circumstances that the rents which
the mechanics who would prefer TO remain
in the present corporation would have To
nav. would fall OF in amount from the de-
cline in the demand for houses.
The prevalence Of high rents in Richmond
at This time is no evidence Of unusual pros
perity or progressive activity. If any
thing. it is precisely the opposite. Rents
are ten per cent. lower in the city of Balu-
more than they are with us The fact that
rents are equally high in Richmond and
Washington, discoses the unnatural condi-
ton Of affairs in the matter of rents now
prevailing here. for we have no constant
influx Of wealthy residents, no enormous
floating population, no permanent specula-
tive fever in consequence Of this fact, tot
give "a strong impulse to any upward move
ment in our rental charges. The high
rents in Richmond are due primarily
10 the restrictions Of the city 10 COM
paratiyely narrow local boundaries,
restriction which has made,
as our population has expanded and our
wealth has increased, every open space in
the parts Of the city given up to residences,
so valuable that a radical change in the as
pect of these parts is now going on. The
vacant spaces are now being built upon in
order to secure the benefit Of the high rents,
and the city is assuming greater solidity in
the appearance Of its streets. This is no
cause for regret in itself. but it is a cause
for regret when the reasons forit are known,
and it falls with special hardship upon the
mechanic class, VINO constitute the very
backbone of the city.
High rents create a more or less uniusti-
fable expansion in values. They cultivate
"A more or less tendency to speculation. OF
all classes in the community, our mechanics
should deprecate most strongly specula-
tive boom in real estate. They are the Prin-
cipal sufferers in the long rIn-because,
confined as our corporate limits now are,
no reaction in real estate can carry such
property, if situated within the corporation,
so much below its true value that it can be.
purchased at bargain. The high rents
will always keep the value Of real estate
in the city rather above than on a level
with its intrinsic value, and an
upward movement will carry the estimated
value very much above the true value.
Every graduation Of this movement above
true values is only one more step to the
disadvantage Of the mechanic class, and as
long az high rents continue as result OF
the restriction of the area of the city, the
tendency Of every form of real property
within that area, will be 10 rise unnaturally
and illegitimately in value, This will, of
course, diminish the ability of our me
chanics to purchase homes Of their own, or
10 rent houses at the most reasonable rates.
HERRING SEA CONTROVERSY.
brilliant as are tho intellectual pOwers Of