The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-11-12
VOL. XLV.-NO. 46.
81. 200 year, and it's income from ground

vi. 200 a year, and Its income from ground
rents on the 24S lots still remaining to
it on the Botanic garden property, must,
at this rate, be $4,000 per annum. ADJ
ding to this, 100000 which is low
estimate of its receipts from its down
town property, we have an aggregate OF
$500, 900 as the probable annual income
of Columbia from ground rents alone.
To this must, of course, be added the
thousands Of dollars received from STU
dents in the academic medical and 9TH
or departments. DR.. Sears, writing of
the college in 1869, spoke of its income
at that time as ''princely."
1t would trouble him to find
an adjective by which he could
characterize its income to-day 1t is pos
sible that the income does not quite
equal the figures given in our estimate,
but if such is the fact it is due to
the failure of the management to get all
that he could out of the property. In
many cases leases granted by the
managers for twenty one years have
subsequently been sold for large
bonus. The money that thus goes into
private pockets, would, together with
the Columbia rents, 60 into the public
treasury under system that placed all
taxation on land values.
The trustees, however, are keenly-
alive to the advantages of land specula-
tion, for we find that in 1872 they bought
from Gouvernor NJ. Ogden, Stephen T.
Nash, and Charles R. Swords, ten acres
of ground west of Eleventh avenue, in
the neighborhood of 106th street, for
$375, 600. Perhaps it is the intention to
move the institution to this site at some
future day, but land in that neighbor-
hood is now advancing rapidly in value.
The most cursory examination of the
facts show that, enormous as is the in
come now derived by the college from
its legal power to levy tax on land in
the most valuable business and residen-
tial quarters of the city, tho managers
of the estate have not wisely admins
tered it. The leasing of property for so
long period as fifty-nine years at a
nominal price, the permanent alienation
of some of the most valuable of it's down
town property, for mere bagatelle of a
rent, and the sale of the Fifth avenue
property to enable the trustees to meet
embarrassment occasioned by these
earlier plumbers, all show that so long
as land is permitted to be subject to
private taxation for either personal or
semi-public use the testators granting it
for the establishment Of trusts are wise
to make it inalienable A comparison
of the management of the Columbia COL
lege estate with thatof the Snug Harbor
and Dutch Reformed properties makes
this plain.
But suppose this property, all of which
at one time belonged either to the En-.
glish sovereign or to the people Of New
York, in their sovereign capacity, had
never been handed over to private con-
troll. though set aside for the promotion
of education. In that case none of the
mistakes that have retarded the growth
of Columbia college could have occurred.
The right to occupation having been
granted in consideration of the payment
OF a land tax equal to the rental value,
such bargain as that which has en-
riched the Rhinelander estate at the
expense of the college would have been
impossible. Furthermore. no necessity
to provide for taxes would have arisen
to even suggest the advisability Of a
sixty-nine years lease for nominal
consideration. Public Improvements
| being made at public expense, no ASSESS
ments would have fallen on the Botan-
ical Garden property, and for the whole
period during which the property lay
idle and source of expense, it would
have been yielding some revenue had it
been open to the occupancy Of whose
ever chose to put it to use. But, most
important of all, the natural operation
of the law of rent would have given tho
institution steadily rising income
from the land tax absolutely propor-
toned to the increase in population that
made new demands upon it for. enlarged
educational facilities
Thus planted and nurtured it would
have naturally become the real head Of
our system of public instruction, and
would ere this have grown into uni
versity overshadowing all Others as
New York outranks all other cities in
wealth and population. No cast iron
rule made by men who have lain in their
graves for a century could have sub
| jected the college to the suspicion of
sectarianism. No self perpetuating
board of trustees could have deep
ened that impression by an act OF
bigotry and then have safely de-
fed the law they had violated.
With Columbia college recognized by
the people as their own, and an object
OF pride and affection, the citizens of
New York would not have voted in 1848
to the disgust of Columbia's trustees,
1.-THE College of the City of New York, /"
and the Normal college flor women)
would only have come into existence as
natural outgrowth of Columbia college.
Nor is this all. The advantages of the
wealthy institution would not have been
] open only to the sons of the well-to-do
who can pay admission and tuition fees
which, nevertheless, do not meet one
| third of the expenses of their education,
/ but instruction could have been free to
! all and would certainly have extended
to the thousands of students who have
graduated from the two city colleges
within the past fifteen years, and better
work could have been more economical
ly done by the single university than
! by the three colleges separately. Coz
lumbia would have been name to con-