Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-20
THAT SCHOOL SITE.
MT. Petty Ans~er. the Questions Raised ny
the First Auditor.

MT. Petty Answers the Questions Raised by
the First Auditor.
The letter Of the FIRST auditor requesting an
explanation Of a claim for the purchase Of q
school site. which was printed at the time in
TIE STAR. was answered today by Auditor
Petty TO whom the matter was referred by the
Commissioners. Mr.. retty SAYS:
Il have the honor TO submit the following
statement in reply 10 the letter of the honor
able first auditor Of the Treasury, dated March
II, 1871. returning for explanation claim No.
Ios,o for sliooo, for the purchase of lots Il,
Is. IA, Is and Is, in square els. as a site for q
school building in the eighth division.
The objection Of the first auditor - based
upon the opinion of Charles A. Walter, eN-
SINNER, who says. under date OF January 20,
1857, on page 4, abstract of title: ''l6 feet
10 inches of lot IA. and all Of lots Is and l6
find vested in the United States" IL the
abstract ended here il would furnish ground
for the objection, but il does not. for inn
mediately following the next link in the
VIM. r. Woodward, a veteran examiner
of acknowledged ability. who saws
under date of April 20. 1887. referring
to the certificate Of Mr.. Walter: An order was
Columbia approving the subdivision OF square
6I5. recorded in Liber M.B.M.. folio AZ,
which order is filed with the said subdivision.
which releases the above objection. To my
nllflu tne COnCluSlOn seems lnGNltable tDat
the first auditor overlooked or ignored
the certificate OF Mr.. Woodward, or that
he failed to appreciate its signih-
canoe nnd Importance from possible
lack Of acquaintance with the provisions of the
act of August 6, 1882, which governed Mr..
Woodward in his opinion. This act-yide
Statutes at Large, vol y. page l5l-declares:
Sec. l. That whenever all the owners of an
entire square or all the owners of n part Of
square bounded on all sides by public streets
in, H. - =
lumbia, shall present to the Commissioners Of
the District of Columbia a petition asking
that any alley or alleys within said square or
part of square may be closed wholly or par
TALLY, and shall in said petition offer TO dedi-
cate for public use, and shall SO dedicate
If in the opinion of the Commissioners Of
said District such dedication is necessary, as
alleyways, ground owned by the petitioners in
amount equal at least in area TO that of
the alleyway sought TO be closed, and shall
also present to said Commissioners with said
petition correct plot Of such square, part
of square, signed by all the owners thereof,
upon which shall be accurately delineated the
positions and dimensions Of the existing alley
ways or ways, and a subdivision of the entire
area Of the alley or alleys sought 10 be closed
into parcels according to an agreement of
all said owners for TIE future owner
ship OF the same, the name OF the
agreed future owner OF each par
Gel being marked thereon, and showing also
|
way or ways proposed to be substituted there
for, 1t shall be the duty of said Commissioners.
upon being satisfied of the truth OF the facts
| stated In the petition as TO ownership and of
correctness of the plot and also that the pro-
posed change will not be detrimental to the
public convenience. to make an order declaring
the existing alley way WAYS closed as prayed
Tor and opening the new alley way or WAYS pro-
posed to be substituted therefor.
Sec. 2. That the Commissioners shall cause
a = fh...
the plot and delivered to the petitioners who
may fle the same for record with the recorder
OF deeds of the District. who shall record the
same AZ other instruments affecting real estate
and thereafter the right of the public 10
use the alley way or WAYS declared closed and
the proprietary interest of the United States
therein shall forever cease and determine. and
the title to the same shall be vested according
to the agreement of the owners as shown I'm the
Aforesaid plot, each person being thenceforward
the owner IN fee simple U: the parcel or parcels
upon which his name shall be marked as
provided III section l. The new alley way or
ways described in said order and delineated ON
said plot shall thereafter be and remain dedi-
Gated TO public use as alley WAYS and like other
alleys of said city, shall be under the care and
control of the city authorities
The Commissioners, stated by Mr.. Wood
ward, passed an order in compliance with this
law, April ~, 1887, approving the subdivision
under which the purchase was made by the
DlstTlCt anu Clearly NtstlnS II u. DrNaut.
from whom A. ID. Hazen, the grantor to the
District bought the title TO part OF lot IA and
| all of lots Is and Is, which before obliteration
as parts of an alley had been vested in the
United States. This subdivision sets apart con-
siderably more land for alleyways than was
contained in the original allotment.
In auditing this claim had before me. in
ADDITION to the above. the following:
Il Certify that the title is good and unencum-
bered in Abraham d. Hszen.
[Signed.l J. WALTER CooKsEY,
Attorney-at-Law,"
II a. M. October %. 1890
Abstract of title approved this s0th day Of
October. 1890
lSigned) GEO. c. HAzELroS,
Atty for DC"
This is to certify that lots ~, Is. IA Is and
is in square els contain 10000 square feet, as
shown by the books Of this Office.
(Signed) MATTHEW TRINBLE,
Nov. 1, 1890. Assessor. DC"
The certificate Of the assessor is based upon
the books of his Office, which ara made up
from certified transcripts furnished by the re-
corder of deeds and official data supplied BY
the surveyor of the Distric..
The first auditor criticises this certificate be-
cause 1t fails to say exclusive o. the alley.
but doubt il such a qualification is ever in
serted in a certificate. as il is entirely super
huous. there being mo more reason for saving
exclusive of the alley" than there would be
for saying exclusive of the footway.
In consideration of the foregoing it is clear
that the inference of the first auditor that the
site purchased from Mr.. Hazen embraced
ground, the title Of which at the time of pur-
chase was vested in the United States" was
unwarranted and erroneous.
The concluding paragraph Of the first au-
ditors letter, which calls attention to the in
CAPABILITIES of the tax assessment system, is best
| answered by the recent change in the law
which was made by Congress at the earnest
| solicitation Of the Commissioners to remedy
what the first auditor in common with all other
good citizens considered radically wrong"
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