The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-07-16
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
Land Values Without Labor.

Minuit, the right OF possession OF Man
haitian island which contained about
twenty-four thousand acres of land, for
the sum of tweaty four dollars, about
one-tcntn OF cent per mere. The COM
pany did not sell the land thus acquired,
but permitted anyone 10 select such as
he wanted 10 use. The original hein=
bers of this community were mostly
traders; requiring for residence or store
but small lots of land, which they Sc
lccted without regard to uniformity
other than that suggested by the forifia;
ton of the land itself: 1t was not till |
1856 that there were any streets or other |
bubble improvements; yet as early as
l643 lot thirty by one hundred and ten
feet On what now is Bridge street was
sold by Abram jacobson Won Steenwycls
to Anthony Jansen Van Fees for twenty
four guilders, equal to nine dollars and
half.
In 1856 survey of the city of New
Amsterdam was made, and the city laid
down on map which was confirmed by
law ito remain from this time forward
without alteration" After this time
grants of land were made only to actual
settlers on condition that they should
be improved at once: and several per-
Sons who were disposed to keep the lots
which had been previously granted
them in their original condition for
speculative purposes; were ordered
either to build on them or sell, and II
they refused to do SO, their lots were
taxed.
Larger tracts of land in the outskirts
of the town and beyond were granted
to settlers for farming purposes, while
| other tracts were retained by the coin
] pany for its own Use as farms, one OF
which, by what Is now Fulton and
Chambers streets, and broadway and
the North river, has since become the
property of Trinity church.
At very early date piece of land
was set aside as burial ground for the
English, situated north of Bowling
Green and west of Broadway, which in
1856 had become so full of dead mems
bones as to make it desirable to close 1t
MP and select site for a new one; but
It was not till ten years later that this
was done, when the old graveyard was
divided into four lots, each twenty-five
BY one hundred feet, and sold at auc-
ton, fetching price, although no la
Dor had been exerted upon them. The
new site chosen for the English church
was nearly opposite the head of Wall
street, running from Broadway to the
Hudson river, part of which was sci
aside for graveyard. 1t is on this land
that the present Trinity church and
graveyard are located, which together
with other large tracts of land thai
have from time to time come into pos
session of the English church, or prac
tically the same organized body, thai
now forms the basis of the great wealth
and power of the Trinity church cor
poration. The land between the ole
and new graveyards was at the time oc
cupied by the gardens and dwellings o
. Mr.. Vandegrist and Mr.. Van Dyck
which, as well as the old graveyard site
| have since undoubtedly changed hand
I MANY times. But all the land described
: whether it has changed hands o.
not, whether it has had labor expended
l npon it or remained a graveyard, ha
acquired an enormous value. The hrs
: Trinity church was built il, 1906, an
l DESTROYED by fire during the revolution
e ary war, but the value of the land wa
: not destroyed with it. Could this unde
/. stroyed value owe its existence to tn
Y destruction of the labor value of tn
, church? If the present Trinity churc
y and all the receptacles of the dead a
s tached to it, and the accumulated n
| e hot hnu hQpn
# led in them during the past two hundre
: years were to be removed from tn
II land, the value of the land would NJ
It move with them, but would be el
n HANGED; and if this land were to
It sod at auction to-day, it would rcali;
r, msuy millions of dollars; and it wi
3 hardly be claimed that these million
10 repI esent the result of the labor tn;
z has been expended upon it. There a
,e at the present time parts of the islar
D. from which all evidence of individu
;. labor has disappeared. and upon whit
It little, if any, communal labor has BET
lie exerted, that when sold command enc
y nous prices One illustration will su
st fee. In 1884 VicePresident Mortt
lie bought piece of land in the upp
A. part of Manhattan Island. containiI
v, four hundred city lots, for which
r. paid s4O0, 00O In 1890 he sold these 10
j. for 81 200, 900, and during the time tn
Or were in his possession no labor, eth
individual or communal, has been e
in erted upon them. The only labor N
at Morton performed in connection wi
r. them has been the paymento f the tax
o. which can not have exceeded $500
De 1t will hardly be claimed that the pa
re ment of such taxes has caused the la
~ to more than double in value in !
q. years Three weeks or so later the sy
dicate that had bought these lots fro
Mr.. Morton again sold them for 81, 80
600. at no cost to if over and above WI
.h it had paid to Mr.. Morton except