The sun., 1901-08-03
NEAL ESTATE.
Chnrehes and Department stores Held
Responsible for ITS Depression.

Cnurenes and Depa rtment stores Held
Responsible for ITS Depression.
To rHE EorroR or TuE srS-s;,. n
Soouin query In to-dsy's srN IL II pertinent
onen "hnt are the causes OF the depressed
comn''ion NJ real estate in the United States?-
MS 'hird question. as t, the maintenance
o' 'ree schools. free hospitals. FREQ Libraries.
Iiee oispensaries. free parks, &c, Is an In
umat'on Had he gone a little further and
mentioned free church property he would
nave touched the key to the problem.
STATISTICS show the rapid Increase Of chur ch
properly for some years after tho Civil War
.nen Ten Grant in a message 70 Congress
ma.neu ~ against the danRer OF this pro-
cee1'nR After that churches did not show
sucn shn Iapid increase In property IL IN thought
Inft ,hey were discountlng appraisemepis
'I,na ia they acknowledge about 81 500 OOoooo
annually passes Into the hands Of fi The churcaes
anu you vii! not he surprised at the depressed
HUnS,.Gn q real estate The burden on Is
~ an societies and sects SHOULD pay axes the
samc as other property II this were done,
has h.es on other property would not be 40
oe sought after by capitalists as an invest
menf Tennnts would oftener be owners,
ms phase OF taxation has repeated itself
South America. and last in Mexico. and in
pose Ray.S
BRooKLrS. July 81. wv
10 THE EpIroR OF THR SrN-Sir: As to
the causes Of the present depressed condition
OF real estate, l contend that the department
stores and the employment Of female labor
IN preference to males contribute largely
TO the present conditions. Tho young man
Of to-day finds It exceedingly difficult to get
employment and the prin ,ipil rs,.on is be-
cause female labor can be had for one.
halfthe money. and in most cases the money
thus earned by females il Of no particular
beneht to themselves or anybody else. a. Il
Is mostly spent for dress and show. which
eventually leads many OF them to ruin, while
on the other hand. a. "A matter Of fact, male
labor IL much more valuable in every way
20 the employer. as he does not spend half his
time In gossip but IL continually aiming
Tor a higher and more lucrative position,
os,ns anxious To- place himself where he can
In another sense 1t ls just as respectable
Tor female 70 I've with a good family and
herself TO become a wife. in preference % TO
totally uniting her a. she doe. at present
. Another cause is the total ignorance OF
the ns,!, m,onsEed institutions In regard to the
Obtained on New York .city property for from
50 to 90 per cent OF their value at from 10 az
per cent. while an application for a loan
Of Is per cent on the actual value of property
In Westc b, Q er county Al S per cent would
be turned .own at once There are millions
Of dollars seeking investment In New York
city property only. and not one dollar for
country. Why should not the real estate
market be depressed? Eight men own to-day
1900 acres OF land In Westchester county
alone. and A very small county a. that They
are not men Of moderate means, neither do
they want to borrow money II Is the man
OF moderate means that is the borrower.
but with ambition and intelligence Years
age the country merchant full Of enterprise
and ambition, would come TO the growing
city Of New York and open q store and live
over his store. A. hi. family and business
Increased he would buy a small place In the
country and his son would he given an in
terest In the business. take 10 himself wife
and live over the store a. his father had done
Business being prosperous the father would
want a larger place. and so on. one genera tion
nft~ another succeeding. the father. or
hundreds Of mile. around this great city the de-
partnent store has wiped out nearly all Of the
old original enterprises; the father can mo
longer compete with the trade, he is Obliged
to move out OF his largo and commodious house
and take an apartment His wife cannot get
help to attend to her household duties, the
soh cannot get employment, and upon the
whole We nre going to perdition Thousands
OF houses are vacant. the rich are becoming
richer the poor poorer. and real estate Is a
drug In the market JosEPu H. LEWIS
NEW YORK, July 81