Evening star., 1901-02-13
LAND FOR ST. ELIZABETH
MIR. PAYNE PROPOJNDs SOME Nc
QUIRIEs IN THE HOUSE.
Attention Called to the Unusual Re-
ductions In the Prices Asked
for the Property.

appropriation bin in the House, late yester-
| day afternoon. there was some preliminary
| discussion of the item IN the bill for the
purchase of 1iJ acres OF land adjacent TO
| the Government Hospital for the Insane at
| 81 900 per acre
! Mr.. Cannon explained the necessity
for extension of the buildings at st. Eliza
| beth's and said this purchase of land was
to facilitate the enlargement OF the institu
| ton.
Mr. Payne of New York said he wanted
| to know abou, the fall in the price of this
land. ut appears tha; In 1900 there was
reported in the Senate an appropriation of
! s245, 600 for los acres of this land" he said,
| being at the rate of about $500 per acre.
And then the House committee, in reporting
the sundry civil bill for the current year.
proposed the purchase OF 40 acres at S2lo,-
600, which would he about 81 800 acre.
Now the proposition is to pay Sli5.000 for
1i5 acres, or $1,000 acre. Did not the
committee report year ago, or at the time
the proposition was up, to pay Sl,J0o an
acre, on the ground that experts had val
ued this land at $1,000 an acre?
MIR. MOody's Conclusions Adopted.
THE gentleman from Massachusetts tMr.
Moody entered upon that investigation"
said Mr.. Cannon. 1T is long story. He
| can tell it himself in his own way. AT the
end of his investigation he reported to the
subcommittee that in his judgment under
existing conditions that land ought to be
bought to build this addition to the insane
| asylum upon it, and that, while possibly It
might be bought for less than a thousand
dollars, in his judgment, from the best in
qury he could make, 1t had cost from 5000
TO $500 acre. Now, the subcommittee
took the conclusions of the gentleman from
Massachusetts CMr. Moody reported to the
full committee, and the full committee al
most unanimously directed the report to be
made to the House. and there you are.
IF this asylum Is to be constructed upon
this 145 acres Of land, the plans are now
| ready. 1t is authorized by law. They are
! ready to let the contracts. If this land is
not bought, and the addition Is not con-
Structed upon the 145 acres then under the
provisions of the law, it must be constructed
| upon the land on the other side of Nichols
avenue. So far as l am concerned. l have
no doubt but that the necessities OF the
government from every standpoint are
along the line of the purchase of this 145
acres Of land. I have no pride Of opinion
about It. l think it is not necessary for
me to assure this House that | have no IN
terest personally or by way Of real estate
speculation In adjacent property
Mr.. Payne on the Experts.
1.-The House determined not to pay 3, 500
an acre for this land, but In their wisdom
they said there was room enough the
land already owned by the government on
which to place these buildings" said Mr..
Payne. ''They put 1t into the law that
these buildings should be erected on ths
land owned by the government, and they
put In a large enough limit Of appropriation
to pay for the buildings
This was to be done unless some one
should donate suitable lands to the govern
ment, which, of course, has not been done.
Now it comes in here with a further reduc-
ton. Whatever action the House has had,
they have reduced the price from $3.50
down to $1,000 an acre. Well. the gentle
man says that these different experts said
that 1t was worth 81 800 an acre-eXperts of
high reputation, experts in the business.
etc Yet the committee had so much lack
Of confidence in these experts that they re-
ported the bill at s1,500 an acre; and their
confidence in the experts seems to be di-
minishing. They now report 1t at $1,000,
while other experts, TO wit. the assessors OF
the District, assess It for $50 or $50 an acre.
Now, 1t seems to me, we ought to keep up
this thing until We get 1t down to some
where near the actual value Of this real
estate.
Now, If this appropriation for this land
fails it does not stop the erection of these
buildings. They go upon land already
owned by the government of the United
States; and a great many members OF the
House believe that there is ample room
the lands already owned by the people for
this building of a government hospital
for the insane. They may be mistaken in
that; that is a matter for the gentleman
and his committee to show to the House:
but these gentlemen who are In prison, as
the gentleman says, who are insane, who
are the objects of our sympathy, will still
have these buildings erected; nay, they
might possibly be in process of erection
now, except some one has seen fit to delay
for the purpose Of buying this additional
land"
Mr.. CannOn's Suggestion.
"I have already seen the premises" said
Mr.. Cannon, "and l wish the gentleman
would 60 and see them for himself, rather
than, perchance, take the suggestion OF
somebody who may have an interest either In
holding up the owners of this land. asking
a bonus to keep his hands off the one
hand, or upon somebody who may have an
interest In real estate on the other side of
the road OF on this side of the road who
may want to shift it back and forth to get
rid Of the location Of the hospital"
The House adjourned without action on
the item.