The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-03-28
THE TAX BfLE.
A Consideration of Professor Farnnm's
 Argument.

Argument.
 To the Editor of the Journal and Courier: I have followed the discussion of the
 Chamber of Commerce bill concerning
 the assessment of real estate, both in
 the meeting of that body and in the
 columns of the press. In particular, | Professor Farnams criticism of the bill interested me. in that it clearly draws the argument to the vital point at issue, namely, Does the Chamber of Commerce bill afford any real test of the market
 value of property?" Or in other words, l Can one man, or can many men, enter his or their property for sale below the
 market price and have the good luck
 not to find bidder?"
 Professor Farnam claims that a sale
 under the Chamber of Commerce bill
 would have precisely the same effect upon the selling price of the property as would a forced sale.' though how
 this would come about he does not ex- i plain. By the terms of the bill the only explanation possible is that the holder | voluntarily offers his property at | forced-sale price. Professor Farnam l continues: Such sale of land, as | Judge Cooley says in his work on taxa | tion, seldom brings more than a small l fraction of it's value.
 Let us imagine an owner of central Chapel street real estate, OF, indeed, all the owners of such real estate, to offer that property for sale at "a small frac- tion of it's value" Is 1t imaginable that any of them would have the good luck not to find bidder?" There is all | Df ,a1 lao Hf nt, an investment in the rents, etc, yielded, while possibilities of future apprecia- ton or deprecia tion can be calculated with approximate certainty for long periods. If it is offered for sale at such a price that the percentage of returns upon investment Is more than normally good, investors will be ready and wait ing to take it. Business money is ac- tive in the city, and there are many quite shrewd enough to know the value of an opportunity of advantageous pur- chase. Never fear but that the public | assessment sale lists would be keenly scrutinized for desirable real estate at possible bargains. As it is notoriously | the fate of the insolvent to lose heavily | on forced sales, so must it be also In ' the case of the man who seriously un- derestimates the market. Will anyone , voluntarily subject himself to such a loss?
 Professor Farnam asks further. "What would be the result if a large number of taxpayers should throw their land upon the market and force the re- sulting price into the assessors books?"
 If entered at a fair market value the land would doubtless hang fire, and nor nal taxes would be paid by owners. If entered below market value, however, sales would he inevitable over large por- tions of the city. Consider the amount of money seeking investment in this city alone and content with 3 per cent. and per cent. returns. Let good in- lands be advertised for less than 80 per cent. of a correct assessment they be present revenue lands, or houses or building ots-so that their prospective yield would exceed or per cent, and they will be taken as surely as there is busi- { ness enterprise in the community. h. Iced. if lacking here, the low valuations which give rise to an inequality between New Haven and the rest of the state would, for a certainty, attract investors