Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-18

Mr.. LetEhtOn's views.
| Mr.. B. F. Leighton spoke next. He said
| no fault could be found with the law gov
| erning the assessment of benefits. for 1t
was very wide. and declared that wherever
in the District of Columbia benefit should
| be found to have accrued an assessment
! might be made Under that law COM
| petent jury of conservative men had spent
three months in going over the ground and
+ had rendered it's verdict. The law says
that benefits shall be assessed only to the
| amount the property is benefited.
IF" continued Mr.. Leighton, the law
! should have arbitrarily said that you
should assess % per cent. 90 per cent or
| IS per cent of the amount of damages in
| benefits, 1t would have amounted to the
| confscation of so much property. Congress
would have put it's hands into the pockets
| of the citizens and taken their ducats. Cen
| tlemen, it would have been larceny and
nothing else 1t would have been larceny
! to the extent of the assessment over and
above the amount of the benefit conferred
Mr.. Leighton said the award of the jury
was a just one. He said there was COM
paratively little land along the 10Th street
extension which could be assessed for bene-
fits Fifteenth street was in some places
but 175 feet away, and surely the assess
ment could not extend to property 'front.'
ing on that thoroughfare. He said the Sec
ton through which 10th street extends is
an old one, with many subdivisions and
streets running through it. There has al
there, and the opening of 18th street was
not of such material benefit to the property
owners. If the territory had been virgin or
agricultural land with no thoroughfares,
then it would have been easy to find prop
erty on which to assess benefits equal to
one-half the damages. He said the great
est benefit in the opening of 10th street
would be to the general public. 1t was the
dream of Jackson to have this thorough
fare cut through. 1t would provide access
to the national park.
Matter Of Special Benefits.
Mr.. Chaplin Brown spoke last for the at
torneys. He said his associates had stated
about everything there was to be said on
the subject. He reiterated that there was
little property south of Mt. Pleasant that
could be assessed for special benefits, when
there were already highways in sufficient
number to meet the demands of the COM
munity. North of Mount Pleasant, he said,
practically all Of the land for the opening
of the street had been dedicated outright.
The property owners there could not be as
sessed for benefits when they had donated
the land itself. The rejection of the jury's
award might invalfdate these donations.
On the west side of the street extension for
a considerable distance was Rock Creek
Park, and thus land which ordinarily would
be benefited was removed from the sphere
of assessment. So, he asked, where was
the land to assess in greater amount than
the Jury had already done. He said the
y
and should be done. It would provide
national boulevard 16O feet wide. The ex-
tension was national affair and not q
private benefit by any means
Former Senator Henderson spoke, pre-
senting his views on the subject OF street
extension in general. He said the award
of the jury was just in every particular.
Petition Filed.
The attorneys presented to the Commits
sioners long list Of names attached to a
petition asking that the award Of the jury
be not set aside. The petition states that
the signers are taxpayers who own no
property affected by the proceedings for
the condemnation Of 10th street extended.
but they believe that the Commissioners
approval would be for the best interests OF
the people. The signers are:
Herbert A. Gill. Adds B. Browne, L. o.
De Lashmutt, John c. Davidson, H. H.
Bergman. Charles P. Williams, John Tay-
lor Arms Clarence F. Norment, A. K Par
lard. J. w. Orme. H. N. Baker. John
O. Evans, William F. Hoffman. An
thony 2. Tyssowski, John l. Blink
horn. ]. NJ. Green, Ben B. Bradford.
G. G.. c. Simms. Allan T. Bacon.
Richard c. Lewis. John r. Peak. James
Bradley Davidson, w. T. Davidson. D. j.
Macarty, e. J. Johnson. George A. Armes.
e. S. Parker, A. p. Pardon. Walter H.
Acker, Edward B. Cottrell. Fitch. Fox &
Brown. Westcott. Wilcox & Hieston, Ar
thur Burt, Louis D. Wine. ]. Ed. Chap
man. NJ. 1. Weller. VIM. Stone Albert. F. B.
MCGUIRE, A. NJ Lothrop. W. B. Moses &
Sons. A. C. Moses. N. Dyrenforth & Co.
Mitchell Dyrenforth. w. g. Knox Myron
n. Parker, T. R. Jones. James NJ john
ston. g. 7. Dunlop. n. A. Tappan. VIM. s.
Teei. Gasch Bros. George Henderson, AM
son s.. TAYLOR WASHINGTON Matter n