Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-23
PLEA FOR EXEMPTION
HEARING GWEN sfnusrrrs or
LMrHIcUM INSTITUTE.
Ask That NO Taxes Be Assessed
Against Rsflty Held by
the chool.

the cnool.
The District Commissioners this morning
granted hearing TO Messrs. william A.
Gordon, Charles H. Cragin and James H.
Taylor Of the board Of trustees of the Lin
thicum Institute. Georgetown. on the sub
by the institute from taxation. Mr.. VIII
liam A. Gordon, who Is president OF the
board, stated to tho Commissioners that
under the terms Of tho trust the Linthicum
fund must be invested IN real estate In
Georgetown. The institute now owns. be-
sides the building proper which IS used for
educational purposes, seven dwelling houses.
The rents from these houses form the in
come which supports the institute. Until
1895 these houses were not listed for taxa.
property prop owned By the Institute except the
school itself. has been taxed, and the
amount now due, without penalties. is
about 5000 Mr.. Gordon declared that +
real property the scheme OF education
(which has been SO long established and
which has accomplished so much good for
the youth Of Georgetown and Washington
will be defeated and will have to stop.
In beginning his argument for the institute
Mr. Gordon traced it's history from the be-
ginning down to the present time. In 1862.
leaving q will by which the sum of $50, 900
was left in trust for the organization Of an
institution to educate the youth OF George
town. Mr.. Gordon was one OF the original
trustees and Is the only surviving member
Of the first board He has served since the
establishment Of the institute in 1870. By
the terms Of the WIZ, Mr.. Gordon says. It
was unfortunately provided that the money
should be invested solely in unincumbe ed
Georgetown real estate. A charter was
granted to the Linthicum Institute in 1872
by the legislative assembly by which all
| its real and personal property was forever
exempted from taxation. Mr.. Gordon ar
gued that the terms of this charter were
still effective. To take away the rights Of
the corporation under this charter would
require a specific act of Congress- No gem
eral act prescribing what property in the
District should be exempted, he said, OPP
Grated to repeal that specific act of the leg
isIative assembly. A specific charter was
granted, he declared. and under the pro-
lection of that charter the institute was or
ganized, and the trustees proceeded to make
Investment Of the fund Of $4,000 Mr.. Cor
don said that he believed legally the insti-
tute was entitled to have all its property
exempted. The houses which yield the
money by which the institute is conducted
are as much a part OF the machinery OF the
school as the teachers.
Officers Serve Without Pay.
Mr.. Gordon said that since the institute
was organized no officer of 1t had ever re-
ceived penny for his services. The teach
ers' and other expenses are barely met by
the rents from the houses. 1t was argued,
that the institute Is furthermore a charita-
BILE institution. Arguing from the moral
side of the question, Mr! Gordon declared
the institute had a right, to expect friendly
consideration at the Hands Of the District.
Simply upon the personal pledge Of the
school commissioners of Georgetown the
trus- ,es Of the institute loaned To: them In
yea,,s gone by the sun Of $4,000 with
which the Curtis public School building
was erected. q
1--WE pride ourselves" said Mr.. Gordon
ION what the institute mas
boys.-',No charge has ever been made fos
tuition or for books.i Boys who haYe been
tinabfe1o g6st6 school In the day time have
been taught here atisnight.. They. haYa
cal and advanced courses. The Linthicun
Institute Is today theonlyC free night school
In Georgetown. The District has estab-
lished no night sehoeEthere, and to this
extent at least are we now an important
factor in the educational work Of the city.
Since the merging Of Georgetown with.
Washington the pupils Of the school have
come from both cities and a few from the
,neighboring states The Linthicu1n, Instl7
tute Is the pioneer night school of the Dis
| trict and the pioneer Industrial school. y
Previously Exempted. =
"Up to the year 1895 all of the property
was exempt from taxation. Without any
notice to US, and entirely without our
knowledge, all the property with the ex
ception Of the school building proper, was
| listed for taxation. Whether this was done
by order Of the then board Of Commission
ers or whether 1t was done by the as
SCISSORS office is not known to me. The
trustees did not become aware Of the fact
that the property was listed for taxation
until several years thereafter. and then It
came to us in roundabout way. Taxes
to the extent Of s., 600 have accrued II
they are enforced against us and we must
pay them I do not see how the institute is
to go on. do not know that we are au-
thortzed to borrow any money In the
past when the houses were not rented or
the rents had to be reduced. the funds nee
essary for the conduct of the school have
been secured by the trustees giving their
personal pledges to the banks. The only
| source of revenue we have is the rent. If
we must take this to. pay taxes, the insti-
tute will have to stop: the whole benef1cent
scheme will totter and perhaps fall. and
career Of wonderful usefulness on the part
Of the Linthicum Institute will have been
brought to an end"
An Absolute Charity.
Mr. Cragin spoke next, briefly. He stated
that the rented property Of the institute
was in no sense used for private gain. He
| quoted the present act Of Congress regard
ing tax exemptions and said he believed
| all the real property of the institute comes
| within Its letter 1.-THE Lnthicum Insti-
| tute.' he declared, lis an absolute charity.
Every cent Of the rent derived from its
| property is spent for education. No fees Of
any kind are charged to Its pipils 1t
| therefore differs from the colleges which
| are exempted. They use their property for
purposes Of revenue in the charge Of tuition
| fees. We charge nothing. There Is no other
| institution like this in the District of Co.
lumbia. Gentlemen. We cannot pay the
taxes you ask and keep the school alive"
Mr.. Taylor also spoke briefly. after which
| Mr.. Mcfarland said the Commissioners
would give the matter every consideration.
! He said the authorities were fully appreci-
alive Of all that had been done by the Linthi-
cum Institute and realized that Its work
had been Of great value to the community.
Commissioner West said he wished to
state that he had" once bsensa night pupil
at the Linthicum Insttuts8 being unable to
get to school IN THE daytimes HIS sympa.
thies. he said, were am witch the institute.
Falls Church News.