Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1903-11-11

Rave thought more of our talk concerning
the land, and, on the whole, it seems 10 me well
| to write to you briefly how the matter looks to
us, and frankly to ask you to consider whether
it is not fair to all for me to carry out the plan
which shall suggest at the end.
| /. No one doubts your legal right to refuse
to sell your land, or to ask an impossibly high
price for 1t. But submit the human consider
alton. Here is land which you are in no way
using yourself, and which your present policy
forblds other human beings from using, who
would at once put the land to the uses of hap
| piness.
| doubt the moral right of our standing thus
in the way of the use of the means which the
| good God has furnished. This view holds
especially with regard to land. You did not
make this beautiful shore. 1t is rather an acct.
dent that 1t is in your hands. No one grudges
| you the honest value which happens to accrue
to 1T, but why should you adopt policy which
| for years prevents its use and enjoyment?
| ?. Suppose you say that others may pay
you your price, and that this price is equitable.
| This brings me to a question of both moral and
| legal justice. Your property here would seem
| easily to be worth according to your own esti-
mate not less than fifteen or twenty thousand
| dollars. am not going to place 1t SO high.
| Call its value any day about third of your
estimate, say ak thousand collars. I believe
| could get purchaser any time at that figure.
| Now, you are still assessed at only fifteen hun
| bred dollars. This is only one hundred dollars
more than my little property.
If the assessment is right for me, 1t is surely
hardly more than a third of what you ought
| equitably to pay upon. / submit that this is
not fair TO your Deighbors or to the town.
Your property, as compared with our property,
| does not bear nearly its share of taxation.
Moreover, others property represents labor
| and saving. but this increase of the value of
! your land represents no service which anyone
has ever done upon your land. so far as 1t
comes to you, 1t is like a clear gift which you
have not earned. Yet you stand in the way of
Its use.
| 8. But should let this unfairness of your
tax. as compared with Others. pass aud not
| concern myself with it, and bear the injustice
with smiling face If it were for the fact that
! this Justly low tax upon your land is what
| you rely upon In your policy of holding the
land out of human use or enj oymeni, until you
can reap great price for its sale.
As long as you are exempted from paying as
others of Us pay, you can easily refuse to sell.
If the town marsed your land up.As the law of
| the State requires, to somewhat near its actual
| selling price. say five or six thousand dollars,
you would be glad to sell little of the land, as
you easily could at any time.
A. Meanwhile, here are friends of ours, good
people as neighbors, who would build houses on
| your land. and who would bring other good
| people and add to the value of property here
| to your property H. well as to the property of
others. and add to the power of your town by
/ -
| burden, and you practically turn one after an
other away. You are practically exempted
from paying any taxes upon the new value
which the coming Of summer residents has
| given TO your farm.
You are still allo wed to hold IL within trife
OF its old valuation as farming property. And
ON the strength OF this exemption. evidently
unjust to others, you bar out the kind OF friends
and neighbors, whom we should welcome. and
whom the town itself needs, and whose build
| ing of houses would benefit number of peo-
| pie, carpenters and masons, etc
5. What ought to do? I have no voice in
the town. but is It not right for me. as feel. to
petition to the town officers asking that they will
alter their policy of exempuug the value of
choice shore lots to the plain injury of the town
| OF fremont? Is it not fair that we ask, not
necessarily that they will at once mark up all
the property its actual selling value. but that
| they will begin this course at once? Is 1t not
| quite fair, for example, that when any owner
has refused bona tide offer, as You have just
| done, of $500 for single acre. in a corner of
| your woods which one can scarcely see from
! your house, the assessors should at least add
| that value. If no more, to the yaluation of the
farm; and that they should continue to make
such additions of offers of cash refused till the
property stands near Its average selling value?
| cannot think wherein this would be unfair.
| In fact, believe that the new policy would be
| better for you. j have, you know, always held
| that every acre of land which you sell to bona
| fde purchaser with intent to buili, leaves all
| the rest of your land more valuable than il was
! before the sale was made. You thus see how
4 far / am from any wish TO do you even the
| semblance of a wrong
| l honestly believe that IN your late refusal Of
| $780, and your encouragement % prospective
| good neighbors, you did the community and
| yourself also an injustice Let me ada that
| am not one of those who personally have AIRY
4 special wish to see this quiet shore frequented.
| / am content as 1t is. Nevertheless, | am
bound to believe that in plain issue of justice
| like this, one must say what seems fair and Tor
| the greatest good Of all. Yours truly,
| CHARLES Il. DOLE.