Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-09

chamber indicates that the House VIII he
not at all averse to an investigation having
I'm view revelat on of conditions in con-
nection with the taxation problem in the
District There are a number OF members
of the House who. although they have not
gone into the subject of taxation with
such thoroughness as has Mr.. Morrel, hold
with him that steps should be taken. and
al once. TO remedy the evils complained of
These gentlemen believe that as the result
of ala inquiry conducted by Congress with
any degree of thorCus hEess, remarkable
condition of affairs VII be shown to exist
and they want such an inquiry undertaken
at the earliest possible moment
The resolution will have particular force
coming from Mr.. Morrell. the Philadel-
phia member spent practically all of MS
time last session in study of the District
and its system of government Moreover,
he was vitality Interested in ami lnstru-
mental in having passed number of meas
ures erecting Ike District and contiguous
territory. The anti-shanghaing BILL the
school bill. the compulsory education Dill
and a number of other measures OF great
Importance to tie District were put On their
passage as result of Mr.. Morrells lndi-
vidual efforts.
MI Morrell's Views.
AR Morrell is very much interested in the
taxation problem and believes that the in
quiry should be undertaken without undue
delay In discussing the matter with
Star reporter last night Mr.. Morreli said:
The three things most striking In regard
to taxation in the District of Columbia are,
first. the differentiation; second. the enor-
NOUS outlay or expense OF assessment, ana
third the system Of exemptions.
In the course of my examination or the
10th street condemnation proceedings
stumbled upon some tru astonishing in
stances illustrating this point. one man
owned a piece which was assessed Tor tax
alton in 1852 at the value of SOB. Now,
when the government took that same land
for a street the jury gave him as damages
$lOOG3 The jury acted under oath. and
making in all proba bility fair estimate of
the actual value of the land taken gave the
owner almost forty times as much as the
land was rated at upon the assessors books.
Il had wondered how on earth that jury
could assess the total damages to property
owners in that section at $4,000. while all
the property along the line of the street
was benefited only to the extent of $l0S.000
But when this discovered / concluded
that the land must have been peculiarly
adapted to streets and so useless for any
other purpose that 1t couldn't be improved
In value even by the construction of a
grand boulevard through il.
Another striking case is that of Messrs
Ebert Robinson and Oliver A. Morris, who
owned lot In Denison and Leighton's sub
division OF the ESlin estate. This lot con-
tanned 2.330I square feet, and was as
sessed for taxes at a total valuation of $96
The jury awarded s269o.65 damages. which
was more than twenty-eight times the as
sessed valuation for taxes.
hsAny OlneT Examples.
There We're number of similar cases 1
might say that they were nearly all like it
so far as the 10th street extension Is con-
cerned. No effort was made in selecting the
examples that l have to find extreme cases.
My object was merely to get instances of
the relative ratio of taxation to the selling
price of property in each of the subdivis-
ions involved in the 18th street condemna-
ton proceedings. The damages awarded in
these cases does not include damages for
improvements. but solely for land taken
The situation on Capitol Hill is not so
bad. but 1t is stlll bad enough-very much
worse than IL ought to be.
There Is a document published by Sena-
tor Cullom's committee entitled the re-
port OF proceedings in acquiring square CSC
ts a site for the Senate office building
which throws n great deal of light upon the
subject. From this repor; / gather the fol-
owing examples of the difference between
he value of land in the District as assessed
Tor taxes and the value of the same Land
then condemned for public use.
First vacant lot on b street northeast
pntainiug 2,21S square feet, was assessed
hr taxes at $l4J a square foot and was
bssessed as a whole at s.. BOB The owner
bsked the government s9.114, and the Jury
awarded him 81. i04.
Second. Two vacant lots at the corner
" Delaware avenue and street northeast
we're assessed at a total value of s12629
The jury awarded So. or.
Third. A front and back lot on street
northeast were assessed at a total valua-
tion. exclusive OF improvements. of $2J7I
making the assessed value of the whole