Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-18

then to the chamberlain office for the
signature Of the check. and finally to the
disbursing clerk for the payment TO the
creditor. This process consumed four days.
Now the register Of claims sends the war
rant to the auditor Of disbursements and
il is circulated among the other officers
without coming back until it reaches the
disbursing clerk on the same day that It
was started on its travels. The comment
OF the bureau Of municipal research on
this reform is THE simpllfication means
$500 less for printing, twenty clerks less,
infinitely less opportunity for fsvoritism
and delay. cash. and trade discounts"
The subway question is treated in the
section devoted to the City club. BY a
series Of diagrams they maintain that the
real estate interests in the north OF the
city. where there are at present no ade-
quate means of transportation, have been
so benefited by the subway that 1t would
have paid them to have had the entire cost
levied on them by means Of assessments
in the same way as cost Of the opening Of
sewers and the Improvement of streets is
at present betrayed.
To prove this II is shown that between
1900 and 1907 the land between One Hundred
and Thirty-fifth and One Hundred and
Fifty-fifth streets along the Broadway
subway increased In value S11,S25,0 900, be-
tween One Hundred and F1fty-flfth and
One Hundre and Se~venty-eighth streets
$22,4 5o,OOO, between One Hundred and
seventy-eighth and Dykman streets $l5,-
$4,000, and from Dyckman street to Spuy-
ten Duyvil S19. 100, 600. This rise amounts to
&c., 800, 600. and the same territory increased
in value I'm the seven years before the sub
way was planned only $50. 100, COO. From this
It is argued that since the cost of building
this branch was only $7,375, 900, or Is per
cent of the value added by the new means
OF transportation, the proprietors could
have well borne every cent of the outlay
for the sake of the profit to themselves.
Structure II the Bronx.
Consequently, the City club declares that
as a reinforced concrete elevated structure
could be built along Jerome avenue, in the
Bronx. for about $2,55O,OOo, and 1t would
probably advance the land values for half
a mile on each side Of 1t by A1,55O,OOO the
proprietors might be assessed to the extent
OF its entire cost and yet have a rafting
good bargain. on the other hand, It is
pointed out that experience has shown that
where the new subway is paralleled by an
elevated line there is no enhancement Of
ItaA toAdASf aAhhS hNlNAOAt ~ "phAN pt
possible to pay for the much-debsted
Fourth avenue, Brooklyn, subway in this
fashion. These considerations they recon-
ment to the board of estimate and The pub
lie service commission in preparing future
plans.
Losses in Real Estate.
The city's losses in its real estate deals
through sheer acknowledgement are set forth
in a number of signs. some of which are
reproduced above. A diagram shows at a
glance the famous case of the Police Train
ing farm at Kissena park, which caused
Superintendent Byrnes to suffer suspension.
When he took Commissioners Bingham and
Deputy Commissioner O'Keefe over the
property in the summer OF 1906 II could
have been acquired for 500. 1875, or $1,000 an
acre. 1t changed hands at that rate on
September % and its purchaser offered 1t
again to the city, but It was refused. On
October 81 W.. 8. Hurley financed a second
purchaser. who took it over for $50, s43. rs
that is, at 2.75O an acre, and on November
2 the city took title at $1O5, 900, or "a, 745. rs
an acre, a large rise in value for a period
of forty days.
History has been invoked to set forth
some absolute steals from the municipal
tiles. A couple of maps show how In the
old Dutch days two lanes, Bennett's and
De Bruyn's, ran from Gravesend Bay to
the Kings Highway. 1t is related that I'm
1864, when the duke of York's forces were
marching on old Peter S%tuyvesant, Richard
Nicolls landed a company of men from
Gravesend Bay and marched them up these
lanes to the highway. They have com
pletely vanished, and the exhibition ex-
plains the fact by the statement that in