Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-04
CORPORATIONS HUGE AREA
Probably One Half Held by Balti.
more Real Estate Company.
DATA FROM ASSESSORS BOOKS
Investigation Under Sisson Resolu-
tom Expected to Disclose Names
! of Actual Holders.


: introduced in the House Saturday by
. Representative Sisson OF Mississippi, pro-
vidtng for an inquiry into the ownership
Of property which 1t Is proposed to con-
denim for public park and boulevard
between the Peace monument. the Cap
: itol and the Union station. and II an in
vestigation Is held. all surface evidence.
at least. points to the probability that
very largely concerned in probing into
the Affairs Of the Real Estate and I'm
provement Company of Baltimore. The
records In the once of the District as
SCISSOR show that practically all of the
transfers OF realty In any volume in the
affected territory within the past eight
or nine years have found this corpora
ton at the purchasing end of the deals
and the corporation owns fully one-third
possibly as much as one-half. of the land
which the government seeks to acquire
for park and boulevard purposes.
i Ownership OF other tracts in the blocks
In question Is either well divided among
INDIVIDUALS, among whom there appears
, to be no we'll defined concert of interest
or else 1t lies in the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company or In the government
OF the District OF Columbia
Revealed by Card Index.
What was then. an entirely new card
index system was prepared in the office
OF the District tax assessor nine years
ago. and this showed the names of the
owners of all property in the twelve
blocks which the government Is now
seeking to acquire. These cards were
written just before the Union Station
project had taken definite form. and the
ownership of property in the wide terri
tory which has since been taken for
railroad purposes. or which is now sought
for park and boulevard purposes, had
nothing to recommend II especially for
investment above any other part of the
city. But when the railroad project did
take form. II is claimed, real and SUBJ
stantial value was given to much prop
erty in the area affected. Eight years
ago the Washington Terminal Company
began 10 figure large in the record of
owner of record of many parcels of land
In what were formerly residence blocks
or unimproved land lying around the
present site OF the Union station.
But 1t is in the blocks adjacent to the
station. in land which ultimately must be
affected beneficially by nearness TO the
railroad terminal, that the Real Estate
and Improvement Company OF Baltimore
has been almost the only active pur-
chaser in the years since the station was
begun and finished.
Moving Spirits Not Known.
Who are the moving spirits behind the
Real Estate and Improvement Com
pany, officials at the assessors Office do
not know. They know only that the
property held by the corporation In the
District comprises the larger part of land
I'm more than sixty city blocks lying
around the Capitol and the Union sta
tion and along the line of the railroad,
all the way out into the county. besides
twenty-one parcels of acreage property.
varying in size from the tiniest fraction
of an acre to one tract of more than
fifty-two acres.
ings of the Real Estate and Improvement
Company In the District are assessed at
more than S@,OoO,OOO and that the taxes.
which amount to $30,129 annually, are
paid by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Company
OF the individuals who constitute. this
great holding corporation there is no
record outside the records of the Real
Estate and Improvement Company.
Wherefore. II the investigation does oc-
cur. ii seems at least probable that the
Baltimore corporation will be called upon
to produce all of it's books. SO that Con-
gress may ascertain whether or not there
IL basis In fact for Representative Sis
sons fmputation that some of his asso-
ciates in the national legislature are
financially interested in the property
which they, as the makers of the laws,
are now seeking to acquire by process of
law for the national government.
Holdings Of Babcock Estate.
The estate Of the late Representative
Joseph w. Babcock controls thirteen
pieces OF property in two of the squares
which will be included in the park and
boulevard. the aggregate assessed valua-
lions OF the Babcock holdings being $s4,-
eS5 But Representative Baocock, for
years during his tenure of office, made
: and he was interested in property in the
vicinity OF his home long before the
present site was even suggested for the
Union station.