Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-22

basis of taxation. Mr.. IIayner cited one
sale OF piece Of property on III stree.
which went 1T price OF Sla3.ovh. o.
about 81 less per square foot than otho.
property In the block was worth.
In this case II happened that the owner
had made a rather foolish lease" sale
Mr.. Hagner. and the purchaser paic
$4,000 for the property and S2o.ooo fol
the lease. But IL the true consideration
should be stated Il would appear at only
$123.Ooa. and suppose the assessor
would be required TO accept this figure.
Mr. Hagner also spoke OF the case al
a senator who recently retired from OIL
flee. and who deliberately sold his
Washington residence at $50 900 be-
cause he wished TO close up all OF his
affairs in the Capital City within a
space of twenty-four hours. For this
house the purchaser was offered $4,000
before he had paid a dollar of the pur
chase money. Mr.. Hagner said. but tho
offer was refused, and I am sure I'll"
house could not be purchased for S45.
900. because that il its real value"
still another instance where the price
paid for piece OF property was not
the actual value. was cited. the sub
stance of the transaction being that toe
owner OF a lot adjoining corner lot
found il absolutely necessary 10 have
the corner lot. and he paid $4,000 Tor
X,
$40, 900 more than ii actually was worth.
Ruin to Borrowing Value.
This bill would ruin the borrowing
value of property MIR. Hagner declared.
"and IL would wholly destroy the stabii-
ity OF real estate az an investment. Tie
real estate business l. the hackhonc
of all business In this Capital city where
we have no manufacturing interests.
1T would put the whole real estate prop
ostion at the mercy of the fiy-by-night
investor. who to secure "A few dollars In =
hurry might elect to sell his home AZ =
sacrifice or to take $500 for IL when y
was worth $1,000 and then what would
one OF my clients say to me III l had
loaned his money to the extent or 500
on the house next door?
And I would also like to ask where the
operative builder would stand IL he should
sell one house in a row on the instalment
plan at a fixed figure, and II the very
next day a cash buyer would appear ard
secure the reduction for cash which ~
ways Is made in such cases? DO you sup
pose the builder could sell the remainder
of his properties at the higher hgura
which he must obtain IL he is To wait
ten and twenty years for his money
No Such Law in "A States.
Brainard II. Warner also spoke before
the committee and he read forty-four tel
egrams from the leading banks and bank
ers in as many different states. all OF
them declaring there is no such law on
the statute books of any OF their states
as this measure. which Is calculated 10
require the statement of the true consid-
Grafton i'm real estate transactions
The places from which the kilograms
came included: Jackson. Miss: Portland
Greg: Newark. y. j.: Philadelphia, Pa;
Concord. n. H.: Cincinnati. Ohio: Hart
ford. Conn.,: Aberdeen, $. d.; Helena.
Mont: Las Vegas. n. NJ. Chattanooga,
Tenn: Seattle. Wash; Birmine ham, Ala
Providence, r. l.; Augusta. Me-. Raleigh.
n. c.; Bennington, VT: Wilmington DEL;
Alexandria. Va; New Orleans. La; og-
den. Utah: Detroit. Mich: Savannah. Ga.
Boston. Mass; Chicago. IL; Los Angeles
Cal: FL Paso, Tex: Council Bluffs. Iowa:
Charleston. s. C.; Lincoln, Neb.: Arkan-
sas City. Kan: Louisville. Ky; New York
city and Albany. n. Y; Kansas City. Mo-.
Fort Wayne: Ind: Minneapolis, MINI
sonville, Fla: Fargo. n. d.: Boise CITY,
Idaho: Denver. Col: Reno. New. De-
troit. Mich, and Little Rock. Ark.
Protest of National Exchange.
Mr.. Warner also presented a telegram
from S. s. Thorpe of Nashville, Tenn,
president of the National Real Estate
Exchange. which read as follows:
See no reason why an owner must
tell the public what he gets for any
asset or for goods he may sell. An
owner may be willing to sell one lot
for a certain sum, but would not sell
adjoining lot for same price.
/. ALSO in opening and offering new adj
ditions or business sections. owners
might sell under certain conditions and
considerations that would not apply for
adjoining property. The National As
ISOLATION of Real Estate Exchanges
pledged you it's support and Joins in
protest against this additional burden
on real estate, which no other asset has
to bear. Real estate already is most
easily taxed and pays 80 to 30 per cent
Of all taxes.
Chairman Johnson precipitated some
discussion regarding the necessity for
the title insurance companies. but al!
of the local brokers united in declaring
that the title companies greatly eN-
pedite business.
The local brokers also voiced much
praise Of the Commissioners of the Dis
trfct and OF the District assessor. ana
requested that this fact be stated tn
controyert the rumors that have been
circulated that the committee OF pro-
test before the District committee had
criticised the oflicials Of the local gov
eminent.