The sun., 1912-07-01
RESPONS|B|L|T|ESOF
THE REALTY BROKER
Georcc Mortimer Tells COnvcn.
ton His Views Of the
Profession.
DAY OF THE SPECIALISTS
Country's Growth Makes Great
opportunity for Honesty
and Energy.

resl Estate Exchanges, held at Louis |
,I.,, Ky. George 7. Mortimer, Vice |
president. nr the United States Realty
and Improvement Company. made one
~ the principal addresses, his subject
having been "iteal Estate as Pro-
feqslon" In Mr. Mortimcr's audience
were between 1900 and 400 delegates
from, all PARTS ~ the country, who,
knowing Mr. Mortimer as the one who
manages the immense holdings OF the
great realty company, gave eager at
ten.ion to his address
Declaring that the vocation Of a real
estate man was no longer a business
hu, profession, comparable with the
law, medicine and the ministry; Mr..
Mortimer continued. This profession
has grown with marked rapidity during
the last decade; in fact the growing
tendency OF the public to avoid Wall
street and its pitfalls "A few years ago
brought about n speculation in real cs-
late which was almost Of the wild
,at variety. The entire United States
va. plotted and plated until farm land
became 80 scarce that necessity. in
rectlfving the evils which were brought
about. has begun to turn some Of the
lots and plots again into farms. OF
this wildcat developing I have little
,o say. except that 1t Is hurting your
business and mine. 1t Is tending to
cast stigma on the business from
which YOU and I gain our livelihood.
on the profession which 1t Is your duty
and mine 10 protect and to elevate.
Going hand in hand with this Wild
cat speculation in land was tre-
mendous amount of worthless stocks
and bonds of fake realty companies and
boom developments. A friend in Du-
luth. who is attending the convention.
wrote me about some stock his client
bought In boom development on Long
Island. which proved to be barren
sandhar. Another in Seattle. one or two
n Chicago and others wrote me In
curing about real estate securities Of
an almost worthless character. bought
BY friends and clients.
surely this is the kind OF thing you
and must help to stop; especially as
conditions are shaping themselves day
by day so as to make the legitimate
real estate security more essential than
ever and the market has got to be kept
clean.
The very fact that real estate Is one
IL the few lines of business which can,
in some instances, be entered with little
or no capital and less experience. aug
.nented by the fact that the rewards are
often great opens this business to tho
wanton attacks OF those VIII, are un-
sorupulous and who, lured on by COM
MISSIONS. go about handing out gold
bricks To their clients to the detriment
II the profession at large as well as to
their own ultimate ruin.
In the United States alone there are
three and a half million square miles
and II our population is increasing al
the rate of ten million, or 10 per cent.
every ten years. our real estate Is aisC
increasing IN value at the same ratio
Added to his the continual production
# gold and the natural increasing re-
sources Of the country are adding an un'
earned increment as sure as the sun
Why. therefore, Is not real estate. So
Iectcd with reasonable discrimirR tion
the best investment that can be made
The man who owns piece OF land mas
sense OF possession IKE unto king. NJ
other form Of property ownership ere
ates tho same feeling of personal prid'
and Independence. When you buy
plece OF real estate and have your cee'
a in your strongbox YOU own somethin:
which cannot be manipulated by
board of directors, which cannot b'
thrown into the hands of receivers an
which neither fire nor panic nor har'
times can destroy.
"You suburban developers. who ar
teaching the people how to live by build
ing sanitary homes; you builders
ideal terements In the congested dis
tr!cts Of the cities; you builders OF mod
orn office buildings and other hives
industry, which are constructed so as t
give their occupants the best possibl
living and working conditions, are en-
gagged in the most cnnobling work II
possible To conceive. preventing SICK
. r~ss minimizing crime. increasing ell
tency ana prolongtng life ana happl
ness.
AS my particular speciality has bee
'he development of the skyscraper
am hardly competent to discuss subur
ban development but as ! tour abou
the country | cannot but observe the ma
TONS tendency to migrate from tn
closely populated districts OF the cit
lack 70 the country. Assisted by IN
trolley and the automobile. as we'll q
by occasional tunnels, the people ar
'ak.ng advantage more and more Of sun
SHINE ana shrubbery and the dcvelope
who is building the style Of house tn
people want and who Is building 1t we
and Who Is laying his PROPERTY out
dn attractive manner and with sui'aDl
restrictions will market his product.
some time ago friend of mine az
qlred under foreclosure row OF seI
onl"'n poorly constructed two fan1il
houses, and when he complained to m
that ont II the thlrty-four apartment
only ,cn were rented ! went To look q
them, and found that In each OF II
t"cn'y-four vacant apartments was
largo ana very Objectionable to let SIX
ADVERTISING ;nH fact that the whole ro
-. Wds praC icailN deserted. u the plrgt
had lit IN ncighborhood II couldn
nave looked worse. at once advise
MN I" talk" down all the signs but or
ana I" hnF" ch, ap hut neat lace curtain
h3' M itc front windows. and II wa
oi"N mort tim" before the majori'
u' N. 't'aucics were til!od.
another row Of houses stood idic II
amos a Year. They were neat little or
la,Nl," houses we'll built but poorly Il