Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-31
REAL ESTATE MEN DIFFER
CONCERNING LICENSE LAWS
Benefit Buyer. Seller and Agent. Says Mon
treal Broker-Not Practical In Big
City, Asserts New Yorker

Fitz,James E. Browne Of Montreal. In the New
York Herald.
Anything that will be of mutual bene-
fit to the buyer. the seller and the
agent, as well as protecting the three
equally. must be a good contract, and
the licensing of real estate men will
do this.
have listened to the arguments
against the licensing Of real estate
brokers and there has been one domi-
nant feature, that they always refer
to the fact that 1t will not eliminate
the shyster real estate broker. but there
is not man that has referred to the
most injurious-the shyster proprietor
without which the shyster agent
could not live.
To begin with. real estate is not a
business but a profession. Name me
ono profession that is not under regu-
lations, II you can. The doctors are:
the dentists are; the lawyers are, the
architects and the insurance men are.
All these professions are under control.
The country makes laws, but still 1t
has to have its jails and penitentiaries.
1t is true that we have bad in every
profession. but 1t is the fear OF God
that keeps man good. so 1t is the
straight. but in spite Of all this there
Is always somebody who Is willing to
take the chance. and If it was not for
the law and the regulations Of the DIFF
ferent professions. what a very sad
state of affairs would exist!
In the medical profession. for ex-
ample, how would you know what man
TO trust? The same can be said Of
the dentists and the lawyers. Take
the insurance business. What does
protection do for the insurance" Can
any man sell fire insurance for any
company unless he is licensed fnsur-
ance broker? Can any man sell fire
insurance at a higher or lower rate
than that given by the insurance COM
panyc And what is the position of the
man who wishes to insure? He knows
that the rate given him by the insur-
ance broker IS the best rate and the
only rate he can get. and the position
of the insurance broker is that II he
places the insurance he can get his
commission. And it will be the same
if YOU license the real estate brokers,
because the proprietor will place his
property with a firm under an exclu-
sive contract. The proprietor then
knows that his property cannot be
hawked around and deprecated, the
buyer knows that the price quoted by
the reputable agent is correct and the
erty he will get his commission, so
that the contract brought about by
The licensing of real estate brokers is
mutual contract. protecting the three
parties interested and is it not. there
fore. the best contract
one of the arguments advanced at
the real estate convention was that it
would be detrimental to the big firm
and the little man. How can ito 1t is
beneficial to both, because 1t brings the
small man into the big Arm and give.
that man bigger line of goods to
sell. The big firm. by getting the small
men as subagents. will have more
channels and ways of disposing of its
clients h11S
greater efficiency in sales, which is
the backbone of any business, for it rs
results that count. and it brings the
small man under the protection of the
lions. Consequently. I say in ali sin
certify. the licensing of real estate
brokers' would be a godsend to the
fraternity.