Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-10

| methods usually followed. as he declared,
| in selling or buying a parcel Of real es-
| tate, the seller never knows what the
actual price Is. and the buyer and the
real estate broker are the only ones who
know what has been paid for the prop
| erty.
Discusses Intangible Property.
| Turning his attention to the provision
In the amended George bill for taxat on
| Of Intangible personal property Represen-
| tative johnson affirmed that number Of
large estates. several Of which he referred
\ to by name. hold immense amounts Of
Intangible personal property" such as
stocks. bonds and other paper. In the Dis
| trict on which. he said. they pay no taxes
whatever. In this connection Mr.. john
son declared that he would not return to
! his constituents and tell them that he had
| voted to let these millions Of dollars OF
securities escape taxation in order that
| larger burden might be placed on the
| back Of every man. woman and child in
Kentucky. adding that under the existing
| law Kentucky Is paying $4,000 annually
| for the support OF the District of Column
bia. Such intangible personal property,
he said, is taxed in his own state. and he
added the declaration that he did not
| know of state In which such property
was not taxed.
Representative johnson asserted that In
| the so-called organic act had been
violated. but that at neither time had a
voice been raised in the District Of Co
lumbia to protest against these violations.
said. contained the proviso Of Limitation
| which declared that the half-and-half
principle should prevail. provided the
rate Of taxation therein I'm the act as
adopted) should oe maintained. The two
changes In the organic act. he asserted.
changed both the rate Of taxation and
the frequency of assessments.
Referring to the demand Of the news
papers of Washington. as we'll as to the
demands Of residents Of the District Of
Columbia for uniform application Of
the present system Of taxation to every
body and to all kinds Of property. Mr..
| johnson asserted that there Is no uni
formity' of taxation in the District.
Alleges Violation Of Organic Act.
uniform and levied taxes on real estate and
personal property Of all kinds. including
stocks, bonds and other securities. and
further provided for annual assessments.
| The first violation Of the act, he said. oc-
| CURED in 1888, when the system Of tri-
| ennial assessments was substituted Tor
| the annual assessment Of property for tax
| alton. Then, in 1902. he asserted. the or
ganic act was further emasculated by the
enactment Of a provision exempting from
taxation of any kind all stocks. bonds and
| other securities. At the same time. he
| declared, uniformity Of the rate Of taxa
| ton was destroyed by further provision
| taxing tangible personal property at Sl.5O
| on the hundred dollars. while real estate
| was to be taxed only at the rate Of 81
on the hundred dollars.
Nobody heard a cry from the people
who are now raising all this noise for
fear the organic act may be interfered
rod
quietly by and acquiesced in the partial
destruction Of a fair assessment by say
ing they were willing to accept a two
thirds valuation on real estate and three
thirds on tangible personal property.
Representative Johnson declared that
Baltimore and every other city In the
country must levy rate that Will pay
its operating expenses, asserting that q
equitable as applied to other cities Is
equally fair as regards the District OF
Il Columbia
IF the United States is to continue to
contribute to the maintenance OF the
District of Columbia" he exclaimed.
then l say the Congress OF the people
| whose money IL taken to do that shall
hold the right to fix this levy. No other
proposition Is equitable.
/ Amendment Of 1909.
Reverting to the amendatory act OF
1902 in effect reducing the rate Of taxa
ton on real estate from $15O on the
hundred dollars to 81 on the hundred,
Representative johnson asked:
Are we to infer that when the act OF
1902 reduced the rate Of taxation on real
estate the then Commissioners Of the
!, District were seeking to avoid the rails
Ii SO. then they deliberately sought In
1902 to get through Congress, and they
. did get it through. a proposition which
would destroy the organic act OF 1S7Ss
ing taxed at the rate provided In tina,
! act, SO that they might not reach point
in income where they could pay thei1
1wn expenses.
MIR. Johnson referred 70 oecision o.
! the Supreme Court Of the United States
which. he said, controvested the tdes
advanced in Washington that the gov
eminent owns all the streets OF the city
also paying his respects 10 what ~
styled an exploded argument" used by
Boss" Shepherd in 1874. to the effect tina
the fede. al government owns half thu
property in the District.
.As a matter of fact" he declared. 'l
say that the federal government doe.
not own in the District OF Columbia ont
hundred acres which it uses exclusively
for federal purposes
Notes Some Exceptions.
He referred to Potomac and Rock Creel
parks. which. he said. while owned b!
the government. aye not used for fedora
purposes. Even the grounds surround
q ing the Capitol. he asserted, are not use,
: exclusively for federal purposes He re
d ferred to the White House grounds, tn,
> Treasury grounds and others not men
). toned by name as the only real estat,
a | In the Dist: let used wholly for fedora
4 purposes. Concluding his speech, Mr.
johnson said:
"You see 1t 'harped upon in every day
paper here, In speaking Of the people bacl
in the states. that the city Of Washington
is theirs. You can take a search warran
Q | and go to the householder in the con
f gressional district in Kentucky fror
l which hail and ask them to nQint OH