Evening star., 1914-12-12

act says that the notice shall desig-
| nate the location and kind of work
| to be done, specify the kind of ma
terfal to be used, the estimated cost of
! the Improvement and fix a time and
| place where the property owners to be
assessed can appear and present OBJ
| jections.
Should Be Separate.
This clearly implies that the notice
| should be sufficient to apprise the
property owner that his property is to
be assessed and that the place of the
Improvement should be pointed out in
way which will bring home to him
| that it is his property to which the
advertisement relates. 1t must not be
forgotten that the entire cost of the
proceedings. including the advertise
ment, Is charged against the property
owner. and. this being so, an unwise
economy does not justify an advertise
ment which is valueless to the citizen.
Justice requires that such advertise
ments should be published separately:
that they should have catch headings
property owners interested. and should
describe the location of the property
proposed to be improved. so as to fully
inform the property owner of the pro-
posed assessment against MIN.
ut is well known that property own
ers refer to their property and know
1t not by its lot and square number, but
by its street number. If 100 property
owners were asked in what square
their property is located it is proba BILE
that not more than per cent would
know the number of the square. Yet,
Notwithstanding this fact, known to all,
it is the practice of the Commissioners
to group a large number of proposed
printed in small type. and the only
notice given the property owner is one,
two or three lines in the midst of a
long advertisement.
Assessment Method Unfair.
I'm this connection We take the
liberty of calling attention to a matter
which may not be exactly germane to
this report. Under the law providing
for the improvement of lots as con-
strued for long time by the Commits
sioners great injustice is often done
to particular property owners. In many
runs with the alley. The alley does
not benefit such lot any more than
any other lot in the square, yet under
the present law, as Interpreted, such a
lot on an alley would have to pay, say,
for $50 feet of improvement, while all
other lots in the square would only
pay. say. for twenty-foot frontage
on the alley. 1t may easily occur and
probably has occurred in a number of
cases, that such lots abutting upon
alleys are compelled to pay by far for
the greater part of the improvements
which are equally beneficial to every
owner in the square. other owners
only paying according to the width of
their lots. This law should be changed
SO as to require that the cost of i'm
provements should be assessed in ac-
cordance with the frontage upon the
streets or avenues of the lots in the
square. By making this change each
lot benefited by the alley would only
pay it's just share of the cost of the
improvement
Benefits Do Not Exist.
Your committee has found that
there have been many cases in the Dis
trict where the owners of land as
sessed for benefits in proceedings to
open streets and alleys have been re-
quired to pay the assessments before
the streets or alleys have been actually
opened To compel citizens against
whose property benefits have been as
the streets or alleys have been opened
to pay for something which they
have not received and may never re-
ceive-is manifestly unjust and i'm
proper and amounts to the taking of
their property without just compensa-
tion.
Your committee is of the opinion
that the District Commissioners should
not condemn land for the opening of
streets or alleys in the District until
they have obtained from Congress an
appropriation which will enable them
TO promptly open the streets or alleys,
upon the completion of the condemna-
tlon proceedings: and if the Commits
Sioners cannot see their way clear to
conform to this suggestion, we submit
that they should exert their influence
to bring about the enactment of legis-
lation which will relieve the owners of
property assessed for benefits in these
cases from the necessity of paying the
assessments before the streets or al
leys have been actually opened to the
public In the opinion of your COM
mittee. such legislation should also
provide in fairness to the property
owners that interest on the assess
inents for benefits shall not begin to
run until the work of opening the
streets or alleys for which the assess
ments were made has been COM
r,le