Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-28


knowledge of the facts that the gov.
eminent could not be run under th<
spoils system.
Attacks are made on the civil sSfv
ice of virulent character in every Con
eress,' he said, and they are not justt
Me. Browne reverted again to thu
fiscal system. 49,,
Mention has been made" he said
LOT the fiscal system OF the City O.
Mexico. That is based on the old sys'
TEN throughout all Mexico. and is re.
sponsible for the present Mexlean slt'
Itation. We have bad economic sys'
TEN in Washington, but there 10
worse one in Mexico. and the revolu-
tion there is going to extend sooth-
ward to Cape Horn. There VIII b
higher land taxes, for at present occu-
pations are taxed too high
Again" reverting to the District OF
Columbia, Mr.. Browne said:
outgrown Half-and-Half Plan.
washington has outgrown the hall-
and half system; the city is no longer an
infant: it's expenses have been sweiled,
anS Washington Is rich and fat We are
able to stand on our feet. II the federal
contributions had been put Into perma-
nent municipal operations, such as water
systems. sewers and strictly municipal
expenses, 1t would have turned Washing
ton into a going concern on the same
basis as other great cities of the Wash
ington group which have done the same
thing with great Indebtedness.
The problem is one OF today, not OF
ancient history. and will appeal as such
to any one whose intelligence Is not
sealed up in cerebral sarcophagus
The Keeling off of columns OF hgures,
with the remark. These are conclusive,
will not appear so conclusive when l
am through"
At this point c. c. Lancaster asked
the committee whom Mr.. Browne rep
resented Members of the committee
gave the opinion that it made no differ
ence whom any one represented al
long as the truth was presented.
Assessment figures were then pre-
sented by Mr. Browne. He produced
them from his brief. beginning with
1874. the total ground values and I'M
provements being given for the DIS
trict of Columbia at S96, 433,0.z Ae
rate in Washington and Georgetown
and a rate of sl.5s in the county. an
average of s1.9S for all the land. The
bonded and other debts for that year
he placed at $20,916.oso. the pondeo
debt itself being S9,902.251.
He said that in 1873 the bonded deot
had Jumped to S22.1o6,65o, and Congress
went to work to remedy the condltlon
here; that Congress fixed three-dolla
tax rate Following the organic act,
the beginning of the half-and- half sys-
tenn, he said the assessment OF real
estate and improvements went down
to sS7.6i5,2S9. Mr.. Browne made
point of this decrease from 1874.
THE assessment of 1874 was not
eoualed until 1886, when it was placed
at s9s,o53329. The shrinkage occurred
just as soon as Congress stepped In TO
aid The assessors office then began
to cut down." This was Mr.. browne
argument.
Assessments in County.
He then referred to the fact that in
1892 the lands in the county were as
sessed as being worth s9.494.61s. and
that in the same year 1906 acres of
land were purchased for s1,225.215 to
make Rock Creek Park. He said the
lands were assessed at s133,a34, only
II per cent of the price paid Mr..
Browne expressed the CONVICTION that
the price paid for Rock Creek Park was
not high. in support OF his contention
that District property is underassessed.
He continued, saying that condemna-
lions here have been at full prices, put
that there had been no robber1es. ne
said the condemnations had been under
the eye of the courts, and that instruc-
lions had been given not to regard the
assessment, value, or the speculative
value, that might be based on the fac!
that the lands were being conde m ned
He said he hoped to prove by con-
domination jurors themselves that the
condemnations of properties showed
the correct value. and outlined mis- De-
lief that he would be able to snow
wide difference between assessed values
and condemned values. He spoke OF
this situation as-."two horns OF
dilemma
From figures from the surveyors
office, Rock Creek Park IS now valued
at s3.600,O30. Contrast that with 1392,
when il was assessed at $4,000. we
have a rise of twenty:sevenfold. an In
crease of 2,700 per cent. II there mas
been such an increase as that, then IT
that other properties near the park ana
In similar sections should have expeff-
enced a similar increase
Land Appraisement. .
Turning to his brief again. Mr.. Browne
said:
There had teen submitted by the board
Of assistant assessors of the District,
composed of George F. Dawson, John +:
Cook and F. L. Moore, three competent
men,, one Of them heavily interested in
real-estate, on the first Monday in June,
1890. an assessment showing the value
of land in the District to be S19S, 772, 672.
The existing assessment was s16.441,02s.
This was a startling raise Of Sl22,331, 544,
ar increase of $50 per cent.
These TREE assessors testified before
congressional committee that their
basis of value was what property would
proba bly, bring at forced sale under ad-
verse circumstances.
The real estate interests of the Dis
trict We're panic-stFicken. They fed to
Congress for relief. and succeeded in
having inserted in the sundry civil act
of August ,. 1892. provision for board
to revise and equalize an assessment
which the assessors report for 1888
calls most extraordinary and alarm
ing
THE new board knew their masters
voice They brought the assessment
back as near the beaten path as they
dared and reduced the assessment Of
decrease of Ss5.9322sa. or 40 per cent.
They raised the assessment of i'm
provements from sT3. s62 1851 to $1S,5Sl,-
421. an increase Of s3.I25,oJ4. or per
cent. Total S19i .41Tso
This went into effect in 1884. yet As
SCISSOR TrInlbie declared in his annual
report for 1893 that these increases In
land value assessments of rs per cent
in Washington. 81 per cent in George
town and 10 per cent in the county,
an average of 30 per cent for the whole
business prosperity.
Satisfactory to Realty Mon.
This attitude was highly satisfactory
10 the real estate interests. and they
maintained their highly efficient grip
OF the assessors ONCE. while the
assessments on land values dropped
fbey fa1lep