Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-10-31
MR.. RENTER, ATTENTION
ENTER. this is for you:

4V4 Fay no attenu0n TO thoSe
who tell you that If the new
high school loan is passed rents will
have to be advanced. The property
owner who says that is ignorant of the
facts or. more likely. he is trying to
find an excuse for raising your rent
after the loan goes through.
But make no mistake about this
the high school loan will not be re-
sponsible for rent increases. If a
property owner puts on another dollar
month it will be largely because he
wants that dollar for himself.
The school board does not believe it
will be necessary to levy additional
taxes next year, but granting that an
other mill would be necessary there
still would be no reason why owners
should advance rents. A mill on the
tax rate would amount to about nine
cents a month on every thousand dol
lars of assessed valuation and many
OF the small houses are assessed no
higher than that. This would mean
total for the year of $1.0S on the
$1,000 house which would certainly
not justify the landlord in increasing
rents from "s1 to So a month" as the
author of an anonymous circular at
tacking the loan asserts.
And just a word as to this anony-
nous circular and it's author. AL
though the writer has made an effort
to hide his identity, the school board
has learned that he is a prosperous
landlord who is living on the rentals
from large number of small houses
occupied mostly by working men.
This man. it is said, has neither kith
nor kin. He is so situated that public
schools mean nothing to him. What
men of that kind want is the largest
rental they can procure from the lit
tie houses they own. They care
naught for public Improvements.
They plan and scheme to make their
investments pay the largest possible
returns. In 1902, when the first pub
lie improvement loan was before the
people, these little owners of many
properties sensed that the people
would adopt it. So, in order to feather
their own nests at the expense of the
renters, they went about pretending
to be opposed to the loan, while in
reality they would have been the most
disappointed people in town had it
failed. They were simply making ex-
cuses in advance for the additional
money they hoped to wrest from those
who occupied their houses. They
knew what they were saying was not
true, but for the sake of collecting a
few dollars to which they had no just
title they were willing to jeopardize
the whole public improvement plan.
The same applies to the high school
loan. Just as the loan for parks, play
grounds, sanitary sewers, the flood
control of Paxton creek that used to
cause hundreds of deaths from dis
ease among the poor people who lived
along its banks, and for filtered water
were all designed to benefit the great
mass of the people, so is the high
school loan of to-day. 1t is planned in
order that all the boys and girls of
Harrisburg-richa and poor alike
shall have equal opportunities. Voters
who listen to the croakers who predict
higher rents are opposing their own
best interests
Here Is sure and certain way to
trip up the unscrupulous landlord who
resorts to such tactics. Find from
him how much he intends to raise your
rent if the loan passes. Then go to the
school board offices and find out how
much one mill of taxes will cost the
owner. If the landlord is justified and
you feel you can't afford to pay the
additional rent-vote against the loan
But If you discover that your land
lord is simply trying to hold you up
which is what you will discover-go
back and show him your figures. At
ter that you will not need to fear an
advance in rent.
Straw votes and Colonel Harvey, who
has reputation to maintain, all indi-
cate the election of Hughes. Every i'm
portant sign now points in the direc-
tion of Republican victory and return
to first principles.
Vance Mccormick saws. "Jt Iooks 1it,r