The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1916-08-17

the town itself has got to attract it.
All that Board of Trade can do
is to advertise the opportunities we
have to offer, but if we have none
to offer of course we can't expect to
get what opportunity alone can
bring.
A town that holds out no hope of
advance or improvement encourages
renting rather than owning. People
simply won't anchor themselves in
such place and they would be fool
ish if they did. And the town will
have to suffer. A man who rents
would as lief live in the next house
as this house or in the next town as
this town. You will always find
him where he thinks it is for his
best interests to be. But how about
the man who owns property in
the town? He can't move about as
he pleases. | understand there are
about $50 people who leave our town
each morning to work in Trenton
and other places and return at night.
How many of those people let me
ask would be going back and forth
each day if they didn't own a piece
of property in the town that has to
be cared for? | am afraid great
many of these people today would
be spending their money in the place
where they earn it. If Lambertville
is to have a future we must adopt a
policy that will encourage owning
y. rather than renting for it is the land
owner more than anyone else who
is interested in a booming town.
The man who rents can go off and
leave us any time, but the man who
owns has got to stay and therefore
he will try to boost the town as
much as he can. He knows that if
the town is prosperous he will share
in the prosperity and he also knows
that if the town is not prosperous
he will have to suffer the conse-
quences.
We said that the tenant pays the
tax. He does as long as he is able
When you come to the point where
the tenant can no longer afford to
pay the tax one of two things has
got to happen: the tenant has got
to move and leave US or the landlord
has got to share the tax. If the
tenant moves that means empty
houses which means cheaper real es-
tate values, lower assessments, and
higher tax rates. There will be
fewer people to pay taxes and that
means each of US will have just that
much more to pay. If the landlord
has to share the tax that is going
to going to cut down the profit on
his investment. That means people
with money won't invest it in realty,
and the whole thing taken together
also means lower values, lower as
sessments, and higher tax rates
People who own tell me that that is
the point we are fast approaching
now.
SO then | think we can all see the
need of a wide awake business ad-
ministration of our city affairs,
something we haven't had for years
and something it seems almost impos-
sible to have under the present way
of doing things. We want men who
will administer our government not
only honestly but efficiently and
give US the full value of what we
pay for. 1t is not until we attain
this that we can ever hope to in
crease the business opportunities Of
the town. If Lambertvile wants
to grow she will first have to get a
good, clean, up-to-date government.
| contend that Lambertville's oppor-
tunity will be at hand the 10Th day
of September.
C. A. MALLoY.
, C0OK WA NTED-A nnnnh In ,unr,nan