Omaha daily bee., 1919-09-29
@!ReeHMm
.&Asr81X
Rent Protiteering.

the Editor or Inc bee: YOU
| and / do not agree so often but tina
l feel like complimenting you whel
/ you do good thing, like going aftel
| the rent sharks of Omaha. Rem
| sharks they are and no matter how
one may apologize for them he can
not make them anything else. l an
on both sides of this question. know
something of the added cost of main
tanning property, and have felt thu
CAD of 100 per cent increase of my
own rent, so l think 1 can be fair
The shortage of office and residence
buildings in Omaha is just as much
due to the war as If the war were
still in progress. While the war was
on, material could not be had. the
government looked after that, labor
was hard to get and everything had
to give way to government needs
Men didn't dare profiteer to the full
then, didn't dare hold up those who
were fighting for civilization while
they made money: it would not have
been safe while the people were
aroused. Why is it safe now? Only
because the people stand for it, il
has always been so and perhaps al
ways will. Some fight the battles,
some make the money
What is their excuse? Additional
taxes for one. Well, it is lie to be-
cir with. The taxes for 1919. State,
County and City were considerably
lower than they were in 1918. The
Brandeis theater building and the
Sauders-kennedy building, which
combined have increased rents al
most 100 per cent in the last two
years, paid $937.89 ISIS taxes in 1919
than in 1918. You can go to the
treasurers office and prove this.
And this building is no exception,
anyone who owns or controls prop
erty can look at his tax receipts and
prove it.
"Oh. but look at the cost of
labor and material" they tell us. For
instance. l suppose, elevator opera
tors They are paying their girls
considerably less than they paid men
and if you don't believe it look 1t
up. Material and labor does cost
lot more than it did, but how often
has your office been painted or your
floors finished in the last ten years,
not more than twice I'll be willing to
bet you. The janitor's force visits
you every day, maybe, but how many
of them are there, and how much of
an increase have they received? Not
enough to roughen the cuticile OF the
plum the landlords have picked.
But the landlords think they can
get away with it, that there is no
comeback. Maybe not; banks and
stores are of little worth to their
owners without buyers and the buy
ers live in houses and rent offices
and may be depended upon to have
frio To tho
or bank that is jabbing the knife clear
in and turning it round; there are
other stores and banks in every
town you know. OF course, it is
possible to cover these things up by
transfers to outsiders so that some
will not see through it, but some will
and they may be depended upon to
tell the others. A man would be a
foo, to cut his own nose off to spite
his face, but he would be equally a
fool to deal with those who are rob
bling him if he can get prices and
treatment elsewhere as good or nearly
so.
The shortsightedness of business
Is proverbial but it is surprising
nevertheless. Statesmen everywhere
are losing sleep over the terrible un
rest that afflicts the world. Prof.
teerinS business men can do more
in one day to stir up unrest than all
the statesmen can allay in year and
the rrofiteering landlord is the worst
of the lot. The merchant can say,
with truth, these goods cost me
more and | have to get more for
them; but the tenant whose rent is
raised to the skies knows it is the
same old building and the same old
land and he knows that the raise is
nearly all velvet and resents it ac-
cordingly.
But" they will say and do, the
value of that land has increased
Oh boy. Isn't that nuts for the sin
gle taxer? Who made that in
creased value? The contractor.
whose rent you are skying, the man
ufacturer who has spent months
and years building up business and
the town, the wholesaler. the job
Der, the carpenter. the bricklayer,
the hod carrier, the workers who
doctor, who were attracted to the
city, settled and built homes and
are now being held up for it, If
Henry George could hear us groan
these days wouldn't he grin? And
the single taxer is always with us
and may be depended upon to drive
the lesson home. What the people
have made jointly, the people Jointly
should have and thus be relieved
of their taxes" That's the argu-
ment and it hardly seems the part
of wisdom to make 1t too plain that
there's something in it."
And the children! Without
growth, the landlords property
would be worthless or nearly so.
There can't be much growth with
out children and yet we find the
very landlords whose wealth is in
creased by children and children,
and yet more children, barring them
out in favor of poodle dogs, shut
ting the doors in their faces, dis
couraging people from coming to
Omaha when, if people had not
come to Omaha there would be no
rents paid or collected, big or little.
The children who are being shut
out are the ones, remember who
will have to do the fighting in the
future wars, and build the future
cities for future landlords to milk.
Wouldn't it be the part of wis
dom. from a strictly selfish point of
view, to go a little slow? Think it
over, not only you who are protiteer-
ing, but you who are getting the
hot end of the poker. There may be
instructions in it for all of us, If