The New York herald., 1922-01-08

might outline the definite progressive
movement which runs through the en-
tire range of history, whether it be OF
the world. nation or city, and show how
the pioneers have always been the agri-
culturists or farmers. who acquire the
best locations possible for their pur-
poses. They discover the fertile places,
or clear less promising ones, and begin
to cultivate the land. AS these become
more thickly settled, the trader appears
and selects the most convenient place
fer the transaction of his business. form
ing the nucleus of a village. AROUND
him begin to cluster the artisans ana
craftsmen. and the village grows 10 be
town or city. attracting TO itself the
varied business and professional men
that its growing needs require. For mu-
tual protection and advancement the
cities aggregate themselves into States.
and nations come into being. With
their growth comes the need of an outlet
both for increasing population and ex-
cess product. which causes the invasion
of neighboring States, or the search Tor
new lands to colonize--a constant proc
ess of growth and expansion which hav-
ing its birth somewhere in Asia aoout
eight thousand years ago, so far as our
historical knowledge goes. has with
much conflict and pickering slowly but
surely encircled the globe and absorbed
all habitable parts of the world.
This progressive movement is not yet
completed 1t Is still going on through
out the world, and all over the United
States and has been and still Is the
actuating basis of our real estate trans
actions here and now in the city of New
York.
The story might also show just how
and when personal ownership OF real
estate began. Quite evidently there
was a time when the surface of the earth
was regarded by all men as common
possession, for our earliest knowledge
shows families and tribes wandering IN
the Eastern deserts in search of place
where water springs induced sufficient
vegetation to provide temporary dwell
ing place for man and beast, which they
preempted without thought Of trespass
and occupied so long as it satisfied their
needs, when they moved forward IN
search of new pastures.
ProprietOrship In the Making.
II may perhaps be assumed that, as
man acquired knowledge Of the process
of agriculture and began to cultivate the
soil, his place Of residence became more
permanent, and he naturally developed
a sense of proprietorship in the land In
which he had invested his labor and
capital Among friendly neighbors his
rights would be respected, and in time
system of ownership would become
established. For a long period this
ownership was largely dependent upon
the physical ability to defend It. and
was thus the basis of nearly all of the
&c he. 81 iaf
At a later period land became the
personal property of ruling monarchs
and conquerors. and was divided up into
grants 70 favored followers. and In turn
subdivided to tenants, who cultivated II
under the protection of the lord of the
manor" or Landlord" as we still call
him. Still later. as new lands were dis
covered. charters We're given to colonists,
as in the early days Of America. Gradu-
ally. with the coming of stable govern
ment. rights of possession became more
definitely assured and protected by law,
and the larger grants became subdi-
vided, first to tenants and small indi-
vdual owners as farms and estates.
and finally into city lots. until there
was evolved the system of ownership
that prevails to-day, under which pTac-
tically every square foot of useful land
human beings who have not taken pains
TO acquire a portion of the earth's sur
face on which TO stand have no right 10
walk thereon. outside of public spaces
such as streets and parks. without pay
ing a tax I'm the form of rent 20 some
more provident fellow being. Just as In
former times, the lord of the manor
maintained himself upon the contribu-
tions of those whom he allowed 10 culti-
vate his estate. so to-day many OF our
landlords live in leisure upon the rents
paid by their tenants.
Il is of course, evident that from the
moment that personal possession Is rec
ognized value begins to attach. AS men
began to understand better the profitable
| uses to which land could be put it's value
| In their eyes would begin to increase,
primarily in relation to its special char
acter, its fertility, for instance. or the
| discovery of useful minerals under It's
surface. This would later be regulated
by its accessibility TO caravan routes and
| trading centres and by the amount OF
similar land of equal character and ac-
cessiblity. With the spread of popula-
| tion and Improvement OF transportation
| facilities new areas would begin to ac-
| quire value and the older ones would be-
come still more desirable. The coming
mendous impetus to land values every
where by opening areas formerly mac
cessibe and by stimulating commerce
| between both individuals and nations.
In our time the development Of the mod
ern steel building has given the final
thrust to land values by permitting the
| multiplication Of surface area in loca-
| tions where concentration Is profitable,
| 40 that we see the Equitable Building.
/ for instance. occupying a ground area
! of not much more than one acre. provd-
/ ing more than thirty acres OF office space.
Our story might very prohtably and
| helpfully trace the course OF this rise In
value through all its varied raminca-
| tons from the time when land was COM
/ mon property up TO to-day when men
| have paid as high as $500 per square
| foot for one OF the corners OF Wall and
Nassau streets in New York city.
Another interesting feature Of such a
story would be the record OF the pro-
/ Eressively accelerating speed which
marks our progress. Just as boulder
rolling down steep mountainside gath.
ers momentum in its descent, 30 our rate
Of progress has increased until II Is
! sometimes hard to realize how fast We
are travelling as compared with earlier
periods.
! Hundreds Of millions Of years were re-
/ 1uired to form our world. and make II
/ habitable by men. The earliest evidences
/ Of intelligence that we have, such as
/ stone implements and crude paintings in
caves. are estimated 10 be about e00.O .O0O
years old Archeologists guess that the