The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-04-30
UpHOLDS HONESTY
OF BIG REALTORS
r. Il. Bowling Defends Ethics
\ of His Confreres at Y. M. G. A..
Lecture Course.


\ Robert f. Bowling. president OF the
City Investing Company and dean or
real estate operators in New York city,
IN his speech at the banquet of the
Real Estate Training Glass Of the West
side Y. NJ. c, A. last Tuesday evening
teplored the modern tendency toward
regulation by law. 1t Is the tangible
result of this very tendency, he de-
clared that is robbing the real estate
business Of its initiative and placing
obstacles In the way OF the building
boom, which IL left to take its own un-
hampered course would soon solve the
housing shortage.
Mr.. Dowling's address was in another
sense a plea for greater confidence in
the honesty OF the big real estate men
who dominate the market. These opera
tors and brokers, he declared. are for
the most part men with high ethical
conception of their obligations to the
business and the growth OF the city,
and they need no laws to keep them in
the path OF honesty. or course. he
added, these men are in the business
10 make money. but they are none the
less conscientious for that. He said in
part:
Those in the real estate business
expect to make living or it. That is
the practical view That is what will
Inspire you to remain in II. I want
&c impress upon you the fact that the
practical side OF the business can
properly accompany the ultilitarian
~fl ~ tx. I'LL
town. the men who have made its real
estate great asset and conserved its
utility are very simple men. They are
honest men In spite OF all that may
be said to the contrary. They love their
business the same as the lawyer, the
doctor or even the clergyman loves his
business. All the slick and smart per-
sons that have met In the real estate
business have not remained in 1t. They
have played their little part upon the
stage and the public has disposed of
them. They are not and they have
never been the big men OF the real
estate market OF this city.
Realty History Ii Fascinating.
Read the history OF New York thor
oughly Go back into its earlier eras
and learn why this town has grown as
it has and why 1t must continue to
grow. The real estate business here, If
properly understood, Is the finest blend
OF romance and reality that one can
enjoy. In 1890 Albany an Duchess
counties had bigger populations than
New York county. Think Of it. What
made this imperial municipality? A
knowledge OF the city's history is abso-
lutely essential to your progress.
Il have always been opposed to excess
sive regulation OF real estate by law.
We have had regulation of some kind
or other from the earliest times. i
would call much of IL unnecessary inter-
ference with property rights. In New
Amsterdam there was a law that inflict-
ed fine on every man who did not
improve his vacant land. That was the
beginning of regulation. Since then we
have had other laws just as onerous in
other ways. I want to impress upon
you young real estate men, you who will
carry on the great business of leasing
and selling property here. that legisla
ton by clamor and the Interpretation
Of Il by courts that fear the public are
not the things that will help the growth
or this city along the right lines. Real
estate stability cannot rest on such con-
ditions. The courts should restrain the
people against their own excuses. They
do quite often. but not always. and
much radical legislation against real
estate shows the need OF restraint. II
every rash notion against the rights of
property prevails. and there Is a ten
tlency in that direction, 1T will be pos
siblc to kill the desire and incentive to
do anything big and constructive In
property matters I'm this city and State.
feel that / have not overstated the
matter.
within n generation or less we have
witnessed events that show which way
the wind is blowing. Time was when
large estates and rich men built rows
OF private dwellings and apartment
houses in New York. Their surplus
funds went into such substantial invest
rnents and the people at large were the
beneficiaries. It Is no longer the case.
Speculative builders OF all kinds now do
the vast bulk of construction here. Prop
erty owners of standing and of great
substance have been punished severely
FOR doing the very things that have
helped New York. There Is no longer
an incentive for constructive work
among the element who did 1t and who
thereby aided our civilization and our
social progress. A serious condition con-
fronts us because too many extraneous
theories have oeen allowed to play upon
the passions and prejudices of lawmak-
ing bodies and upon the minds of the
public. / have acted officially with
lawmaking bodies. have witnessed all
Of the inside workings, and I know
whereof I speak. There are sincere and
honest theorists about property rights.
and / respect their good qualities, how
ever much I believe in the dangerous
results of their theories. There Is a dead
line where attacks on property and
property rights must cease"
Lecture Course Has Closed.
The banquet which marked the close
OF the lecture course given by the Y. M.
c. A. with the cooperation or the Real
Estate Board OF New York was held In
the ballroom OF the Park Avenue Hotel.
Practically all the prominent realtors
who iectured during the course were
present as the guests OF the class. w. II.
wyckoff. who assembled the class each
week. presided as POSTMASTER. The
speakers OF the evening were Judge
Thomas c. T. Crane. Lawson Purdy.
William G.. Demarest, the Rev. SAMUEL
w. Grnfflin and Thomas Daggett, secre-
tary OF the Transit Commission.
Mr. Demarest. who acted as honorary
chairman Of the winter course thanked
the lecturers, or the faculty as they
were called, on behalf OF the students.
Mr.. Purdy said that real estate had
come 70 be considered profession. by
many and that IL was necessary for thoso
who were contemplating entering this
field to have a full sense OF the ethical
obligations imposed. An illustrated talk
on old New York by Harry Hall OF the