Evening star., 1925-01-23

Copyright, 1921
who themselves own property here,
were opposed to the passage OF the
Whaley bill and that he thought they
ought to have an opportunity to be
heard.
Disputes Pyramiding Figures.
| Mr. McKeever quoted from Asses
sor Richards to show there is ample
housing here. Taking up the dis
| cussion of the pyramiding of trusts,
Mr.. McKeever said that it has been
stated before in the committee that
| trusts have been placed on property
| in Washington many times in eX-
cess of the value of that property,
| and that seven or eight trusts have
| been placed on the same property.
"Inasmuch as nobody but an i'm
| becile would loan money on a third
OF fourth trust" to say nothing of
| fifth, sixth, or seventh or eighth
| trusts. and that any one who has any
| brains at all who would take the risk
| of loaning his money on even a third
| deed of trust as security would GER
| tainly satisfy himself that there was
! a margin between the total loans on
! the property and the fair and reason
! able marketable value of the prop
| erty, l thing il is safe to say that If
! any one did loan money in excess of
| the worth of the property on fourth,
| fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth deeds
| of trust, he was wRntonly negligent
| of his own interests and a guardian
ought to be appointed to look out fo=
| such a person"
No Effect on Rents.
Mr. MoKeever insisted that the
| pyramiding OF trusts could not affect
| rentals. He pointed out that if one
| apartment on which the loans were
| excessive were located on one side of
| the street and another apartment on
| which there were no membranes
| was on the other side of the street, it
| would be impossible for the owner of
| the first apartment to fix his rentals
| higher than those fixed by the owner
| of the second apartment, merely on
| the ground that he had to make the
| interest on the loans. AS a matter of
| fact, he said, the owner of the apart
| ment on which there were large deeds
| of trust would be compelled to keep
| his apartment rented at such prices
| as he could.
There seems to be no doubt said
Mr.. McKeever, that a certain New
York corporation did make some
loans on few Washington proper
ties for more than the properties
were worth, through one local con-
cern, and it seems to me that either
as is stated In the Schirmer- Moore re-
port there was Collusion between the
officers of that corporation and the
people with whom they did business
in Washington, or the officers of that
corporation were wickedly negligent
In the handling of the stockholders
money. Only 80 out of the 937 apart
ments in Washington Were alleged
to have been involved in such trans
actions, or approximately per cent
of the total number of apartments.
Only one company and its associates
out of nearly 500 concerns licensed
to transact real estate business in
the District are alleged to have been
connected with any of these trans
actions.
Restriction Is Seen.
"It would be impracticable to pass
a law against lending in whatever
amounts or on whatever securities
the borrower and lender may agree.
But to enforce laws against individu-
ais who use such loans as a means
to defraud others is a more practical
proposition. To restrict borrowing or
lending is to restrict construction, and
to restrict construction is to defeat
the purpose of this committee, name
ly, to provide more ample supply
OF dwellings,"
The committee decided to hold its
next hearings at 9:15 am. Monday,
|, with Roger ]. Whiteford appearing
to explain the licensing bill pro-
posed by the Washington Real Estate
Board.
Joseph Low, representing Clifton
Terrace, which has been prominently
mentioned in testimony before the
committee, asked to be heard also
on Monday.
The test of the joint resolution pro-
| posed by Senator Copeland as a sub
stitute for the Whaley bill follows:
Whereas the Congress exercises
exclusive legislative power over the
District of Columbia, the seat of the
Government of the United States;
and
Cites Duty of Congress.
Whereas il is the duty of the Con-
, gress to guard the health, comfort
; and general welfare of the employe es
of the Government and all who serve
J them; and
) Whereas shelter is a matter of
vital consequence to the health, COM
/ | fort and general welfare OF the en-
pIoyes of the Government and those
who serve them: be it
Resolved, That all rental property
and apartments for resident purposes
> in the District are affected with the
| public interests, and
Resolved, That all rents and
charges, all service in connection
? herewith, the leasing and all other
terms and conditions of the use of
such property and apartments shall
t ! be fair and reasonable, and
/. Resolved, That power be invested
e.