Evening star., 1925-10-25
Continued from First Page


essary for the health and comfort of
large numbers of human beings. A
demand for such equipment exceeding
the present supply has brought about
natural congestion, high prices and
actual gouginS-but Florida should not
be blamed for this as the people in any
other State in the Union would go and
do likewise, given the opportunities in
Florida today.
foreseeing the awakened public in
terest in the State. men with capital
and possessed of high or low broWs,
indicating in either case great mental
development, have set about to devise
ways and means for separating this
interested public as quickly and as
eXpeditiouSly as possible from its avail
able supply of cash. Florida, with it's
vast acres OF rich and virgin soil, has
become a word TO be used as often and
as effectively as possible in the sale
OF real estate. Millions of dollars are
being spent in various forms which
are cleverly disguised to indicate the
rapid growth of Florida, but which in
reality are snares designed wholly to
tempt the investor. AS is often the case,
many of those who walk into such
snares turn hunters, and set about
making their trap as attractive as
game. The impression then spreads
and becomes firmly implanted in the
lertlle BRAIN OF the public that every
BODY is getting rich in Florida.
Little Real Swindling.
AS a result, while Florida is rap
IDLY progressing toward the position
she some day will occupy as a leading
State or the Union, uncounted thou
sands OF men and women of small
means are handing over their savings
to the first man with convincing man
ners who introduces himself as a deal
er In Florida real estate. This gener-
osity on the part Of the trusting pub
lie might be labeled a swindle, the
proportions of which have never been
excelled. But investigation down here
shows that it is not a swindIe.
firmly believe that a tiny minority of
those engaged in selling Florida real
estate is practicing fraud or misrepre-
sen tion under which its members
can be held legally to account. The
majority is SIMPLY selling a COmmOu-
ity for which there is at present Il
strange and unusual demand. And
the commodity, in enough cases to
make Ii almost general, is a 5O-foOL
lot, the purchase of which ~ anybody
at prevailing prices is a serious retleC-
tion upon the ordinary intelligence OF
that much-maligned individual, the
average American citizen.
The Florida booster, uneXCelled in
this country for pure, unsullied and
VirtuOuS elOQuenCe, Will contest this
statement hotly on the ground that
men of weighty brains are spending
huge sums of money in the modern
development of the 50-foot lot, while
others are investing fortunes in the
- +l1 cr
hotels, apartment houses or other
structures catering to the varying
tastes of the human race. He will go
into endless detail over agricultural
resources, SoliloquiZing for hours upon
Florida as the home of the orange, the
celery stalk, the pecan and the Tung-
oil nut. He will cite the industries
now established and those which are
going to be established. He will quote
figures on building permits, will name
corner by corner bought by men and
corporations whose business acumen
is to be mentioned only with due rev.
erence. He will grow hysterical, al
most fearful, over the weather and
the fact that the State is located with
in a few hours travel of the most
thickly populated section of the coun-
try. He will point out the tender
hearted, solicitous concern of the
State of Florida toward the stranger
within its gates, and will repeat in
slow and solemn voice the steps Whlch
constantly are being taken by busi-
ness men and legal authorities to rout
the swindler, the crook and the bandit.
Value of 50-foot Lots.
But, after all, what has this to do
with the purchase of a 5O-foot lot?
Fifty-foot lots in Florida share much
Of the same general appearance pos
sessed by the so, 60 or Is foot lots in
other parts of the country. Some of
them in Florida are much fiatter,
much nearer sea level, much more
sandy and barren and generally more
uninviting than their brothers in the
cold and barren wastes of the deSolate
North, where the population is con-
gested and wears overcoats. A So
foot lot in Florida, near pretty ana
growing city, and attractively located
as a site for a Winter home or home
for the man who has business in Flor
ida, may be considered a good invest
ment. A lot in Chevy Chase, on Six
teenth street or in Brookland meets
the same qualifications The differ
ence between the 5O-foot lot with an
advantageous location in Florida and
one IN Chevy Chase, d. c., for in
stance, is that the Florida lot has an
ideal Winter climate and that its
price in a territory, which is yet to be
developed, greatly exceeds that of the
Chevy Chase lot in a territory which
has already been developed.
The weakest part of the argument
for the purchase Of a 50-foot lot down
here, although it is generally herald
ed as the strongest, Is that in the
majority of cases the sale is made on