Evening star., 1940-06-07
Districts Business
Shows 1910 Gains,
Bankers Are Told
Cotton and Morgan Are
Speakers at Convention
At Hot Springs, Va.
BY EDWARD C. STONE,
Eneclal CorreSnnndent of The Star

=
vealed substantial gains over the
mum L. Cotton, chairman of the
Committee on Commercial Trade
Activities and vice president of the
National Savings & Trust Co., re-
ported to the District Bankers AS
sociation at the second session of
the 22d annual convention at the
Homestead here today.
Washington has made unusual
home building records as compared
with cities of similar size, Mr.. Cotton
said, and with improved real estate
activity, fewer foreclosures are re-
ported for the first quarter. The
District has 40 telephones per 100
of population, higher average than
any other city in the world Street.
car traffic reached new records in
the first quarter and tourists visiting
the Capital in 1910 have shown
notable gains over year ago.
Apartment House Vacancies.
The Washington Real Estate
Board apartment house vacancy sur
vey, he added, shows the 1899 va
cancy average to have been 729 per
cent, whereas the average for jan
uary, February. March, April and
May of this year is els per cent.
Banks and trust companies in the
District. at the close of business
March 26, 1910, reported total de-
posits at new peak figure of s372,-
673,9l4, showing an increase of
Sill 1874 $50, the speaker said Barring
unforeseen developments, these IA
vorable conditions should continue
through 1910, he added
In citing the business gains made
this year, Mr.. Cotton referred also
to the fact that Washington during
1889 reached new peaks in building,
population and workers. Metropol-
tan Washington has never seen a
year that could touch 1889 in home
building, he declared. Greater
Washington population crossed the
100000 mark and Federal civil serv-
ice employment reached new highs
with monthly governmental salaries
amounting to s22,5O0,O00.
10 Morgan Speaks.
10 V. Morgan, sole member of the
Board of Tax Appeals of the Dis
trict, addressed the convention on
the tax situation in the Capital. The
inherent difficulty in writing salts
factory tax laws is aggravated and
intensified in the enacting of such
legislation for the District, he said
The District is unique and is the
most difficult jurisdiction for the
establishment of even a fairly salts
factory tax structure, Mr.. Morgan
declared.
In the first place, it has the char
ecteristics of both state and a mu-
nicipality Members of Congress do
not always view the situation as
residents of the District view it.
Furthermore, there is conflict be-
tween so-called liberal and conserva-
tive elements in the community,
which become quite articulate dur
ing the time that tax legislation is
under consideration. Certain groups
favor the income tax, others favor
the sales tax in preference to the
income tax and are opposed to any
increase in the real estate tax. The
conflicting theories are not all bad
or all good, he commented.
Word on Realty Taxes.
And now word about real estate
taxes Mr.. Morgan continued.
Every effort should be made to pre-
vent the increase of the rate of real
estate tax. An increase in such
rates would injure every element of
our nity-businessman bank
er. lawyer, Government employe,
laborer, and all homeowners and
tenants.
Against such increase the Com
missioners of the District have given
their best efforts and have taken
every step to avoid the necessity of
adding that burden to the backs of
the residents of the District Let
us all hope that such will not be
necessary.
There is a strong sentiment in
Congress for the increase of the real
estate tax rate and it is expressed
quite frequently. Something should
be done about the valuation or as
sessment of property, which every
Well-informed person knows is of
higher proportion or percentage of
value than in any other jurisdic-
tion-in many instances as high as
125 per cent-which seems to be
ignored by members of Congress,
who only consider the rate of SITS
in comparison with the rates in their
own Jurisdictions, where the prop
erty, however, is valued or assessed.
in some instances, as low as 40 per
cent of its value.
On Federal Contribution.
mo discussion of the tax structure
of the District would be complete"
Mr.. Morgan concluded, without
some mention of the Federal con-
tribution to the District. I content
myself by observing that if the
Federal Government would contrib
ute sum that was fair and ade-
quate in the light of all the con-
trolling circumstances of the relation
between the two agencies, there
would not be any tax question for
me to discuss today 1t would be
a solution, and perhaps the only
solution, of our tax problem.
Just what such contribution
should be, I am not prepared to
state, but certain it is that it would
be substantially greater and that it
should have some relation to prop
erty acquired by the Federal Gov
ernment and withdrawn from taxa
ton"
Victor B. Deyber was appointed
chairman of the Nominating Com
mittee which is to choose candidates
for member and alternate member
of the American Bankers Associa-
ton Nominating Committee at the
Atlantic City convention. Other
members of Mr.. Deyber's committee
are H. H. Mckee, Charles H. Doing,