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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1913)
a THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, CUI.'DAY I.IORNIWG, C ,toi2l 5, 1C13. IE E PLAH OFTmniPUTir EFFECTIN CALIFORNIA How Old System.Was Changed for- New Told in San Fran- ' cisco Bulletin -r , Realising the flagrant Injustice Of ths old system of taxation which permits th teavy burdens of municipal govern ment to nil en th. shoulders of the homo .owners, , while- lend speculators, whose' only Interest in the community is to make money out of It, pay practically no taxes, the people of the little eity of Piedmont, CaL, rebelled something; like 4 year ago and threw out the old system and put into practical effect the Henry Georg systemof ; taxation. :, The result of this , experiment sis shown by the annual report of the trustees of Pled rnont, printed in the San Francises Bui. letjn of October. I, is that the residents of that city ar no longer penalised for building houses and otherwise improv ins; their land, but that unimproved land and land exclusive of the improvements on it are paying nearly all of the operating- expenses of the municipality. , iJ'VyrtwOae.faltlay., . The chief difference between the Pied. rnont system as it has been worked out during the past year and Henry George's system of taxation is that the Piedmont trustees call their system "fair play and common' sense." instead of singl. -tax. The report of the trustees of tire little city for the ; fiscal year Just , passed, which was printed In full in the San Francisco Bulletin," deals s briefly 'and simply with the results of a fight which at one time threatened to bring about open: rebellion t among ' Piedmont's wealthy land owners and land specu lators. In an explanatory paragraph, and tables showing the relative burdens borne by, real aetata, personal property and improvements, respectively, under the county system of taxation, and under the Piedmont municipal system, the advantages of the plan adopted by the municipality are' fully set forth.', I'fi. Big Difference Shews. J The municipal assessors of Piedmont last year valued the property within the city for tax purposes at I5.06S.8T1; the county assessor's figures reached slight- . ly lower, their values touting f 5.(08,100. The vast difference between the two methods is shown in the proportions fur nished byj-eal estate and by improve ments on real estate. ..... Under the county system,, which rep- rtwenia we oia styie or taxation, real esute furnished per cent of tha vmiu. atlon and consequently si per cent of me taxes; improvements furnished IM per cent, personal property furnished 7.1 per cent and. money and credits .one tenth of 1 per cent. Under the Piedmont system adopted by the trustees of that city, land was assessed at IS per cent of the entire assessment.' Improvements at 14 H per cent and personal property at I per cent; this means that almost the entire burden of the Piedmont city xovernmont was bornf j by unimproved real estate A and ny tbhI estate exclusive of the 1m provements upon it. In other words, Instead Of penalising lmnrovementa on land the trustees of the tittle California city aim o encourage improvements, ''v Brief Comment Ksds. v;,"-' The report foUows the figures with this brief comment: The two methods of assessment - are here submitted. Which is, moat equitable and easiest for those Who pay. taxes and moat ad vantageous to- the - municipality, can hardly be questioned." . , The present mayor of piedmont, which Is purely an honorary office, is Hugh Cralgs About "two . years ago Maypr Craig, Who was at that time a real estate operator, opened fire' on the old method of taxation, which had been in vogue there since the gold Hunters came, more than 60 , years, ago. Ho realised and preached front the house tops that it - was an outrageous Injustice to lay the heavy burdens of city expenses on the shoulders of home owners, while land speculators who were holding their prop, erty until the growth of the community made it valuable, paid almost nothing toward malntenlng tha city government. Craig made a few quiet investigations and found that bom owners were in some cases paying ten times as much In proportion to the value of their property as were ths Teal estate men whose only . Interest in the community ', wsa their fiope to make money out of It. I - Xeatty scan Sebels. -j Mr. Craig himself was a real estate man, but he rebelled at this kind, of injustice. As a result he set to work and had , skilled assessors draw up' a few list of valuations, some Of which Increased taxable values of the proper ties concerned 20 times over. This was followed by strenuous protest from the land owners who were hit hardest by ' the change. .They all came In with vig orous protest but In each ease Craig, Who jvas now 'mayor, fell back upon the Ute law of California which provides that "alt taxable property must be as ' aessed at its, full cash , value!, . Some - ' changes were made, but the proportions .were not, c-iangea tne land speculators ts-ere still obliged to pay the greater part f thexlty's expenses.!.; vay.v-i'.-' , Piedmont has a numerical majority of home owners and Mayor Craig and his poard of trustees had the support of this ROSE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION HEADQUARTERS IN NEV CUILDlf.'Q I r- - ' . 1 1 , , , ; , 7 1 J 1 i ,y ' , r " ' '.Vi '-'V'",. :L-LL-JmLmmmMmmr.i" -..,r .. , r.,.J,- .aJBSntAlCfrsUWrr" ' ' l ill', t W'"' I i A good idea of the modern type of of. flee In the new Morgan building may be gained by the accompanying picture ot the of floes of the Rose Festival associ ation on ths fourth floor.; With the walls finished in stucco, the floor com posed of a process cement and the min imum of woodwork, the offices are of the most approved and sanitary type. Tbey are as nearly fireproof as pos- sible. ;. The; floors are being painted in either a durable gunmetal gray or a rich brown, with an extra heavy border to allow the laying of rugs. ,; Ths border is washable like tile .and, win not collect dust like, the usual wooden floor. The walls are being tinted to match the of floe furnishings of the occupants. ' . The windows are t the usual 1 heavy glass . laid . over .wire found In i. of floe structures wltn four panes to a win dow. The lower left band pane has In every case been composed of clear glass with the others of the cloudy variety. ; The hardware la of the most approved and latest : of flea pattern. The elec trical fixtures are of heavy brass, sim ple in design and yet rich in effect. Spe cial sockets have been Inserted In the walls for reading lamp plugs making outside wiring unnecessary, : Hand lav- the stories, beautiful ' specimens' of plumber's art, are In every room, ; ' The- tout ensemble of the rooms, Is of course dependent on the furnishings Installed by the Individual occupants. In th above picture showing the in terior of one of the rooms ot the Rose Festival association's suits, are to be seen George F. Baker, manager of ths association, and Jesse A. Currey, sec retary and manager of publicity, HOTEL AT PENDLETON ; IS TO BE ENLARGED s ' ' i - Two Stories Will Be Added and Other Improvements Made; Cost $40,000.: "W. F. Mattock, owner of the Pendleton hotel, is preparing te expend 140,000 in enlarging: and improving that hostelry. Two stories will be addsd and the build. lng otherwise enlarged and modernised. Am originally built the hotel cost $65,000. Mr. Matlock pays that It has never paid as an Investment,: but , that Pendleton needs a larger and better hotel and that ha Is willing to meet the hotel require ments "of the city. '-.,r;-v : i ' - Mr. Matlock ' la also contemplating turning tha entire upper story of the LaDow block on. Courts street into - a hotel or into apartments. T. F. Howard baa drawn plans for this work. They call for a 60-room hotel covering the entire second floor, 10x100 feet. . TRAVELING MEN MAY f -CONSTRUCT CLUB HOUSE -- The Travelers Protective association of Portland has under consideration ths plan to baud a clubhouse and traveling' men's home on the association property, located on Third street, between Market and Clay. ' For soms time this nrooertv has been on tha market, but at a recent meeting of the association it was de cided to withdraw it from the market. At the same meeting a committee was named to prepare articles of incorpora tion and to devlss ways and mesne to build a clubhouse . while the commit tee has tsken no definite action as yet, the individual members have discussed among tnemseives plans to rslsa c a building fund, r A looal architect has been Invited to submit tentative sketches Of the projected club building. - f The traveling men own a 60x100 foot lot on south Third street, . whioh Is be lieved to be an ideal location for a club house.: ;i:',iiV? ',-T -in 'f .ti f I M PROVED, ASSESSM ENT METHODS NEEDED 4 1 5 4Jv vtOO REAirrv. AuiT $soclATC Bee& CSsaa' ,V " ..J J. ' " ' IrA J v7S.OOO. -115,000 - ; Ue,ooo ioaooo e , K o qooo ist5 E;ooo means f which values f are . adjusted. Just at this tlma a deal Is under way involving an , exchange .' of r properties worth in the aggregate near $500,000, but only about $18,000 la eash will be required to consummate the transac tion, ' y..,.: --''n-rXvff'i Vrospeots. ravorabls. ; ' ;r Considered in the light of current de velopments, . prospects for the winter season are regarded as favorable. No large movement of downtown real ee tate is looked for, but; that there Will be a steady volume of sales of consid erable magnitude Is the belief of brok ers Who ar recognised as men of wide experience end who know Portland realty. . ':-:.tf-'; One condition that is , net generally recognised is that the money market is not conducive to making investments in real estate. The ' unusual conservatism of , bankers for the last' few months has. put sv premium on the ready cash held by lny viduals. J Industrial ; and commerolal enterprises unable to got the required accommodation from bank ers are turning to individual lenders and are offering such rates of interest as will seoure the loans. Much of this kind of money ' has heretofore been available- for realty- speculation and in vestment but not so how. i i It is quite different, . however, with small - properties. : ; The savings bank depositors, ' the . laborer, the clerk, and other .small ?. Investors V with ; s little money on band, doesn't hesitate to back hts judgment in' buying s a lot or an acre.- H pays only, a - small portion down and has a long time to complete tne deal.; vtf'-.i",;: BmburBas.Bnslness Oood. - The records of the Multnomah county clerk's office prove, that there is" a steady and strong business done in the outlying subdivisions, where new homes are sold by ths aoore every day and va vant lots are changing hands In consid erable numbers. -Tere is no denying that vast sums of money are being' In vested In ready built homes and vacant residence lots. A.--':-: V r;;;i,r.'- Reports from all available souroee In dicate ( that but little new money t la coming into Portland In such volume as would find its way into large Invest ment holdings. Not since the sale of the old city library property to John W. Blodgett, of Michigan, has there been a considerable deal in local sealty In- whioh an outside man was on the buying end of the transaction, v.",' : There is novdoubt that a considerable sum of money. In the aggregate, will find - its way to Portland for invest ment this fall after the marketing of the big wheat and hop crops of the in terior. But this money will be in sums from say $200S to $10,000, sad Will be available, for Investment in small and medium value holdings. Operators and broke s look for the advent of this money to quicken activity in the local realty et:'?v?j.;;,4:,!;;i.-;i;'i. n i i-"y ; Plot to Assassinate Kitchener.1 - Venice,- Oct 4-Elghteen , Egyptians were arrested here today charged with plotting to asssssinste England's Egyp tian 'agent general, liord .. Kitchener. Kitchener was here s, week ago. yr u saledff ;mi 11 JO LARGEST OF YEAR Ci - 'a' . - . - ' .ir 4 i'.j.,' ' sww--bsMrisms 1 vS : , .J r T- ,ft. . 1 ...,' .. -. . in ' ' . Hushes Estate Buys Blake.- ,M'Fall Building, for $350,- 000; Other Transactions. With one exception the largest trans action of the year in local real estate was , the saie last weanesday of the Blake-McFall building at Fourth and Ankeny streets for $360,000. The prop, erty was purchased by the Hughes In vestment company, which consists of the Incorporated estate of the late Kills O. Hughes. , , ' ' 8. F. : Wilson, a Portland lawyer and E. A. Dudley, of Umatilla county, were the owners of the building, they having acquired it about two years sgo, from the Blake-McFall company. The build ing la a six-story business structure and occupies a 100x138 foot sits. . The Paclflo Coast Trust company has sold to Charlotte Bherlock a residence site containing three lots on 8t Francis HinTThe propertynraescribed as lots 3, 4 and 6, in block 4, consideration $9500. " , . ; , . The 60 foot Jot at the northwest cor ner of Thirteenth and Montgomery streets was sold last week by ths Blaoon Investment company to Claude D. Starr for $at.000: r ;- ' - - - . r j . . a Clinton Kelly, donation land clslra, was purohased last : week by - Arthur . West from A C Curnow for $$000. , The Provident Investment 4 Trust Co. has sold to George D. Hleb the res idence property described as lot 6. block J, Holleday Park, for $4800. - -- Charles Schubel ; has purchased from George C. Halt , a house and lot de scribed as a part of lot 4, blook 10, Parkvlsw extension, for $4000.' i . A new six-room house described as let in block 47, Vernon, was sold Jaat week by Anthon Eckern to J. Z. S tans berry , for $4500. r ' : Elisabeth Grimm has sold to A, T. Bug a house and lot described as lot 4. block $3, Central Alblna, consideration $6B00.'"5;1'"W.:'-r-f e v,fv Daniel Donahue has purchased a new residence located in Hawthorne First Addition. The property was sold by O. C White for $4380. ! . A, 'W. Ooobook has sold te Franklin W. Phillips an improved cuarter block In Piedmont, for $3650. . ' Bx. ear a w majority from the start. - -To this he aUrlbutes the success of his plan,'. , Ths Bulletin's account of the tax re forms adopted In Piedmont says that ths people there have ; generally accepted them as a good financial investment.' 4 Company Store la , Dynarnlted, ' ' Trinidad, Colo., Oct 4.The Primrose Coal company's powder house and store at Primrose, near Trinidad, also were blown' up last night .'.'.. vix United Mine Workers', officials said they knew nothing of either affair. - t. a' Due- VltCOX HEIMEB v40X06 NV8-0 ie . .vns. .i .!. " a " ." . .(' ' , .'4 ;',. ...r-;.y,i. .. MOODAItO M.gLst. , IMP. saoco I . ... grAT - X b. I. - '' Plat showing assessments for the cur rent year of subdivisions of -blocks i, K M jm 21t.':ity y ''J: ' i j In this week's assessment story, four blocks In the center of the city en which extensive lmprovsepents are Just being completed, are used, i- These Improve ments include the Morgan building on ths Fechhelmer half block facing Wash ington street, between Park and Broad way, and the Stephens, at the southeast corner of West Park and. Washington. Considered as a whole. ' the assess ment of these blocks would seem-to be fairly equitable and Just , It will be Ob served that the asssssor considers front age on the south ads of Washington street slightly more valuable than that on the north side: of the street ' The Fechhelmer half block is Assessed for $5(4,000, while the half block belonging NEW DEVICE GIVES SCHOOL' ROOM ABUNDANCE OF AIR AT: ANY TIME r";rrir"TrviiiiTiirTT'Tiir-iiiinitr"TT'iri'Trf"y m ryjiitTtrj'iirr'viiiifiTT't'n'r'iiiTiriiini nrnw irit-itTiTTrnirT'fr'in v 1.1 ij- ij'in n utiik " i ; i nr-rinii)"nj min i.ii.iii m1 wtwww "Twenty Century School," invented by a Portland architect,' in lino with fresh air movement M . . . 1 M-l. l 1 .1M M -I. . r . . . .J. M. ul . . . . As an aid to the "fresh air school' i ovenient which has spread across the V uited States and Is being tried in Port 's d In the Irvlngton district Newton . Cauhtt. a Portland architect, has la nted whet he calls ths "Twenty Can y School." I,t appears to be all win dows, which may be turned or tipped by a device permitting the teacher to have a fresh Air school room at . any time desired.- Windows may; be dosed to guard against storm or' excessive cold-, Ventilating devices provide con stant change of air when the windows are closed. ' The light Is almost exactly um aaiue mm out ot aoors, - ' 1 call it the Twenty Century sohool," said . Mr. ' Gauatt ' because school construction began 30 centuries sgo snd I believe this to be the most ad vanced plan produced during the pres ent century," 'i ' ! f J r .", ' i to the Brooke estate, and directly across Washington,' la valued for: assessment purpose at $490,000. The same relative difference is seen In the assessment of the Washington street half of blocks I and - fiM' v..i'-ii-'That the high priced land In the cen ter of Portland's business district Is as sessed for about $0 to St per cent of Its earning value la shown la the 11$ as sessment of the-Fechhelmer half block This paroel Is now under a B0 year lease to w. Morgan ana associates zor aa annual rental, for the next five, years. equal to per cent oh a valuation jt $1,000,000, .while, for, the purposes of maintaining government this property is valued at $644,000. .-; . . v ACHY IN SUBURBS ; IN GfTY rs ir v- M tt-w- ANUUUItl Expectation1 of' Revival of In side Realty Is Yet4o Ma- - tenalize; rSome Leases, - CondlUons in the looal realty market have net changed to any appreciable extent, in the last $o days. The pres ent .situation seems to be more! of ; a hangover from tha dullness of ths sum. mer vacation season. - Throe months ago ths best Informed brokers were Of ths opinion that with fall would come a more active market : So far, however, this predicted Improvement has not ma terialised to any noticeable extent This applies only $9 inslds Investment prop erties In the doss In east , slds and west aids districts. By no means should It be confounded with the movement in subdivision properties, for in that line ths Portland market has been uni formly active. : , -. . . ; r-. ... There Is a fair volume of business In negotiating long time leases on oentral properties and In exchanging these prop erties. In this business mortgages and equities are mainly considered,- but usually there Is an element of cash by . ildDI? - t i , t " ' ' " n U .'1 'VlV 1 (ban3 n- .4 .y 'h t it 1 . t - - ) , Vv.' -J .v. A , it j ' The most uhuaual offer ever put before Portland In vestors, now being made by THE FRED Ae JACOBS COMPANY, the largest realty operators on, the Pacific oast. . 1 t - ' s ' m - ' ' 1 v see X .j " " ' onouia you puy one or our aweumgs now under conv struction along the Enrol Heights carline or buy a lot and build at once in that district, you will . receive' the' benefits of this offer,-: ',i-u.---u"--,7--'--1 , - 'i;: - it ' V We will give you a new, modern five-room bungalow on a 50x100 foot lot located in the most beautiful resi dence section in the REED ' COLLEGE DISTRICT for the astonishingly low price of $1 170, and we furnish you rKtsC. car rare tor two years. , - . i - - t 5 " THINK OF IT! A new modern 5-room bungalow for $1170, and on terms like paying rent. . :j V " J Tl l" ' The house alone would cost you that much, or more. to build; ' The style, construction' and location of these houses 1 ni l - HOW CAN WE DO THIS? f WHY DO WE DO THIS? f Meet us there Sunday and we will tell you; 1 i " ' 4 --2 " HOW TO GET THERE Talce Sellwood car at First - and Alder, transfer to Eastmoreland car and: go to the -- ' end of the Errol Heights line where our representative , will meet you and conduct you over the property. . .V- t '. 1 I. 1 nra There are only six houses atthis price first come first served. . ft 5 '". 'HJi a f Si,; . , -. t ' , t . ( f ' r -i " f J ' ' , ' I ) A Largest realty operators on the Pacific Coast; .239' WacMiniota- SU,:-C(D?EC2i? FcsnuaEn