REAL ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 14, 1914
I CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS PARAMOUNT
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The Real Estate Association of the State Will Give Them First
Consideration—Able Counsel Selected to Defend Property Rights
Miliillliiiii^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
FIRST of all the questions that will
receive the attention of the Real
Estate Association of the State of New
York during the coming year will be
those to come before the Constitutional
Convention. This was decided at a meet¬
ing of the executive committee of the as¬
sociation held last Saturday at Albany.
No other question will be taken up by
the association until the Committee on
Constitutional Convention is well along
with its work.
Then, it was determined committees
will be appointed to consider the
following subjects: (1) Legislation,
(2) Taxation. (3) Ethics, (4) Local Or¬
ganization, (5) Regulation of Brokerage,
(6) Rural Credits, (7) Mortgage Loans,
(8) On Consolidation of Building In¬
spections, (9) Housing, besides the usual
committees on Finance, Auditing, Pub¬
licity, and Membership.
When the executive committee had
listened to the report of the Committee
on Constitutional Convention it was de¬
cided, after careful consideration, to ap¬
point Danforth E. Ainsworth to repre¬
sent the association at Albany. Mr.
Ainsworth is a man with considerable
experience in public life. He is vice-
president of the Albany Chamber of
Commerce, was a member of the Assem¬
bly from 1885-1895, and during that time
was the Republican leader on the floor.
He has also been Deputy Attorney Gen¬
eral, and has served Albany as president
of the Board of Education.
Mr. I. H. Lehman, of the law firm of
Leaventritt, Cook & Nathan, of which ex-
Judge David Leaventritt is the head, was
chosen New York Counsel. Mr. Lehman
has had a wide experience in real estate
matters, and represents some very large
property owners in New York City.
A Resolution.
The reasons which led to the appoint¬
ment of these counselors were stated in
a resolution adopted by the Committee
on Constitutional Convention, to the ef¬
fect that the committee's service should
be initiated by the appointment of a
chairman, whose duty it would be to as¬
certain what features, if any, of the pres¬
ent constitution it is desirable to change.
This to be discovered by consultation
first with expert students of the Consti¬
tution, then with the other members of
the committee, and finally with the mem¬
bers of the various local associations.
Especially will the chairman take note
if any movements are on foot to amend
or supplement the Constitution in a way
inimical to the real estate interests of
the State, and to obtain all possible in¬
formation regarding the source and char¬
acter of these movements, all of which
information to be placed at the disposal
of the association and its committees.
It was considered that it would be
wise to have the first vice-chairman of
the Committee on Constitutional Con¬
vention a resident of Albany. It was the
verdict of the committee that Mr. De¬
lancey M. Ellis possessed unusual quali¬
fications for this position, and that he
should be induced to accept it. Mr. Ellis
has consented to accept the vice-chair-
xM. MORGEXTHAU, JR.,
President State R. E. Association.
manship of this committee, with the un¬
derstanding that he will be in charge of
this important work in Albany. He also
expressed his desire that Danforth E.
Ainsworth act as Albany counsel to this
committee, in addition to acting as coun¬
sel to the association, and this will
doubtless be confirmed by the committee
at its next meeting.
Mr. Ellis is a member of the firm of
E. D. L. Palmer & Co.. of Albany, the
largest real estate firm in that city, spe¬
cializing in the management of estates.
He is a trustee and treasurer of the
Albany Chamber of Commerce, a Deputy
State Superintendent of Public Instruc¬
tion, and is in charge of the work of re¬
vising the Tenement House Regulations
for cities of the second class. He was
recently in charge of the New York
State Exhibit at the Lewis and Clark
Exposition at Portland, Oregon.
President Morgenthau presided at the
meeting of tlie executive committee and
also at the meeting which was held at
the Ten Eyck, and was attended by the
following:
L. D. Woodworth, 1st vice-president,
of Rochester; W. Jay Russell, 2d vice-
president. Ogdensburg; Wm. D. Blood¬
good, 3d vice-president. Queens; C. A.
Hills, treasurer, Syracuse; H. L. Reed,
secretary, Amsterdam; Wm. H. Moffitt,
New York (ex-of!icio); Wm. H. Mills;
New York; Ten Eyck T. Mosher. Jr.,
Albany; Chas. F. Warner, Buffalo; F. A.
Austin, ex-Secretary, New York.
An Important Committee.
The president appointed the following
Committee on Constitutional Conven¬
tion : Chairman, L. D. Woodworth,
Rochester; 1st vice-chairman, Delancey
M. Ellis, Albany: 2d vice-chairman. Allan
Robinson. New York; 3d vice-chairman,
Thomas J. Overturf, Buffalo; secretary.
________K
H. L. Reed, Amsterdam; Danforth E.
Ainsworth, Albany; Hiram Mintz, Bing¬
hamton; Fenton M. Parke. Bufifalo
Henry Bloch, I. H. Lehman, Thomas M
Mulry, Edw. P. Doyle, Elisha Sniffin
Manhattan; Cyrus C. Miller, Edw. B,
Boynton, Bronx; John F. James, Brook,
lyn; James Frank, Long Island; Wm. H,
Williams, Queens; H. B. Stevens, King¬
man N. Robins, Rochester; S. T. Betts
Herbert Hess. Syracuse; A. J. Eaechle
Utica; Robert E. Farley, Clifford B. Har¬
mon, Westchester; E. J. McGoldrick,
Assistant Corporation Counsel.
Keynote Speeches.
In calling the members of the commit¬
tee together for their first meeting, Presi¬
dent Morgenthau said: *'We want to co¬
operate with every real estate organiza¬
tion indirectly interested in real estate
throughout the State. We are the only
State-wide organization I know of de¬
voted to real estate interests in this
State, and we are therefore, perhaps, in
an enviable position, but one which
brings grave responsibility. We want to
realize those responsibilities, and that
work which we have in mind should not
be simply for ourselves, but rather for
the citizens of this State. We are not
going to serve ourselves, if we are going
to try to put through anything in the
way of amendments to the Constitution
that are not in the interests of the pub¬
lic at large."
Allan Robinson, of New ork, one
of the vice-chairmen of the committee,
was asked to state his views, and said:
"I heartily sympathize with the recom¬
mendations embodied in the resolution
just adopted. It followed quite a dis¬
cussion in which we went over the whole
matter, and was the composite photo¬
graph of our minds, on the best way in
which this thing should be done. Now,
while I am afraid that anything I may
say will be merely saying over again
what already has been said, I do want
to emphasize one point; that is. that you
cannot go into this thing without being
prepared for it. No one of us at the
present time knows his job. Perhaps
no one of us is really qualified of himself
to learn his job. There are some few
men in New York State who are experts
on these matters, and we have to get
hold of_ them and get the benefit of
their opinion.
"One of the primary results we are
after is to find out what we want and
then to work on the members of the
Convention in their own districts. The
best influence you can have, the strong¬
est influence you can bring to bear upon
them is the influence of their own friends
and acquaintances, and you have in your
organization of the Real Estate Associa¬
tion of the State of New York a ma¬
chinery for bringing home to practically
every single one of these legally elected
delegates the points you want to impress
upon the Convention as a whole, when
they come to Albany."
The committee decided to defer further
action until Mr. Ellis and Mr. Ainsworth
could get together and formulate their
ideas.