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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 59, no. 1515: March 27, 1897

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March 27, 1897. Record and Guide 503 Dented 10 RfA,LESTWI.BuiLDIfJG ^RGl^ITECrTURE,HGUSEtfOmDEGtD(UKlt, ,BU5IJfcSSA(toTHEMES0FGEJ^lllftER.Eai^ » PAICC, PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published eveiy Saturday, TBLEPHONB, .--... COETLAHDT 1370 Communloatlona ahould be addreseed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 VeseylStreet. J T, LINDSEY. Business Manager. _•'Entered at ths Post-office al New York, !f. Y., an seeondrClasB mailer." Vol. LIX. MARCH 27, 1897: No. 1,515 THE pioinptD^ss with wluch, so n)auy..w,estemrailroad.com- ■ paaies withdrew fi-om. their- freight ,3,BSOciationS:,- on the annouiicement of the Federal Supreme■Court.decision that such associationB were illefial, sugg-eet-that^the-managers-of-these compaiiies were glad of so good an excuse forwitbdrawingand not BOTjyto see producedthe inevii able effect ui'OnstockTnarliet quotations.- It isthi,s baste'to-throw over agreements, as much as the adverse decision itself, that'has created disquiet and anxiety iu the minds of security hoideVs andcaused" many o-f fhem to throw over their stocks'. There are signs now that the situation is beiug more thoughtfully regarded aud, barring other unpleasant surprises, this ought to create a reaction. It should be borne in mind that inqre money was made by rail¬ roads before the days ot pools and agreements thau. has been madoby tiiem since, aud that, even if the evil results of the decision so confidently predicted do come, it will notbefoia long time. Kate-cutting was never prevalent in prosperous times when plenty of freight was offering, consequently the anticipations of rate demoralization as a resnli of tbe decision are only fully justitied on tbe theory that business is going to be worse iu the near future iustead of better as most good .iudgfs believe. It is understood too, that a bill has already been preparetl for submission to Congress to legalize pooling. Some such arraugcmeut prevails iu Great Britan under the authority of the Board of Trade, to whom shippers can appeal against burdeusouie or discriminating charges. There is uo just reaaou why wholesome regulations, fair alike to shippers and carriers, should not bave the sanction of law in this, country and be operated by the Inter-State Commerce Commission. Probably there will be no difficulty in passing such a measure through the House, just as there is apparently no unlikelihood that the Dingley Tariff bill will fail of a ma.iority there, but there is absolutely co way of speaking for the Senate, because the Kepiiblicans having uo certain control of that body, it lies with the Populistic minority to turn the scale one wny or another. The really hard time forany measure looking to the remedy of any evil iu oui' commercial situation will come only whenit reaches the Senate. LAST weekwe referred to the fact that ofBciai re turns showed a flourishing condition of business to exist in Great Britain, aud we now have at hand summaries of the annual statements of the Bank of Frauce and theluijierial Bank of Germany, both of which referto the profitabledemand for money to meet the wants of active tiade. These things only confirm what we have pointed out often before', that under sen¬ sible commercial laws and" aided by currency "systems of un- qiiestiouable soundness, Europe has enjoyed a^couple pE years of prosperity. There has been no reckless,speculation to,mar this condition. ') be gold mining craze was the lust movement to capture the creduloiis an4l that even has been long spent, while readjustment of quotations for the shares affected to real value is going on at a steady rate. For the moment Europeau trade takes ou no expansion because of the caution which the ve-opeuing of the Turkish question creates, but it must now be more than ever apparent that this is not going to be the ( ccasion of .war tbis time. Holders of Grecian bonds are asking one another where Greece finds the meaus to carry on its military operations iu Crete and Thessaly while declaring to them that it has no money to pay the interest on its bonds. It is even said thatwhile pleading poverty as an excuse for not paying houor^ abledebts, chivalrous Christian Greece has been accumulatiag a war-chest and—which will be a terrible blow to its Iriends if it proves to be true—cooking its accounts in order to hide its aceumulations. If we are to have the Reinhart system of accounting extended to national finances, whatever will become of the little coniideoce the poor investor has left. However. "we^Uhope this story against Greece is uot true, even though ^t^H ^d }yy oue of its friends to illustrate the prudeuc^ ^^ patriotism of its government. As to the status of the Greco- Cretan situation, what trifling information, excluding of course "special correspondence," we are allowed to receive all goes to show that the detprmiualiou of tbe Great Powers To tind an houorable but peaceful solution of the difticulties it creates is as firm as ,ever. Such an outcome is probably more, devoutly wished for by the responsible rulers of Greece, whatever may be the opinions of its people, than by anyone else. Real Estate Taxation in Paris, '■ THB system of assessment at present in force in France ' dates from.tbe year 1821, and Is based on a land survey of the whole country, which was made in the early years of the century. No complete revision has ever been made since then, but a law exists authorizing any township to proceed to a new survey thnty .years, after the last one. Of course, a vast num¬ ber of changes have taken place during the century, owing to the splitting-up of properties, the planting of waste lands, and the construction of houses, and it is, therefore, not astonishing that the majority of taxpayers should be anxious to see th^ Register of Lands brought up to date. The taxable value of house g.roperty.. stands specially-in need of , revision. Cases could be cited of houses which are taxed on the basis of, ;Bay, $500, and.whicii-produce a revenue of thrice that figure; that Is to say,- they-.are taxed to.:day at the same rate- as in 1821, whereas.houses built since-then are taxed-according to their actual value rental. On the other hand, many properties which have.decreased in value-still- pay taxes-on the basis of their for¬ mer revenue. ... In 1891, the latest year for which statistics are available, Prance contained 9,000.000* houses. The city of Paris contained 85.000 houses, and there were 4,000* vacant parcels. Real estate iu Paris- is subject to two national taxes (like the rest of France), viz: The Real Estate Tax and the Door and Window Tax; and one municipal tax, called the Cleaning.and Sweeping Tax. The Real Estate Tax (Impot Foncier). The produce or yield of this tax Is determined in advance each year in the national budget. The share thereof claimed by the State is practically always the same and is never in¬ creased except iu great emergencies, such as the war of 1870. The share of the tax to be raised by each of the different coun¬ ties is fixed by the Chambers, the county fixes the share of each disti-ict, the district does tbe same for each township compos¬ ing it, aud finally the township establishes the amount to be paid bv each taxpayer. Any increase made in the assessment is al¬ ways due to the County Councils, which have power to increase the tax for the puniose of meeting local expenditure. In order to illustrate how the produce of the Real Estate Tax is divided,.we may mention, taking the County of Indre-et- Loiue and the town of Tours as .in example, that about 49% ac¬ crues to the State, 34% to the County and 17% to Tours. The Real Estate Tax is based, in regard to improved prop¬ erty, on the rental value. Improved property is not taxed as such until the third year after completion, and only the full tax collected if occupied. " Property which undergoes extensive alterations is taxed as improved." If a piece of improved property has remained untenanted, a -certain portion of the tax is remittted^-5 of tax. remitted If vacant. ;,."■■- - - Land in-cities Is taxed-as improved property If it is used for business purposes. If it is not used. It is only liable to the Cleaning and Sweeping Tax, described hereinafter. The tas is payable by the owner of the property. The tax, as regards improved property, amounts to about 5Vi%* of the letting value, less one-fourth in the case of houses and° one-third in the case of factories, for depreciation and cost of maintenance and repairs. The valuations, as a rule, are only revised once in every ten years. Door and "Window Tax. This tax is levied on every door and window opening on to the exterior, without regard to their form or dimensions. For Parts, the tax consists of a fixed charge for each door and window, as follows: Carrlase doorway. ....................^J *"■«.« per y«r. Wdowa (oveW .tor^i::".:'.".-".".-••"."• 0.70(ranc.-U ctB.per r«r. and a small proportional charge, based on tbe net revenue of the bouse the two charges together forming one single tax. For the rest of France the Door and Window Tax consists only of a fixed charge, based on the number and kind of tbe openings and the popylatlo^ pf ^ Place. The larger the popo*