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Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 94, no. 2435: Articles]: November 14, 1914

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REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 14, 1914 I CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS PARAMOUNT iiiiiiiiiiiiii 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.