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TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY 



tained a steady interest in the discussion 

 of the existing exemption of college prop- 

 erty from taxation in the various cities 

 and towns in which colleges or other 

 educational institutions have been es- 

 tablished in Massachusetts. The doc- 

 trine of exemption for educational insti- 

 tutions has been more and more attacked 

 in almost every New England legisla- 

 ture since 1874. About four years ago, 

 there was an unusually vigorous cam- 

 paign on that subject in the Massa- 

 chusetts legislature ; and a careful argu- 

 ment was prepared by the opponents of 

 the taxation proposed, for presentation 

 to a committee to which a bill to tax col- 

 lege property had been referred. That 

 argument demonstrated that the presence 

 of a college or other institution of edu- 

 cation in a city or town was never in any 

 possible sense a burden on that town or 

 city. On the contrary, a table prepared 

 by counsel for Harvard College from the 

 Tax Commissioner's reports at the State 

 House, demonstrated that those towns 

 and cities in Massachusetts which con- 

 tained college properties exempt from tax- 

 ation, when compared with other towns 

 and cities of about the same size and situ- 

 ation but having no lands exempt from 

 taxation because occupied by a college or 

 other institution of learning, were in bet- 

 ter pecuniary position as regards taxes 

 and public expenditures than the towns 

 which had no colleges within their limits. 

 That proved a very convincing table. It 

 was the principal reason for the over- 

 whelming vote by which the House ad- 

 hered to the ancient policy of Massa- 

 chusetts on this subject. 



In the course of that discussion, I came 

 to the following conclusion with regard 

 to the amount of exempted properties 

 in a city or town, namely, that the best 

 existing test of the quality of a city or 

 town as a place to live in wholesomely, 

 and with access to rational pleasures, is 

 the proportion of the exempted territory 



in the town to the unexempted. The 

 higher the proportion of exempted terri- 

 tory, the surer is that town or city to be 

 a desirable place to live in, and, there- 

 fore, to be a prosperous place. With the 

 exception of cemeteries, all institutions 

 which occupy exempted territory, such 

 as churches, colleges, hospitals, school- 

 houses, museums, and libraries, promote 

 directly the well-being of the citizens. All 

 open spaces, like parks, public gardens, 

 playgrounds, or water areas, promote the 

 health of the citizens, and give them 

 pleasure. The wider the streets and 

 avenueS' — which are exempted areas — the 

 better the health and vigor of the popu- 

 lation. It is a safe inference that the 

 larger the proportion of the exempted 

 areas to the non-exempt in any town or 

 city, the more chance is there that the 

 town or city is. or will be, a good place 

 to live in, — or, in other words, a place to 

 attract intelligent people and well-con- 

 ducted businesses. 



Through my acquaintance with the 

 Olmsteds in two generations and my 

 natural interest in the work of my son 

 Charles, who practiced his profession 

 successfully for ten years before his early 

 death, I am competent to testify that 

 among all the professions I have had oc- 

 casion to observe there is none capable 

 of yielding to its members more exquisite 

 satisfactions. There is none which can 

 give the practitioner better reason for be- 

 ing content with his own serviceableness 

 to mankind, because successful results in 

 your profession bring health, general 

 well-being, and sweet and wholesome 

 pleasures to mankind. The physician 

 must see a great deal of human suffering. 

 He often relieves it ; but he must endure 

 the spectacle of suft'ering. The lawyer 

 must at times make himself familiar with 

 wrong-doing and crime ; and, while he 

 seeks to promote justice, he must often 

 contend against injustice. Your profes- 

 sion, on the other hand, has to do all the 



