I, Jesse W. Proctor, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, hereby certify that the foregoing financial statement was this day subscribed and sworn to before me by Mrs. Henry C. Brown with full knowledge of the contents thereof. Subscribed and sworn to this 26th day of January, A. D. 1926, at Washington, D. C. JESSE W. PROCTOR, Notary Public for District of Columbia. Senator JONES of Washington. How many members have you? Mrs. BROWN. Mr. Jones, we could not have a large number of paid memberships. We got $400.95, and that includes some donations. That was a little more than $1 from each. Where were some $5 donations. The unpaid membership I can not give you, because we are constantly changing. People are sending in notice, "We do wish to join the Tenants' League," and they give us names and addresses, and that is all that is necessary, to show their interest and desire to join. That number we can not give you. Senator JONES of Washington. Haven't you any idea how many you have? Mrs. BROWN. I have not, Mr. Jones, because that membership represents nothing but the name and address of the individual and their interest in the tenants' movement. It represents no money whatever. Senator JONES of Washington. I am not asking about the money; I just want to know how many members there are. Mrs. BROWN. There are various tenants' branches in the city and those branches sign up members. The cash and the paid memberships come in to us at once. Senator JONES of Washington. Branches of the league? Mrs. BROWN. Branches of the league. Senator JONES of Washington. How many branches have you? Mrs. BROWN. There is one in the Earlington ApartmentSenator JONES of Washington (interposing). I do not want the names of the individual branches; how many have you? Mrs. BROWN (continuing). And the West End branch includes a number of apartments, and the Clifton Terrace branch includes a number in that section; so there are three centers outside of the main Tenants' League and we have had called in all the lists from those and all the cash is accounted for but not the other members who have not paid. Any other questions? Senator JONES of Washington. If that is as definite information as you can give as to the number of members; no. Mrs. BROWN. Shortly after we organized, we found it necessary to hire an office in order to have some place for tenants to reach us. We rented an office on the 18th of September and paid $25.62 for it. We paid $25 for leaflets, $3 for a door sign, $19.25 for printing, $5.40 for paper and postage and $15 for the loan of a typewriter. $93.27 was spent in September. In October we spent $229.58, the largest amount of which was for the rental of the Masonic Temple, $100, and other expenses in connection with the mass meeting which we held at the Masonic Temple. In November we spent $157.40, $100 of which was to pay the court fees in the Fink versus Peck case, in order that Mr. Fink might carry on this case, which we deemed very important to the tenants of Washington. The CHAIRMAN. That is the case now appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States? Mrs. BROWN. That is the case now appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. In December our expenses amounted to $86.45, the largest item of which was $30.70 for the rental of a high school for the meeting which was held there. In January our expenses have been $26.50, chiefly for stationery and telephone service. The full financial statement of the Tenants' League to-day discloses that we received $400.95, and we have expended $593.20surely not a very strong money-getting organization. The balance, $192.25, for which we have received no money, has been loaned by three people. Mrs. Charles Luskey has loaned $60 to the Tenants' League. My husband and myself have loaned $64.70, and Mr. Schirmer out of his own pocket has loaned $67.55. In other words, the deficit of the Tenants' League has been made up by loans from these three people, and we have an outstanding bill of $15, making our total indebtedness to-day $207.25. Therefore, I say to you gentlemen, that the officers of the Tenants' League deeply resent this charge that we are a money-getting organization. We have proved to you that we are anything but money getters, that we have lived absolutely up to the principles under which we started out, of having an altruistic organization solely for the protection of the tenants of this city. I want to read just a few words written by one of the tenants who loaned money to the organization, to show you how she came to do it. When I learned of this suit by which attorney Friedburg, a relative of Messrs. Baskin & Low, was attempting to discredit Mr. Schirmer, I offered a loan to Mr. Schirmer as a token of my appreciation of his character and of the splendid fight he is making entirely gratuitously for the tenants of Washington. I loaned Mr. Schirmer $300 on good security to pay this note and to finance him slightly while he is carrying on this fight. Faced with the emergencies of the situation, he has loaned a part of this sum, $67.55. to the Tenants' League. I believe that when the facts become known, as they are shown here to-night, the tenants of Washington will appreciate the valiant, utterly unpaid services of Mr. Schirmer and will wipe out their actual debt to him. As I am a tenant myself, I feel that the least we can do is to fully exonerate him from this malicious charge and to repay the loan he made to us. I believe no amount of money could ever pay him for his services to us. That is signed by Mrs. Charles Luskey. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Schirmer still has the stand. Mr. GORE. Could I ask Mrs. Brown a question or two? Mrs. Brown, you have no personal knowledge as to a contract entered into between Mr. Schirmer and Mrs. Butts on September 4? Mrs. BROWN. No; I have never seen the contract. Mr. GORE. You do not know anything about the representations made by Mr. Schirmer to Mrs. Butts as the basis of that loan? Mrs. BROWN. I know only this, Senator Gore, that I consider that any man has a right to go into a business. We have heard from these real-estate men of Washington plea after plea for property rights and for an opportunity to make money, and I do not know why Mr. Schirmer should not have the right to make money if he wanted to the same as any other man. Mr. GORE. And your understanding is that that is the reason he entered into this contract with Mrs. Butts? Mrs. BROWN. Yes, sir; he thought there was an opportunity to help the tenants of Washington by starting such an organization. Mr. GORE. And to make money out of it? Mrs. BROWN. Possibly. I do not see why he should not. Mrs. BROWN. However, the present Tenants' League, which was included in Mr. McKeever's statement, has nothing to do with money getting in any way, shape or manner, and we resent it deeply. Mr. GORE. I do not know that any intimation has been made that your organization is a money-making concern. Your organization, as I understand it, is different from the one that was contemplated between Mr. Schirmer and Mrs. Butts. Mrs. BROWN. Entirely. Mr. GORE. But it is the same Mr. Schirmer? Mrs. BROWN. It is. Mr. GORE. Now, you finally organized your league on the September? Mrs. BROWN. Yes, sir. 17th of Mr. GORE. Now, you have no knowledge of any conversation between Mr. Schirmer and Mrs. Butts subsequent to that time in an effort to obtain further money from her? Mrs. BROWN. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Gore, Mr. Schirmer will be on the stand and I think he is the proper person to whom to ask these questions. She says she knows nothing about that proposition at all and it is entirely a different proposition from that involving the organization she is a member of. I think it would be only fair to ask Mr. Schirmer and not Mrs. Brown those questions. Senator JONES of Washington. I want to suggest, too, that I do not believe in having anybody outside of the committee cross examining these witnesses. Mr. GORE. Let me say this, Mr. Chairman, and probably I can take Senator Jones's suggestion. Mrs. Butts, I think, will be available and we may possibly prove by her that Mr. Schirmer did approach her after the 17th of September last and solicit money to carry on this Tenants' League. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Gore, if there are any questions you would like to have asked, the committee will ask them if you will submit them to the committee in writing. The committee permitted you to make your statement this morning in behalf of the real estate people, and it is hardly fair to permit you to take up the time in cross examining witnesses to the exclusion of the testimony which the Tenants' League wishes to present. As I said before, if you will submit the questions you would like to have asked, I think the committee will be glad to put those questions to the witnesses. Representative HAMMER. The landlords were not examined by the attorneys for the other side and, while I have the highest regard for ex-Senator Gore, I think that in the limited time we have we should keep up the practice we started with. Of course, if there are any particular questions ex-Senator Gore would like to ask, I take it we will ask them. Mr. GORE. I want to abide by the rules of the committee. The CHAIRMAN. Of course, we want all the evidence available or that we can secure, but the questions that you were asking ought to be asked of Mr. Schirmer and not Mrs. Brown. Mrs. BROWN. However, these questions seem quite aside from the matter at issue, and that is that the present Tenants' League is no money-getting organization, and Mr. Schirmer has never received a dollar from it. The CHAIRMAN. The charges were made that this league was organized for the purpose of making money and that Mr. Schirmer went in it for that purpose. That was stated by Mr. McKeever. Now, I was going to ask Mr. Schirmer all those questions. I think he is the only one who can answer them properly. You say there was never any money mentioned? Mrs. BROWN. Oh, yes; we discussed it fully, and Mr. Schirmer with me. The CHAIRMAN. You said that nobody should receive any salary. that that was the first proposition decided upon in connection with your league. If that is the case, you know nothing about any money being promised? Representative HAMMER. What is the purpose of asking Mr. Schirmer about that to discredit him and the Tenants' League! I do not see that it has any bearing on the merits of whether the rents are high or low. For my part, I am opposed to going into this. You can ask to impeach him, if you desire to, but that is the only ground I see for following this up. Senator JONES of Washington. I would like to hear testimony with reference to the rents. I care nothing about this testimony referred to. Mrs. BROWN. Shall we then put on our next witness? Representative HAMMER. We might be curious to know what the attorneys on the other side are getting and all that, what the landlords are paying the counsel who appear here. I have the highest respect for ex-Senator Gore and there is no man in America who has conducted himself better than he has in this matter. Senator JONES of Washington. We do not expect Senator Gore to give his time here for nothing. Representative HAMMER. And I hope it is a nice fee you are getting, Senator Gore. The CHAIRMAN. Now, Mr. Schirmer, have you any further statement to make? Mr. SCHIRMER. No: that is the only statement. The CHAIRMAN. You state positively that you went into this organization because you thought the renters and the people of Washington necessarily would need to organize themselves if they were going to meet the conditions which you saw confronting them? Mr. SCHIRMER. Positively. The CHAIRMAN. That is what you informed me? Mr. SCHIRMER. Yes, sir. Senator JONES of Washington. What is your business, Mr. Schirmer? Mr. SCHIRMER. My last position was in connection with this Senate report No. 53, and then from there into the Tenants' League. |