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The   Record  and '"Guide.





'December 10, 1887





merce, and our manufacturing and mming industries should all
be recognized. It is absurd, however, for us to have a Secretary
of War and Secretary of the Navy, when industry is unrepresented
in the Cabinet. Work, not war, is our normal occupation; hence,
while we might have a Secretary of National Defence with two
bureaus—one of War, the other of the Navy—we should see that
our industrial interests wer© recognized among the advisers of the
President.





Rapid Transit  at Last.

On April 23d last The Record and Guide contained the
announcement that the Vanderbilts, with associated capitalists,
had agreed to build an underground trunk road under the widened
and reconstructed Elm street, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the
43d street Grand Central depot. In making the announcement
we expressed our preference for the Arcade plan, making a double
Broadway; and we charged that a few Broadway property-holders
bad fought this* Arcade project with the result of bringing into
existence a tunnel scheme under Elm street. On April 30th we
published the following editorial paragraph:

We repeat what we said last week, that there are the very best reasons
for believing that the New York Central Railroad has decided to build an
underground railroad from the Grand Central Depot to the Brooklyn
Bridge. The tunnel in which the tracks will be laid will run under Elm
street, which is to be widened and extended on one end to the bridge and
on the other to Lafayette place and 4th avenue. The work is to be
undertaken at once and will be forwarded iu the most expeditious manner,
so that the trains may bo running in the early summer ot 1888. There
wili be four tracks; two for through and two for way travel. New York
imperatively needs rapid steam travel from one eud uf the island to tbe
other. But it ought to involve the Arcade plan, and the route should
commence at the lower end of Broadway and run under that thoroughfere
to Hth street. Then there ought to be one branch to the 42d street depot,
another under Broadway and the Boulevard to the Harlem River. But
the Broadway property-holders have again managed to injure their own
interests, and their opposition to a steam road will result in building up a
rival thoroughfare.

Over seven and a-half months have elapsed since then, and now
the New York Times makes eubstantially th© sam© announcement.
It'says, among other things :

A four-track railway, running express trains on fhe middle tracks and
local trains on the outside tracks, is to be built from the Post-office, through
Elm street and 4th avenue to 42d street. Embarked in the enterprise,
acjiordiDg to the Time.**^ informant, are W. K. Vanderbilt, Cornelius Van
derbilt, Chauncey M Depew, Orlando B. Potter, Johu Jac^b Astor, William
W. Astor, the Rhinelanders, the Lorillards, and many other representative
people. But more than enough has been given to assure the financial sup.
port without which any underground railway scheme would never reach
fruition. The plan is said to have taken form simultaneously with the
project to widen Elm street aud extend it through to a junction with 4th
avenue at or near Astor place. Against the Broadway scheme it was said
that there would be a never-ending opposition from contiguous property-
owners, besides which it would be 50 per cent, more expensive than a
line either side of and parallel with Broadway. And, furthermore, the
contemplated Elm street improvement would afford the most favorable
opportunity for the building of such a road without delay to or interference
with the great tide of traffic daily pouring through the main thoroughfares
that the city can ever hope to see.

The time between th© City Hall and 42d street will be seven
minutes. It is further contemplated to extend the tunnel to the
lower end of the island through the strtet to be made connecting
the City Hall Park with William street. The one objection to this
plan is the tunnel feature. ** Never go under ground till you can't
help yourself" is a grim joke which all mortals can appreciate;
and no one who has endured th© smoke and suffocating air of the
comparatively well-ventilated tunnel above 43d street will look
forward with any great pleasure to what must be a very much
more confined tunnel^.between the Grand ^Central depot and the
Brooklyn Bridge. Still it will give us rapid transit upon solid
ear h. The time between the City HaU Park and the Harlem
River will be reduced to twenty minutes, if not less, and our citi¬
zens will hav© real rapid transit along the central zone of the city.
This improvement will, of course, hurt Broadway property in the
long run, as if another rapid transit route is built, as it must be in
time, it will be located midway between Broadway and the
North River.

In connection with this matter it will be noticed that the Van¬
derbilts have been buying property in the 23d Ward, and undoubt¬
edly other large investments have been made. The Astors already
have large holdings in this region. This new rapid transit route
will stimulate enormously the trading in unimproved property
north of the Harlem. It will advantage all the existing towns this
side of Putnam County on the west side, and will add greatly to
the value of property in New Rochelle and otherp nearby settle¬
ments along the Sound and tho New Haven Railroad.

But the building of the underground road between th© City Hall
and 42d street if3 only part of a general plan for making this island
the terminal station for the whole country.
It is understood that $30,000,000 Las already been subscribed for





carrying out these various improvements. One of the recommen¬
dations to the Arcade plan wa3 that it was intenc'ed to connect
the new underground Broadway with the systems of railroads that
run north, east and west from the Harlem River. A passenger could
take his ticket direct for his hotel in this city from any point in
the country, while freight could be forwarded direct to th© New
York warehouse without change of cars. In the new scheme this
game result is in contemplation, but the passengers and freight
would come through tunnels under the North River as well as by
the way of the roads which centre in the Grand Central depot.

It is quite clear that the tunnel between 43d street and the Har¬
lem River will not accommodate all the new business in the way
of freight and local passengers, hence a new rapid transit eteam
road on the west side of the city will almost be immediately
needed. These new enterprises will not materially affect the exist¬
ing elevated roads. The horse cars prospered in spite of these latter,
as so it will be with the elevated tracks, which then as now will
be attractive to hundreds of thousands who would object to travel¬
ing in a tunnel no matter how swift the locomotion.

But what a wonderful city New York will become when all these
improvements are effected. Th© transference of tho depots and
warehouses from the Jersey to the New York shore would add
enormously to the value of the real estate of this island. Then the
Harlem River Canal, which ought to bo completed within the next
fiv© years, will give us ten miles of additional wharf room. On
the banks of this new improvement will be coal, lumber, and build¬
ing material depots, as well as numerous factories. This will
greatly advantage th© annexed district, as well as property on the
north of this island.

Decidedly anyone who wants a permanent investment cannot do
better than purchas© real estate in this city. For business pur¬
poses alone it will command prices far higher th&n London has
©v©r seen,





The consuming public which has been paying six to seven dollars
per ton for coal cannot understand why th© owners of mines in
the Lehigh region should object to paying three ani a-half cents
extra a ton to their working miners. The strike has been under
way uow for many months, to the great advantage of all the coal
regions and companies, save alone the owners of the mines of the
Lehigh Valley, The secret of the matter ia said to be a peculiarity
in the contracts made by the large coal miners in that section.
During the summer they made agreements for delivering coal for six
months ahead, with th© proviso that they wouli not be obliged to
deliver the coal in the event of a strike, but th© pric© of anthracit©
soon went up beyond their contract figure, and the contractors to
sav© themselves goaded the miners into a strike, so that the con¬
tracts might lapse. They will not be in fore© on the first of next
January, and it is then understood that a settlement will be made
with the miners. It is this selfish policy on the part of a few min©
owners which has worked so injuriously to the public and has
brought such unnecessary suffering to all the poorly paid coai
miners.





The New York Herald announces that all the Mormon Church
property, even the famous Tabernacle, is now in charge of the
United States government. It has been seized and held under th©
Edmunds act. This has not been because of any rebellion on th©
partof the Mormons, but because they practice an unpopular social
custom. Polygamy is now in vogue in many parts of the earth under
religious sanctions, as it also was under the Old Testament dispen¬
sation. The Herald says that th© Latter Day Saints are a righteous
and God-fearing people, notwithstanding their on© objectionable
social practice.    We quote :

They are most industrious and are severe in their economy. They are
toilers in the strictest sense of the word, and are neither wasteful nor
extravagant ; with them idleness is a sin and the saving of their substance
a means of grace. Half the sermons are exhortations to thrift and
economy, the science of making and saving having been reduced to a fine
point by the foremost elders from tbe days of Joseph Smith down to the
present time, wheu the plain, hard-working New England farmer, Wilford
Woodruff, stands at the head of the organization.

In this case we have established a precedent which can be used
against any sect in the country. Should any of them become
unpopular its property can be confiscated. Personal good conduct
will not avail to save them from spoilation. It is curious that a
body of lawyers could propose or pass such law; but Senator
Edmunds, its fraraer, is continuing in the eame path, for he now
proposes to enact a statute to practically confiscate the property of
th© Western \7nion Telegraph Company. The principle involved
in the plundering of th© Mormon Church is a monstrous one,
entirely irrespective of the wrongfulness of polygamy, and some
day it will be used to plague its inventors.





Th© President's message was a surprise, and, we may add, to busi¬
ness men a disappointment. The problem befor© th© Administra¬
tion was first to get rid of the existing surplus, aud next to provide