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1 he   Kecord  and   Ijuide.l





January 14, 1888





Senator Stewart, of Nevada, and other silver doctrinairesjRre
desirous of replacing all our gold and silver coin by paper certifi¬
cates, issued upon the depositor of the precious metals. The Salt
Lake Tribime puts the case thus :

There should really be no passing of coin, except for change, among
people. Paper is tbe money of civilization, only tbe paper should have a
metallic backing. The loss by abrasion of both silver and gold, annually,
is a tremendous sum, and there is no sense in the waste ; and these large
amounts of either metal are expensive to transmit from point to point.
But the reserve of silver in the Treasury is not an element of the slightest
trouble. It happens to be just as good a reserve as gold itself ; it is the
money of two-ihirds of the world, the money of the Constitution ; the
money that stood, after the mutations of four thousand years, at a
premium over gold.

This seems very plausable, and undoubtedly the drift of public
sentiment favors the use of paper to either gold or silver. But if
people see nothing but paper, year after year, will there not grow
up a belief that gold and si verare not needed in the business of the
world? Why, it will be asked, keep on piling up the precious
metals in the Treasury vaults, when the only use will be to give
value to a circulating medium? In time an irresistible demand
will be made to utilize the vast storea of gold and silver in the
Treasury vaults. The fact is, we produce about half of the precious
metals of the world, and we ought to make use of them in the
retail trade of the country.





In passing a judgment upon the disputes between the railroad
corporations and the miners, the average citizens bhoutd keep in
mind what proportion tbe miners wages bears to the total retail
cost of a ton of coal. On tbis point we quote from Ihe Pioneer
Press of St. Paul:

The wages paid to the Pennsylvania miner for digging a ton of coal
range from 38 to 65 cents. By the time it got to Bnffalo it was valued
at $4.50 for grate and egg and $4.95 for stove and nut on the first day
of January, and *4,60 and 14.90 for the same on the first day of Octo¬
ber. It is in this interspace that tbe tremendous royalties to monopoly
are paid. The lake freight from Buffalo to Dulutb, these figures are for
1886, was 35 cents on May 5^nd $1 by the middle of November. W-here
tbe rest of, the money goes tne consumer must calculate for himself.

This same paper goes oo to say :

The wages of miners in Pennsylvania, the centre of the coal industry
and the paradise of labor, are lower tban anywhere else in the United
States, the majority of districts there pay from 40 to 50 cents par
ton. Peoria, Ills., pays 70 cents; Indiana, from 65 to 80; Iowa, 9J cents
aud 81; Colorado, 8;iJ<, and Oregon, $1. There is here the same smgular
difference between wages fiast and West tbat appears in other occupa¬
tions; a difference which, in the absence of taiitf regulations between
the States, is wholly inexplicable by the protective theory of wages.

The fact should never he lost sight of tbat the $6 or more which
the consumer pays for a ton of coal, barely 50 cents represents the
total wages received by the miner. Seventy-five cents a ton is
about the average profit of tlie retail dealer; the other $4.75 goes
to the transportation company, which, under our present system,
owns the mines, aud makes a profit in addition as a wholesale
dealer and common carrier. The intolerable greed which demands
this monstrous profit and which to get it is willing to cut the
laborer and the miner down to the last cent, is what gives point t©
tbe complaints of the anti-monopolist, the Socialist and the Com¬
munist. The Eecoeo and Guide has only recently been justifying
the formation of Trusts, but there is no excuse for extortion or for
the greed of corporations which takes advantage of its position to
rob alike the producer and the consumer.





Congressman Holman, the great objector, is out in favor of
liberal appropriations for public buildings. It is to be hoped that
other Congressmen are of a like mind. We could spend all the
surplus in supplying buildings which are really needed, but the
appropriations ought to be made after some well-devised pro¬
gramme. The new buildings are now a matter of log-rolling, in
which the most aggressive and rapacious representatives get the
largest appropriations. There ought to be some bureau which
would apportion the new public buildings to the localities that

most needed them.

-----------c-----------,

The Catholic Apostolic Church.

Editor Record and Guide:

Dear Bia—In your issue of the 7th, commenting upon the Catholic
Apostolic Church in 57th street, jou refer to Mr. Potter as the architect. As
ene of the Building Committee, I think it only pi'oper to inform you tbat
tbe arabitect was Mr. Francis H. Kimball.

I am sohcitous to correct your misinformation in this respect, not only
because we appreciate the fact that we are entitled to tbe congratulations you
speak of for Mr. Kimball's success in the architectural treatment of tbe build¬
ing, but for the additional reason that we are conscious that Mr, Kimball
was equally successful in the exceedingly economical and advantageouB
manner Ik which be applied the limited amount of money which we
were able to furnish him for the purpose.   Yours truly,

John S, Davenport.





Concerninq Men and Thinas.

*'*

Two new clubs have recently been organized in this city. Oae is called
a " Player's Club," and ia composed of actors and their personal friends.
One of the objects of tbe now organization is to get together a great dra
matic library. The membei-sbip is limited to men, which is rati-er unfair to
the women in the profession, who certainly divide the honors and the profits
with those who cater to the amusement of the general public. Merely pro¬
fessional clubs are not uniformly successful. It does not do to have too
much shop in a social gathering. There ought to be a sprinkling of many
different professions to make things pleasant. Actors and journalists get
along pretty well together, the only drawback being that a good many of
the members of both professions are not very good pay. The " Lambs "
and tbe Lotos CluO contain a good many actors, indeed tbey were both
originally intended for artists and JDurnalists. Tbe new Players' Club
started w^tb many very good names.

** *

The other new club is called the Reform Club, and, as its name imparts, is
intended to help on political reform. It ought to subserve a useful function.
The most successful of tbe London clubs are those that have political objects
in view. Our Union League Club is the only one which has an -honorable
history back of it, but of late years it haa not done much to purify politics.
Tbe Manhattan Club started off well, but it never was of the slightest value
to tbe Democratic party, municipal or national. There are some good
namesassociated with the new tteform Club; butwill they pull together?
Time alone can tell.

***

New York is a polyglot city. There are many large German centres of
population which have fewer German places of amusement than New
York. During the post three weeks we have had playing to large New
York audiences an opera company equal to tbe best in Berlin, an actress
equal (o any on the German boards, and a leading star who has no superior '
iu faiherland. It is not creditable to us, however, that French compa¬
niea are not more successful in this city. French is taught in all our fash-'
ionable schools, and ao many New Yorkers visit France during the summer
season, tbere ought to be an audience fit, and not few, for a good French
comedy company. Bernhardt did well here, and so will Cocquehn when be

comes.

---------•---------

The Proposed Fast Drive.

The meeting held at the Chickering Hall on Monday evening, to organize
a movement with the object of creating a fast drive ou the western boun¬
dary of the Central Park, waa attended by some cf the wealthiest and
most influential of New York's citizens, in which a number of well-
known society ladies should be included. Scarcely a person present but
was a taxpayer, soma of them very large ones. Tbe meeting resolved
to send a deputation to tbe Mayor, asking him to further the movement,
and as men like J. D. Rockefeller, Robert Bonner, Russell Sage, Roscoe
Conkhng, Frank Work and others are strongly interested, no doubt sfflne-
thing will result from the action taken. Are presentative of The Record
AJSD Guide called upon Lawson N. Fuller, one of the projectors of tbe
plan. He has driven fast horses on "tbe road" for the last thirty-five
years and knows every rod of the ground as well as he does bis own garden,
Se said:

"What we propose is to take a strip of ground, commencing at the
western wall of the Central Park and running eastward lUO feet, beginning
at 59th and ending at 110th street. Thiii land is now absolutely useless to
anyone and is not wanted specially for any purpose. We propose to turn
it Into a splendidly well-kept macadamized road, with a row. of trees in
the centre along tha entire distance, which shall divide the riders going
north and south. This will give us just as much service as though the
road were 300 feet wide without such a dividing line, where vehicles and
horses would go pell-mell like on the Seventh avenue Boulevard. Tbis
dividing line will avoid accidents. We don't require 150 feet, as the Times
suggests, 100 feet being ample on tbis plan. It is a mistake to think that
tbere will be any accidents. Only fast driving will take place on this
new drive, and I have found that the accidents, when they do occur, are
between vehicles driven by inexperienced hands in most ca^es. Men who
own horses worth from J5,000 te $40,000 are not going to risk, them, as well
as their own personal safety, by reckless driving. A man who drives a fast
horse generally has a good eye and a sure rein, and he can easily aee any
impediment in the roadway hundreds of yards ahead in time to avoid it.
The grades can be used to breathe the horses. New York requires some
fast drive. Ameriaa is the couutry of fast horses, aud we ought to have
some place where not only our citiaens aud countrymen, but foreigners
from all parta, could come and see what we can produce in that noble quad¬
ruped. It must not be thought that the men who are in this movement have
entered into it on tbe spur of the moment, It has been talked over for the
last two years. Of course there will be objections raised. There always
have been to these things, But the Central Park belongs to our citizens,
and it should be utfiized for their benefit. Tbe strip of ground we ask for
isnot required for any^special purpose, and it would improve the Park
wonderfully. The drives now are principally taken up by broughams,
coup6i and other heavy wheelers, and light vehicles and fast horses have
no chance to put in any good work. The boulevards are not quite as good
for this purpose as they were. Besides, they are public thoroughfares
for pedestrians and too fast trotting on them cannot always be
indulged in. One has only to notice the thousands of workmen, clerks and
others, with their wives and children, who turn out on Sundays in the
Central Park and the boulevards to see the driving, to appreciate the
interest which all, poor or rich, take in seeing a display of horseflesh. If tbia
new drive is made we will have seats placed along the eastern and possibly
the western side, so that tbe people' may occupy tbem by tbe thousands,

and witness the beautiful sight to their intense delight. It would also
greatly improve, and infuse new life into, the property on Central Park
West and the abutting streets. In fact no one is going to lose much by the
change and everyone wfil be benefited,"





L.