Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXIY.





NEW YOEK, SATUKDAY, DECEMBEK 27, 1879.





No. Bir>





Published Weekly by

^bt Mtd (Estate Eetarb ^ssonalioii.

TERJIS.
ONE YEAR, in advance....SIO.OO.
Communications should be addressed to

C.   \V.   SWEET,

Nos. 1-35 AND 137 Broadway





THE REAL DAISGER TO THE COUNTRY.
It is not the habit of The Record to discuss
politics, but, representing as we do conservative
property holders, there is one aspect of national
affairs which should be seriously ponderetJ. We
allude to the growing willingness of politicians of
both parties, while in power, to cheat one another
out of the results of an election. It must be ap¬
parent to all who have closely watched the ten¬
dencies of the times that there is less and less
sacredness attached to the verdict of the ballot
box. The "ins" are quite willing to set aside the
verdict of the people, if they can thereby retain
power, and the "outs" are willing to resort to any¬
thing short of actual violence to get iuto the
places of power. There is an attempt now in
Maine, on the part of the Democrats and Green-
backers, to reverse the verdict made at the polls
at tbe last election, on what seems to be good
technical grounds. The liresent Democratic
Congress have in several cases, deprived Repub¬
licans of their seats, who were fairly elected, on
purely fraudulent issues, but for this they had the
example set them by the Republicans who, during
their possession of the power, never scrupled to
unseat a Democrat, if there was the slightest color
of pretense for doing so, wholly without regard
to the actual vote cast at the polls. The return¬
ing board wickedness was invented by the Re¬
publicans, and now tha Democrats are using it,
and the real peril to tbis country is not the found¬
ing of an aristocracy or a kingdom, but the in¬
auguration of a reign of force following a reign of
fraud, and what may be (»lled moral violence. We
are cursed in this country with rulers trained in
but one profession, thatof the law. The very
business of a lawyer makes him oblivious '.to
nice moral distinctions. A technicality, if he can
win his case, is as good for him as a fact or an
equity. Now the infusion of a few lawyers into
our legislatures would do no barm had they not
such a monopoly of the whole governing busi¬
ness of the country. They are cur legislators
executive officers judges; they swarm in ever}'
department of the public service, and it will be
found that even the ofticjers of our great corpora
tions have been trained in the legal profession.
Take the case ofthe president of the Reading
Road and the present receiver or president ot the
Erie Road. Much of the prevailing corporate
immorality is due to the large infusion of lawyers
into the control of the affairs of the great trans¬
portation lines. We do not mean this as an
attack upon the whole legal profession. Some of
our most eminent and patriotic citizens belong to
the lawyer class, but it is never safe to give a
monopoly of power to any one guild. Probably
still greater evils would be in store for us, were
our rulers all soldiers or all'mercbants. Ours
should be a representative government and every
large class in the community should have its rep¬
resentatives in our national councils.   Notwith¬





standing the imminent peril of civil war which we
escaped at the last presidential election, it has so
far been an impossibility for our lawyer states¬
men to seriously consider the question of properly
conducting and counting the result of a Presi¬
dential election. The late Senator Morton fore¬
saw the difficulties likely to arise, and exercised-
all his powerful executive abilities to try and in¬
duce Congress to adopt some scheme for electing
a president that would be practicable and avoid
the danger of a civil war. But neither the press,
the public, or Congress seems to be aware of the
volcano upon which we rest. It is incredible
that we can continue much longer without a
collision, without a civil war, far more dangerous
than that which was waged between the North
and South. Indeed, there is some reason for the
extraordiuary canvass, made in behalf of ex-Presi¬
dent Grant. Some of our people believe that
what is needed at the head of the government is
a soldier to preserve order. No such apprehension
would have been felt if the lawyers who have the
monopoly of governing us would give us snch
legislation as would prevent the scandals connect¬
ed with the counting of votes and the determining
of the results of an election. The people of Maine
are human, and if there is no way of redressing an
outrageous wrong but by violence, that will be re¬
sorted to at last. As we said, both parties are to
blame in this matter, one no more than the other.
We do not believe that another presidential
election like the last would have any such happy
result. In case there is suspicion that the returns
have been tampered with, that fraud involving
the politics of the country for four years has been
attempted, we will soon see the partisans on each
side flying at each others throats. An era of
swindling and corruption is always followed by
violence, and that is the real peril of the republic
to-day. People are not looking for any such re¬
sult but then it is the unexpected which always
happens.

SUBURBAN MAP.
We call the attention of o-ar readei*s to the map
ill tbis number of The Record, and the article
on rapid transit acconipanj'ing it. We are satisfie
from investigation that the stockholders of the
Suburban Rapid Transit Company intend in good
faith to build the routes comprised in their
franchise, unless the Commissioners lay out com¬
peting lines, such as the Railroad avenue route,
which maj' destroy the system of routes embraced
iu the Suburban Company's line and give the
district but one rapid transit road instead of three.
We hope the Commissioners v^rill not inflict tbis
injury upon the Twenty-third and Twenty
fourth wartjg, but stand firm for the Suburban
routes and the greatest good to the people of the
whole district.





THE NEW YORK OF 1900.

The future is wisely hidden from us, but there
arc some indications which enable the sagacious
to see what may occur upon certain portions of
the earth we inhabit. It is very evident that the
New York of 1900 will differ very greatly from the
New York of 1879. By that time our system of
rapid travel to all parts of the surrounding country





will he fully uuder way. It is not unlikely that
our pojnilation instead of beiug dense will he
much more scattered. There will he no need of
houses built so closely together. This is au afje
of travel. People move very olteii and very
rapidly from oue part of the country to another.
It is probable that a thousand persons take jour¬
neys to day where oue did a hundred years back.
Bnt will not much of this journeying he rendered
unucccssiiry wheu our tclef;ra])h aud telephone
systems have reached perfection? Slowly but cer¬
tainly telephones are getting into all places of
business. They will limiUy reach our private resi¬
dences aud a system will bo devised whereby
a gentleman or lady sitting in their parlors can
converse with their friends or busiuess rcjiresenta-
tives through a telephonic tube. We now converse
with more or less readiues.s hy telegrajili with people
iu all parts of the earth and this system will have
reached great perfection within the next fifty ye.irs
It will in a measure do away with the necessity of
personal conference except by this means. Thou,
undoubtedly by that time our houses, will be
•n-armed by steam or heat from tlic outside as gas
aud water arc now supplied. This will do away
with frequent tires; it will diminish the cost of
fuel: help to prolong our supply of eoal aud w-ill
w-ork many important economical changes. In¬
surance companies will not be so mticli needed, as
there will be less danger of coullagratious. There
w-ill also be a saving to the community uot only
from the actual loss hy tire hut from the tax
which tho whole commuuity uow pay for protec¬
tion against couthigrations. It iyjeius to he settled
that Edisoifs electric light is uow a .success and
a very few- years will do away with gas aa the
latter has practically dispensed with tho tallow
candle and the whale oil lamp. Our cities then
will be lighted hy artitical suns, moons and stars
wliich will make night as available as day is for
active business. Glorious as is the aun at noon¬
day, in a clondlesss sky, the night etfects produced
by artificial light and perhaps other agencies that
electricity may employ will he very picturesque
and pleasing and the dark places of the earth; at
least in our larger cities, will he dark places no
longer. All this will bein the direction of ecouomv.
also. Coal will be no longer needed for iliuniiuat-
ing purposes. By 1900 there will be several
britlges across the East River while there will be
tunnels and bridges also across tho North River,
Onr population will he scattered nil over the sur¬
rounding country for scores of miles. The com¬
pact built cities of the present day rendered neces¬
sary by the impossibilities of living far from place:'
of busiuess due to lack of rapid transit will give
place to houses and villas surrounded by shrub
bery. This will improve the health of our cities
for our system of sewerage and drainage by that
time will have heen perfected. Bu.sines.s will be
centred in certain localities easy of access to large
stretches of country inhabited by families. There
will, doubtless, be a specialization of industries.
Hore the great w-arehousos, there the financial in¬
stitutions, in another place the importing hu.siuess.
In other words our whole commercial interests will
be 80 localized and organized as to give the greatest
facilities at the cheapest price. But it may appear
too extravagant to'follow- out this line of thought,
yet it is within reason to suppose that marvellous
as have been the changes which have taken place