Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXV.





NEW YOKK, SATUEDAY, FEBEUAEY 21, 18S0.





No. 623





Published Weekly by

C^c %ml §shk %ttaxb %%Bacmixan,

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

C.  W.  SM/^EET,

Nos. 135 AND 137 Broadway

MUST HISTORY ALWAYS REPEAT ITSELF?
The columns of the Real Estate Record give am¬
ple evidence, one week after another that we spare
no labor or expense to keep abreast of the active
times which have gladdened the hearts of so many
dealers in, and owners of, property. In doing so,
however, the Record does not intend to be carried
away from that sound principle which commands
constant deliberation and investigation. If these
columns should give vent to all that we hear from
week to week, this journal would cease to be the
safe guide to investors, which has been its pride
and mainstay these many years past. We aay this
the more pointedly thia week, as the market con¬
tains now many new adherents, who are not only
talking recklessly about values, but are actually
rushing things a little too fast. Thia ia not said
for the purpose of " bearing the market," but to
advise those who intend to inveat their hard earned
dollars in the soil not to listen at all times to the
ideas ot simple speculators. It is the latter class,
and not the honest investorg, who have in the past
dragged novices into utter ruin, and Pine street
once more begins to fill up with men who think
they can gamble in realty with the same effrontery
that they showed eight and ten years ago. To hear
these men talk, one would imagine that every
vacant lot on Manhattan Island ia to-day—not in
years to come—but to-day, worth all the gold that
can possibly be piled upon it, and, what is more,
they will quote the sayings of this man, or that
owner, who haa declined fabulous offers for thia or
that property. Now it muat be admitted that even
all thia talk does no harm per se, but there are some
men who have lately shown a disposition to act
just as reckleaaly as others talk. Theae may come
out all right, but others that follow their example
at a later period may not. The advance in the
prices of certain unimproved property has been
almost too rapid during the past four months, too
rapid indeed to inspire that confidence which is
the safe basis of continued prosperity. It causes
wise and thoughtful men to ehrug their shoulders
and shake their heads and to ask, " where will thia
end?" They remember that it was only a few
short months ago when the business " boom''
made its appearance here in the wake of that
eighty millions of European gold, which the bal¬
ance of trade threw into the American lap. And
though they remember the leading cause of that
revival, they as yet fail to see the plans of the
architecta or the apades of the builders ready to
improve the vacant lota that have gone up so won¬
derfully in a few abort months. They well know
that one of these days, or rather years, the time
will come when theae improvementa will begin,
but until they do why should values be pushed to





extremes ? New York, no more than Rome, haa
been built in a day—in fact, if we are to believe
General Viele, it ought to be built all over again—
and if values along the exterior lines of the Weat
Side are even now already to be kept at high flgures,
it will only still further delay the construction of
fine mansions in that section, which all so ardently
desire.

We may be told that during the past two months
extraordinary pirices have been paid for Fifth
avenue lots, and that, therefore, the avenues of the
future which are to outrival the Fifth in splendor
will also command.higher pricea. So they may in
time to come. But we have to pass yet a great
apace of time before we get there. It is only now
that Fifth avenue is at its zenith, and the high
pricea for lota on that avenue have only received
an impetus since the Vanderbilts, followed by other
rich men, settled upon that locality for their own
mansions during the past few months.. It had to
pass through many varying stages before it
reached what appears now to be at last a per¬
manency.

With the increased wealth of the,country, and the
accession to our population of citizens who have
made their millions in the West and South, there
is good reason to hope that the growth of the ex¬
treme West Side will not be as tardy as Fifth
avenue haa been. Nevertheless, as Mr. Martin
said the other day, the only way to fix values for
to-day is to calculate what the ultimate value aome
years hence will be, and then to allow a discount
for that ultimate value. It is this that we desire
to impress upon those who now already talk of ex¬
traordinary Fifth avenue prices for extreme Weat
Side lots. In calculating that ultimate value, it is
well to remember that New York's growth depends
exclusively upon the country's business prosperity.
Already.we have commenced to import more than
we export—this means that we buy more than we
sell—while yet we are under the influence of that
eighty millions in gold which a sound and econom¬
ical way of doing .business added to our wealth.
We do not desire to detract one iota from the con-
' gratulations heard all around at the revival of
prosperity, but knowing that New York's value of
realty is so ultimately connected with the pros¬
perity that is real and not imaginary—would it
not have been better if the balance of trade had re¬
mained in our favor, as it was during 1879 ? It is
theae matters which investors must look in the
face—for upon that acquisition of capital mainly
depends our welfare. Now, why did it not remain
so ? First, and above all, unlike England, our en¬
tire commercial system has not yet adjusted itself in
a manner to secure for our manufactures—for all of
our exports—that permanency in which alone there
is safety and success. Our navigation laws are
wrong ; our manufacturing laws in various States
are oppressive; our manufacturers themselves have
only just now begun to understand that to seek
neutral markets and be enabled to compete, they
must make what these markets want, not what
they themselves care to produce; our consuls
abroad have only just now begun to enlighten
American manufacturers on these matters. But,
above all, before our commercial system can pos¬
sibly adjust itself so as to permit ua to keep our
banner aloft, our workingmen not only, but our
merchants must practice that frugality which on
the one side permits cheap labor, and on the other
hand reduces expenses within the income.   Manu¬





facturers also must learn how to save the waste.
When all these matters are rightly understood and
appreciated, then this country—now that "modern
commerce," as a political economist aaid the
other day, •' turns on one half one per cent."'—
will indeed have many eighty millions in gold
added to her coffers. Then, and then only, will
New York, the fountain head of the Union; reap
that vast benefit which will show itself in per¬
manency as to high values. But until that com¬
mercial system is properly adjusted, either by
legislation or by the wisdoin of our producers, there
will occur periodically those depressions, which it
will be well to remember even in these times of
high glee, when so many look at the future through
the spectacles of speculators.





THE   TWENTY-THIRD    AND    TWENTY-
FOURTH  WARDS.

It cannot be said that as yet there is any specu-
tion in the two wards of this city north of the
Harlena River. .Prices are much firmer than they
were; holders are less willing to sell and there is
more inquiry. The large purchase in the interest
of the Astor estate has provoked inquiry and set
operators thinking, but, as we have said, as yet
there is nothing that can be called speculation.
Those who wish for a quick turn for their money
prefer to invest in v acant lots on this island, hav¬
ing in mind the old business motto that the best
purchase of vacant lands is just in advance of the
improvements.

It is better, all things considered, that there
should be no widespread speculation. The plans
of the Rapid Transit Commissioners looked to the
entire region below Yonkers and New Rochelle
in laying out their lines of elevated aud surface
roads, and the amouq|; of property is so large
that it could not all rise in anticipation of the im¬
provements which would be brought about by
the construction of the new avenues of travel.
This is wholesome. It would be a real calamit
to the future of the city if the lands, which are
suitable.for the homes of the working classes and
for manufactories, were quoted at figures so high
as to make building costly and, therefore, una¬
vailable. There is plenty of land, cheap enough
as yet, which can be bought and held in blocks for
improvement. The future factories, as well as
th" residences of our working population, are not
yet made impossible by a quotation of real estate
in excess of a reasonable figure.

There is one other improvement which has been
lost sight of, and which will have a powerful effect
upon values within three miles of the north bank
of the Harlem River. We allude to the Harlem
River improvement. We understand that assur¬
ances have been received from Washington that
the money will be forthcoming when needed to
make the Harlem River navigable. There is no
difficulty at Washington. Promises have also been
received from Albany that any legislation needed
to begin and continue this very desirable work
wiU be cheerfully voted by the State Jjegislature.
Governor Cornell is a sensible business man, and
will interpose no frivolous legal objections when
the interests ht the community is at stake. It is
very obvious that the rendering of the Harlem
River navigable means a large addition to the
value of lands on the north bank and beyond.
It is also among the certainties of the future that