Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXYI.





NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1880.





No. 647





Published Weekly by

Clje ^cal (JBstaU Eecorb J^ssoriation.

TERMS.

ONK YKAK, in advance___$10.00.

Comnmnications should be addressed to

C.   W.   SAV EET,
No. Vi7 Broa IV a\





REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS BY COR¬
PORATIONS.

A))()ut a year ago tlie New A'ovk Herald.
with an eiiteri)rise peculiarly its own, laid be¬
fore tlie general public a statement, collated
from the official records at Albany, showing
up in detail tlie amount of bond and inort-
luages held by the various life insurance
com])anves in tliis city. That |)ublication had
the effect of showing to those who were
])()sted in regard to realty values liow the va¬
rious com])anies were managed and the .judg¬
ment thev exercised in regard to the selection
of properties on which tiiey loaned ca.sh
money. As tlu' beginning of 1879 was, per-
iiaps. the best opportunity to test the .judg¬
ment of the various insurance companies
wiien doulit, fear and hojie alternately took
possession of the real estate market, the ope¬
rations which tlien saw the light became a .sure
test ol: the intelligence and business capacity
that ])resided over institutions having charge
and (-(mtrol oC milliims of the people's money.
Tlie critical year, howciver, proved to be, as
it iirogressed, a boon. witJi slight exceptions,
to inost of the insurance companies. Proper¬
ties that liad been foreclosed some time pre¬
vious were sold liere and there advantage¬
ously at jirivate contract, and yet loans even
on im])ro^-ed real estate were granted with
more c'i]-cums]:)ection and caution than had
been tlie case in the past.

In view of tliese facts, and in the absence
of any ell'orts on tiie part of the daily press
to supply the general public this year with
information in regard to the 1880 investments
in real estate and bond and mortgages by the
various msurance companies, The Real Es¬
tate Record, ever on the alert to supply in-
formati(wi of importance to owners of realty,
hei-eby congratulates property liolders gen¬
erally at the increased interest taken by these
flourishing financial mstitutions in New York
and suburban real estate, as shown by their
sworn detailed statements filed in tlie insur¬
ance departments of the various states in
which they transact business. The confi¬
dence entertained by tliese concerns in. the
real estate of oui- own and other cities can
best be arrived at by analyzing the items con¬
stituting their gross assets, as sworn to by
them in detail since the beginning of this





year, 1880. It wUl be conceded that the pos¬
session of real estate, estimated at market
value, and the amount of money loaned at a
fair margin of values on bond and inortgage,
is a pretty good test of the estimation in
which real estate is held by these various
financial institutions. We have, therefore,
selected nine of the leading life insurance
companies in this State and Connecticut, and
reproduce from their lengtliy detailed reports.
as filed in the departments at Albany and
Hartford, the various items, showing how
far in this year, 1880, they are interested in
real estate by actual possession or by cash
loans on realty as security. It will there be
seen that real estate and bond and mortgage
continue to be, more so than in the past, the
jirincipal items of their gross assets.

Gross                Real           Bonds' and

Company.        assets.             estate.        mortgages.







Equitable. .




37,0011,917 05




8.204.796 02




10.475,062 90





Germania...




8,5.^2,877 11




1,(I37,*16 .50




4.372,154 i6





Manhattan..




10,049.156 52




1.2.50,418 69




3.83r),0<J4 26





Mutual.......




88,212.700 68




7,811,805 18




r4.895.134 77





New York...




38,858.830 58




4.974,873 68




15.313.984 -3





Washington.




.5,591.888 99




4.5K.7P6 11




2.548.772 02





Charter Oak




8.2-27,666 18




4.767.171 V\




2.007, 44 59





Conn. Mutual 4&.723,fil.'5 31




11,089.472 47




22 217,403 37





Travelers . .




3,699,521 18




23,400 00




1,833,372 91





In order to thoroughly understand the
meaning of the figures we hereby give the
percentages of investments by the above com¬
panies. Both real estate and bonds and
mortgages constitute the leading items of the
various companies, as follows :

Bond and

Company.              Real e.state.           mortgage.s.

Equitable............   22.18 percent.      28 31 per cent.

Gern-ania ..........    12.14   *•     *'          51.12   "     "

Manhattan .........    12.44   "     "          3K 18   "     "

Mutual..............     8.86   "     "          62 23   "     "

New York..........    12.80   "     "          39 41   "     "

Washington........     8.17   "     "          45 58   "     "

<^harterOak    ......    4197   "     "          24.40   '•     "

Connecticut Mutual.   22.7H  "     "          20 68   "     "

Travelers.........    19.26    '     "          19.26   "     "

Of course some of the leading companies
liossess less real estate and more mortgages,
for which they have ample securities, but it
may not be amiss to give in this connection
the amount of rent received by the various
companies during the past year, thus show¬
ing that the real estate they actually possess
is not a dead weight on their hands. The
following figures show indeed a source of in¬
come not surpassed by other investments,
but it must be borne in mind that some com¬
panies, whose rettirns for rents are small,
possess considerable vacant property.

Rent received
Company.                                            during vear.

Equitable..................................  334.930 30

Germania.................................    34,36133

Manhattan.............................    37.2U 49

Mutual ..................    ...............   1.56.631)17

New York..................................    94,628 69

Washington...........................       1.985 24

CharterOak............         ..........$2 5,722 31

Conu'^cticut Mutual......................  185.11] 97

Travelers ................................     8,41160

In almost every instance the above returns

wUl be higher during the current year, and

the opinion is gradually spreading among





officers of leading comjiaiiies that, of all in¬
vestments, improved real estate iu and around
New York City will show the very best re¬
turns on their statements during the next few
years.





MANHATTAN RAILWAY STOCK.

Tlie quartering of Manhattan Elevated
stock, now going on between Mr. Cyrus W,
Field, representing the New Y(n-k Elevated
Railway, and (.Wn. Horace P(jrtt>r, of the Met¬
ropolitan road, is being done in a thoroughly
scientific manner. Here is a property rep¬
resenting some .tniOOO.OOO, to the creation of
whicli no one man contributed more than Mr.
Field, who. liaving sold his share to a gulli-
l)le public, whiclv hail faith in the dazzling
figures presented by tliat (-eh'Iirated man who
plays so well the game of "now you see it,
and now you don't," liought from liini, on his
recommeiulation, the self .same stock at
prices ranging from 55 to 70, which he noAV
declares to be worth only 20, and dear at that,
and this in the face of the fact that travel
has increased so wonderfully on these roads
that the summer receipts are $2,000 per day
greater than they were last year for the same
months. If this financier Avas so grossly
mistaken as to ever sup[)ose that Manhattan
stock ('ould pay the 10 per cent, guaranteed
(m New York and Metropolitan Elevated
stocks. A\'hicli any good book-keeper could
haA'e told, is he not again mistaken in his es¬
timate of the future when he states that they
cannot do it? If, Avhen he created Manhat¬
tan stock, with all the facts and figures be¬
fore him, he knew that it was only a matter
of time when a default would occur, then
has he committed a crime wliich deserves a
prompt reckoning.

It seems but yesterday that this thimble
rigger of elevated stocks proudly stood upon
the deck of a European steamer, his jiockets
stulfed full of New York Elevated Railway
shares which he had carefully selected from
among the myriads of investments in this
country for his English friends, and he
quoted them as being cheap at 200. Hfs
rival, the great political manipulator, who,
at this time was equally interested with him
in blowing up the balloon, followed him in
hot haste to the deck of the steamer, and
cautiously drawing the great Field one side,
whispered in his ear, • • don't sell mine for less
than 200, it's worth 250." Eveiybody is
familiar with the story of liow the political
trickster beat the financial bragger at his
own game—and spoiled the Eiu-opean mar¬
ket. Field, on his return, finding that he
could do nothing witli his Etiropeanlfriends,
immediately did the next best thing, which