EAL  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXYII.





NEW YOEK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 1881.





No. 670.





Published Wee^cly by

I^^e %ml Estate JRecortr l^ssotmibix.

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

C.   W.  SWEET,

No. 137 Broadwav





THE





WORLD'S FAIR AN ASSURED
SUCCESS.
We have the fullest faith row in the suc¬
cess of the World's Fair to take place in this
city in 1883. The Commissioners, after a
good deal of wrangling, have, at last, organiz¬
ed by placing at the hsad of the enterprise
General Grant, the very man whom we
urged [for that position, long before tLe site
was selected. The Recced, when first pro¬
posing the name of the ex-President for this
exalted position was blamed by many parties,
among them several valued subscribers, who
took exception to our nomination. That,
however, was in the midst of a j)olitical
campaign, when all citizens, among them
even some of our most esteemed friends did
not reason calmly, nor looked at the question
before them]_from a standpoint that ought
always to command support, namely '' busi¬
ness success," This now has been secured by
the election of General Grant as President
of an enterprize that will reflect credit not
only upon our^own community, but upon the
entire country. Wheneve" this is the case,
practical beneficial results must folIo%v, no
more to the owners of landcontiguous to the
site than to the general property holder in
and around New York.

We know that some legislation will be re¬
quired, which jway ultimately result in the
shifting of the site, now fixed for Inwood,
but whether there or elsewhere, on Manhat¬
tan Island, the prestige given to the enter-
IJrise by the election of the only man, we
know of, who has not the word " fail" in his
vocabulary assures an unj)recedented success
for an exhibition, that will indeed astonish
the civilized world. Organization, that great
forerunner of success, has now been per¬
fected, practical work will follow shortly
under such a leader. And, let us add in the
language of Colonel IngersoU, " Don't you
forget it."





one of transcendent significance. It means |
that one man in the United States, to-day, can
malie any quotation he pleases, for any
article bought and sold, throughout", the
whole nation. If the possessor of this tre¬
mendous power was an utterly unscrupTilous
operator, he has a veritable Aladdin's lamp in
his possession. For, one day's misquotation
of four or five of the leading staples of com¬
merce, would put]him in possession of wealth
that Croesus or Rothschild could not equal.
Fortunately, IMr. Jay Gould's high character
is an assurance that he will do nothing of
the kind, and his eagerness to obtain this
control of the telegraphic system is probably
due to his desire to jprotect the i)ubhc from
the machinations of conscienceless specula¬
tors.





and investors the wisdom of paying some
attention to Southern securities, both rail¬
road and State. There have been some very
great advances in the price of certain
Southern railway securities, and the time
cannot be distant when something will be
done to rehabilitate • the credit of all the
Southern States. It is safe to predict, that,
before the close of this year, there will be an
active movement in Southern State securi¬
ties.

On the whole, the outlook is very prom¬
ising. Judged by the above facts and by
others in the possession of all intelhgent cit¬
izens, there is no cloud in the financial
skies.





JAY GOULD, MASTER.
We have it from undoubted authority that
the object for which Jay Gould has been
working for ten years past, the absolute con¬
trol of the whole telegraph system of the
country, has at length been accomplished.
All the telegraph lines and their appurten¬
ances are to-day as absolutely under the con¬
trol of Jay Gould as is the Iron Mountain or
Missouri, Kansas & Texas roads. It is a
notable circumstance that the daily press has
not cared to let this fact be known: for it is





FACTS TO BE REMEMBERED
1879.

Emigration.........No.        177,826

Gold and silver import.. S   86,848,13J

Merchandise, export___S 751.761,204

"           import.....S 485,516,166

Exports over imports.. .S 266,245,038

Railroads built......miles            4,721

Railroad earnings 11 mos. 150,000,000

Wheat crop........bush. 448,755,000

Cotton product, Sept.l.bls     5.073,531

Ironproduced.......tons     2,741,853

Coal, anthracite.....tons   26,142,689

Gold & silver produced.. $   71,163,732





1880.

457,275

75,548,731

871,666,346

7C9,029,302

163,638,044

7,207

210,000,000

480,850,000

5,7.57,397

3,300,000

2.'^,6CO,0CO

73,537,546





Coin and currency.....$1,165,55'3,5031,400,000,000

We are particularly indebted to the
Financial Chronicle for the above table;
but we have corrected and added to it, so as
to bring it to date. If the tables for our
other productions.' and manufactures could
be as concisely stated and presented, it would
only confirm the impression given by the
above striking figures.

We here see at a glance the reason for the
abounding prosperity. Our liroductions are
greater, the ijrices are better, and, above all,
we have a currency, perfectly safe and con¬
stantly growing in amount. Instead of
some $750,000,000 of paper, only half used,
we have nearly double that amount of gold,
silver and paper, in very active use. Tim¬
idity has given place to confidence, and en¬
terprise follows inaction.

Then, it must be borne in mind, that our
population is increasing with great rapid¬
ity and in unexpected directions. To the
amazement of the country and the world, it
now turns out that the South has been in¬
creasing in population a trifle more than the
North. With all the advantages apparently
on the side of the North, emigration, enter¬
prise, thrift, control of money, both blacks
and whites at the South have been multiply¬
ing their kind, so as to actually give them
the advantage over the North. Indeed, the '
South wiU gain one member and the North
loose one, in the next House of Representa¬
tives.   And this also suggests to capitalists





DOWN TOWN INVESTMENTS.
It was only a few months ago, that we
called attention to the probable revival of
values in tho lower part of the city. We
then pointed to the peimanency of certain
lines of business concentrated, especially in
the first ward, by the termmi of the elevated
roads, and our predictions have been more
than verified, not only by the improvements
made in the lower i)art of Broadway and
adjacent streets, but also by transactions \n
real estate running into large amounts
in the second, as well as in the first ward.
In fact, owing to the causes heretofore de¬
tailed, and the additional permanency
established by the improvements and ex¬
tensions of the Produce and Stock Ex¬
changes, the entire region along Broadway,
south of the General Post Ofiice, has been
the object of inquiry and investigation on
the part of ciu- heaviest capitalists. We
merely need allude to the purchase of the
northeast corner of Broadway and Wall
street by two of our leading banks, to the
purchase of 64 and 66 Broadway by a Phila.
delphia capitalist, then, again, to 78 and 80
Broadway by a syndicate of foreign in¬
vestors, and now to the purchase of 8 and 10
Wall street by Mr. John Jacob Astor, to
show what heavy blocks of money are going
in that direction. These purchases, how¬
ever, it should be remembered, arc not made
for purposes of speculation, but for invest¬
ment on which a fair return must be had, if
they are to continue. Should present owners
of down town property, on the strength of
these few investments, raise the prices of
their present holdings, they will simply
once more drive capital away from that
section, and "kill_^the goose that lays the
golden egg."

It must be borne in mind that unless a j)er-
centage on these investments, can be had.
larger than is obtainable by the purchase of
other securities, there will be an end to the
purchase of down town real estate. The time
may come, and sooner than is now anticipat¬
ed, that the increased rentals of last year, in
the lower part of Broadway, cannot be main