Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXYII.





NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1881





No. 683





Published Weekly by The

Real Estate Record Association

TERMS:

OBfE TEAR, in advance.....$6.00

Communications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 137 Broadway.

J, T, LINDSEY, Business Manager.

Real estate owners would do well to read
carefully the interesting letters of our Al¬
bany correspondent. We have employed
one of the oldest and most careful of the
regular corps of correspondents, a gentleman
who is himself interested in New York real¬
ty, and who is familiar with the history of
the Legislature of the state for twenty
years. The daily impers give very copious
letters from Albany, but the correspondents
generally overlook business matters for
those which interest politicians. The letters
in The Record have the merit of dealing ex¬
clusively with those matters which affect
real estate owners, omitting all else. Hence,
it is not necessary to read column after col¬
umn of verbose stuff to get at a few items of
really valuable news.





FINANCIAL NEWSPAPERS.

Recently we paid our respects, in the way
of comment, upon several of the best known
daily financial j mrnals. As a guide to in¬
vestors, perhai)s some further comments on
still other journals may be found useful.

The news of the street, and the comments
on the fluctuations of the market, are eager¬
ly read by tens of thousands of people, who
never, or rarely, sj)eculate, Long experience
however, has shown that it is unwise to take
a newspaper point. It is nearly always
given with the intention to deceive. Then,
the money writers occupy an anamalous po¬
sition. No matter how honest they may be,
they cannot give advice or early warnings,
without being suspectea of improper motives.
The great operators use them to try and de¬
ceive the public, and the newspapers they
serve, but do not own, are always doubtful
about them. The financial editors are always
open to the charge of grinding axes, and they
stand in wholesome awe of the managing
editor or the editor-in-chief. Let them be
ever so honest, any expression of opinion
affects such vil.al interests, that they are sus¬
pected of wishing either to bull or bear
stocks. And this is true of all journals,
where the proprietary interest is vested in
one person, and the writing is done by an
employee. Hence the rich leading journals,
like the Herald, Times, Tribune, have very
little influence upon Wall street, and none
at al'/with the leading operators.

Ill 'Monday's Sun, however, there is an ar-
ticl'j entitled "In and out of Wall street,"
•which is written by a gentleman who has
accpss to excellent sources of information.
He "pvidently enjoys the confldence of Mr.
Chaijles A. Dana, for he writes freely and
wields a vivacious pen.

Tht. Ftiblic, edited  by Colonel Williaia





Grosvenor, contains some admirable articles
and facts of very great value. But, some¬
how, one gets the impression that the wri¬
ter is warped in his judgment by political
feeling and personal interests. His article
seems to take their color from Mr. Jay
Gould's views of things, hence, last fall it
was bearish when the market was going up.
This spring it was bullish when the market
was going down. Its articles on the silver
question are grossly absurd, for it advocates
theories which have nothing to do with the
facts in the case.

The Financial Chronicle is also muddled
on the silver question, but its statistics and
facts, especially about the cotton trade of
the port, could not very well be improved.
Its general articles show wide information
and conscientious study ; but its facts are of
more value than its opinions. Its judgments
carry no weight with the investing public.

The Commercial Bulletin has many arti¬
cles of great value. It is sound on the sub¬
ject of bi-metalism, and its treatment of
general trade topics shows a wide acquain¬
tance with the facts and a good generalizing
faculty. It has one defect, however. The
chief writer seems to belong to the school of
Manchester doctrinaires. It has certain
govemmental and economical notions, which
seemed new and useful in the days of Harriet
Martineau and Richard Cobden, but which
were only half truths, that have been dis¬
credited by recent financial history. But
there is a great deal of ^ood, hard work on
the Bulletin.

The Evening Post, when the discussion
was pending, was literally insane on the
question of mono-metalism. It has Uved to
see all its predictions falsified and all its ar¬
guments refuted by the progress of events.
Silver is to be remonetized and the " dollar
of our daddies" will take its place as the
future unit of value, to the great benefit of
the commerce of the country.

The American Exchange shows good
reportorial work on cvurrent financial news,
but there does not seem to be a glimmer of
sense in its editorial columns. If the people
who edit the Wall'Street News were to get
the American Exchange and some writer of
solid financial articles^employed, there could
be produced a daily paper that would take
the lead of all the financial journals.

The Journal of Commerce is a model of
industrious reporting. Its editorials or its
financial articles have not the slightest valu^.

The excellence of the Graphic financial
column is due almost exclusively to the
alertness, judgment and acquaintance of C.
M. GoodseU, the manager of the paper.

The Price Current is a valuable paper for
those who care to keep the run of prices.
The remarkable thing about it, is that it has
existed so long as a semi-weekly. It is one
of the curious freaks of the reading and
business community, that it will not sup¬
port a semi-weekly or a bi-monthly. They
have been tried thousands of times and
have always failed. The Fortnightly of
Lo ndou is leailj a monthly publication.   To





secure popular favor, a publication must be
either a daily, a weekly, or a monthly. The
Times, Tribune and Herald have all tried
to establish semi-week lies, but ali have
failed to make them profitable. The Herald,
at one time, spent money lavishly for that
purpose to no effect. Horace Greelsy, wheu
alive, made sijecial elTorts to make one
remunerative, but without success.





BOLD,  BUT  PRUDENT.

In siieculating upon the probable action of
Secretary Windom, witii regard to refund¬
ing, some two weeks since, we expressed the
wish which we knew was felt by conservative
businessmen, that, iiidealing with the money
market, he would use tiie checkrein aud curb
rather than the spur or the .whip. It was in
his power to have stirnuialed a dangerous in¬
flation in Wall street. By using the reserves
in the Treasury and issuing Treasury notes
he could have poured out a flood of money,
which would have speedily i)roduced a spec¬
ulative delirium. This would have been
very pleasaut wiiileiL lasted; but would hav©
restdted in a ruinous break in prices and
disaster to the entire community.

To avoid this danger, the Secretary has
adopted a plan which is at once bold and
prudent; bold, because if not iflegal it is
certainly extra legal. His offer to the hol¬
ders of the G per cout bonds, due on the
flrst of next July, is oue which meets every
business consideration, but it is wholly with¬
out warrant of law. His action is a dis¬
tinct usurpation of tlie legislative functions
of the Government. It has evidently been
suggested by the national banks, but is none
the less of value to the eutire country. The
banks will Jieartiiy co-operate ^with the
Secretary in carrying out,his^ scheme, so as
to forestall any action of Congress, such as
was Contemplated by the Carlisle amend¬
ment to the Refunding bill, ^.vetoed by ex-
Pi'esident Hayes, Shoukl the fives and
sixes be retired before the meeting _of Con¬
gress, and a '6y2 per cent temporary bond
substituted, it would give the public credi¬
tors a higher interest than Congress would
aUow, and would practically forestall the
necessity for any new Refunding bill.

The scheme, at present, seems reasonably ^
sure of being successful. This makes the
business prospects for the year look particu*'*
larly bright; for, whde there will be no imi
due stimulation, the Administration wj^ljibe
forced to use its great powers to keep ijjdney
easy, and the rate of interest reasonably low.
Every business in the country can now ad¬
just itself to the situation. Ther.©, as yet,
has been no unwholesome rise in prices out¬
side of the Stock Excliauge; indeed, the
prime products of the nation, cotton, wheat
and meats, are unusually low m price. The
game remark is true of the .metals and of
land. In the meanwhile, euiigration is phe¬
nomenally large and the outlook for the
country was never brighter.

Then, as to the stock mai'ket. Prices
have been dull, but strong, and, unless there
are very bad crop reports, we may expect to





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