Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE,





Vol. XXVIII.





NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1881.





No. 718





Published Weekly by Tlie

Real EstateKecord Association





TERMS:
OJfE YEAR, in adyance   -





$6.00





Communications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 137 Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY'Busiuess Manager.

Although busiuess has been dull on the
Real Estate Excliange, the flgures given be¬
low show that while there were somewhat
fewer transactions as given by the official
record, the considerations show tliat more
money changed hands in the transactions of
real estate than for any week since the pres¬
ent season commenced. While the market
has been apparently quiet in appearance,
shrewd and far seeing investors have been
quietly buying. It will also be noticed that
the movement in the annexed district con¬
tinues. There is a good deal of inquiry for
property in the Twenty-third and Twenty-
fourth "Wards.





Week
end -

ing.
Sept.

14

21

28

Oct.

5

13

19

23
Nov.





23

30

Dec.





N.Y.    Am't.   No.
City        in-     Nom-
Cons.   volved   inal





14





75

111

89

157
1.57
159
146

102
151
185
173
175

215
1G9





809,071     25

1,381,992     36

1,355,333     21

3.200,444     34

2,007.448     39

1,606,607     5iJ

1,720,325     44





No. 23d      Am't.      No.

& 24th         in-      nom-

Wards.     volved.     inal.
S

12            24,450

16            4.5.9-28           6

19            90,593           4





3.10.3,469
2,9.52,416
3,078.525
2,010,389
2,284,165

3.377,768
4,089,162





15
21
18
21

20
14
35
22
12

14
15





15,400

38.289

64,000

213,871

25,725
71,300
i 6,9.53
174,385
55,202

36,077
70,250





Week Mort-
end- gag¬
ing, es.
Sept.

14

21

28

Oct.

6

12

19

26
Nov.





Am't.      No.
in-     Five
volved. per ct.





Am't.     No. to    Am't
in-        T. &        in¬
volved. Ins Cos. volveii.





108
149
117

169
153
174
293





79S,153
1,159,231
1,076,874





224,700 17
235,681 28
469,100       27





227.900
464.4.50
562,500





1,310,932      35

1,531,?56       28

1,486,930      36

1,741,258       35





334,900         31           378.700

285.611         29           549,175

3;J4,038         30           480,250

377,632         51           687,000







2




241




1,866,805




55




466,500




41




375,000





9




204




2,:i;31,630




43




787.250




25




«ri,9iU





16




196




5,413,650




36




595,200




39




3,748,300





23




15*5




1,104.452




40




318,600




22




264,01'0





30




157




1,508,576




35




389,145




39




543,872





7




233




2,331,983




53




609,258




56




922,450





14




178




2,368,864




21




628.500




40




961,300





The railroad war has not ended after all.
It was begun by Mr. Vanderbilt and he prac¬
tically refuses to close it. The point at issue
is whether any allowance shall be made to
Baltimore and Pliiladelphia in view of their
shorter lines to Chicago, St. Louis and the
other Western trading centres. Mr. Vander¬
bilt insists that the rate shall be uniform for
the three cities, which of course means that
the war will not cease until the Pennsylva¬
nia and the Baltimore & Ohio roads agree to
give up all ihoir through business. On this
basis the war will never cease. No doubt so
far the trade of New York has been largely
benefited by the war of the trunk lines. We
have had more than our share of the grain
and provision business of the West, but it is
an open question whether the business of the





country has not suffered more than New
York has gained by the continuance of this
war. It has unsettled values and created
widespread distrust. Its baneful influence
upon Stock Exchange values has been com¬
municated to other exchanges. As David
Dows well said in an interview with a Sun
reporter, it does not hurt New York really
to have Philadelphia and Baltimore receive
the share of the business which their geo¬
graphical position entitles them to. The me¬
tropolis has such great advantages that it can
afford to be liberal. This is t03 big a country
for any one city to do all its business.





MATTERS IN WASHINGTON.

Our national legislation affects prices of
all kinds, including that of realty ; hence it
is quite in order for a journal representing
that interest to discuss the bearing of Exec¬
utive and Congressional action upon legisla¬
tion, so'far as it affects the market value of
land. The interest of this city in what is
doing at Washington is very great, and re¬
lates, among other things, to the following
topics:

First, there is the question of the security
of our city in case of war. The millenium
has not come as yet, and in the course of our
future history we will probably find our¬
selves engaged in a conflict with some for¬
eign nation. What would happen to this
city in the event of an international conflict ?
There is but one answer. Without any ad¬
ditional defences, New York would be cap¬
tured within a month after the beginning of
a war. The United States has no navy.
This is the unanimous opinion of every naval
officer, of every Secretary of the Navy we
have had for the last ten years and of every
one that has the slightest knowledge of the
situation. Were every vessel that bears the
United States flag drawn up to defend this
harbor, they would be powerless against any
one iron-clad in the fleets of Great Britain,
France, Germany, Spain or Italy. Tliey
could bs rammed and blown to pieces, while
their return shots would have no more effect
upon a foreign vessel tban so many peas out
of a boy's blow-pipe. This enormous city,
with its hundreds of millions of wealth, is
absolutely defenceless against the weakest
naval nation on earth. Then, we have no
guns. The great Armstrong and Krupp
cannon, which will send shot and shells
ten and twelve miles, have no counterparts
in America, nor have we the machinery to
make them. New York could be blown to
pieces by a fleet stationed out at sea, below
the bar. We could erect shore batteries, but
our smooth-bore, short-range cannon would
soon be silenced by the enormous rifle guns
of an enemy. Admiral Rodgers is upon
record as saying that our Pacific Coast is ab¬
solutely at the mercy of the fleet of Chili.
Much is hoped from our torpedo service, but
there is no instance upon record where tor¬
pedoes have succeeded in protecting a har¬
bor.

Then there is the shipping interest.   The
^ coiomerce of America is gigantic.   Our cot¬





ton, grain, meats, petroleum and numberless
miscellaneous articles find a ready market
in all parts of the world. This commerce
passes through New York, but is entirely in
tlie hands of foreigners. We have no mer¬
chant marine, we have no sailors. The race
of American shipping merchants has become
practically extinct. Did the metropolis make
a profit out of a commerce which is right¬
fully hers, it would soon boast a class of rich
merchants who would add to the wealth and
importance of the city in which they made
their money. To give New Yoilr a mer¬
chant marine requires certain modifications
of the tariff and navigation laws, and, per¬
haps, liberal subsidies. It is to be doubted,
however, whether the Western members
will grant the uieans for a navy, or whether
the friends of protection will allow any in¬
terference with the tariff, such as would
give us a merchant marine.

Then, finally, there is the silver question.
If the views of President Arthur and Secre¬
tary Folger are carried out, and the silver
coinage law repealed, we must expect a
heavy break in prices. Any contraction of
the currency, whether of silver, gold, or pa¬
per, is sure to reduce market values. This
is the every day experience of Wall street.
The great bulk of the human race use silver
exclusively as currency, and its degradation
to enhance the value of gold, which only a
small fraction of the human race use exclu¬
sively, will always cause, wherever at¬
tempted, a rapid lowering of values. The
reserve of gold in the world is decreasing at
the time when the demand for it is increas¬
ing. As Prince Bismarck puts it, gold is like
a scant blanket under which certain shiver¬
ing bedfellows are trying to warm them¬
selves. It is getting smaller as the need for
it gets greater.

The three topics above mentioned are of
vital importance to this city. The action on
silver may postpone the activity in real es¬
tate, which every one in the business knows
is likely to come any day. Legislation that
would start the building of ships in this
country, sailing under the American flag,
would be of great importance to this port,
while it would add greatly to the comfort of
owners of realty if our harbor was placed in
such a state of defence that our metropolis
*•' could laugh a siege to scorn."





Dulness reigns supreme on the Stock Ex¬
change. Instead of between eight and nine
hundred thousand shares being sold per
diem, 160,000 or 170,000 is a fair average,
and this decrease in business is in face of the
fact that the number of securities dealt in
has been very greatly increased. Only last
Wednesday, in these dull times, new securi¬
ties to tho amount of $70,000,000 were put
upon the list. This dulness undoubtedly has
its effect upon all speculative dealings, and
the real estate market sympathizes. Manu¬
facturing activity was never greater, as is
shown by the increased exchanges in all the
manufacturing centres. The metal trade
was never so brisk, but stocks of all kinds