December 23—30, 1883





The Record and Guide.





133





THE RECORD AND GUIDE.

191   Broad way, N. Y.





DECEMBER 23—80, 1882.





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Commissioner Thompson is right. New York needs a new aque¬
duct. The present one is taxed to its utmost capacity, but it can¬
not furnish this city with the abundant supply it needs. One of
the first acts of the Legislature should be to order the construction
of an aqueduct with double the capacity of that now in existence.
New York is becoming a great manufacturing city, and there
should be no stint to the supply of that which is essential to every
industry that is adding to the wealth and population of the metrop¬
olis. As it will take some years to complete a new aqueduct such
as New York needs, a measure should be passed for opening up
wells in the manufacturing and business quarters of the city. The
brewers, hotel-proprietors, and bath house owners have found that
in large sections of the city, water can be procured in great quan¬
tities by sinking wells and tubing. It is pure and wholesome, and
cool enough to be drank in summer time without ice. The fire
insurance companies should unite with the city authorities in
asking for an appropriation to sink these wells, so that they maybe
available next summer, to relieve the demand upon our stores of
Croton.





Should foot passengers pay a toll when the Brooklyn bridge is
opened to the public ? That vehicles should be taxed goes without
saying, and whoever gets the contract for steam travel, it is evident
should be made to pay handsomely for the privilege. But is it wise
to mulct the laboring men or women who wish to walk over the
bridge? The Brooklyn Ferry Companies are taking a hand ixi this
discussion, and are bringmg powerful influences to bear to have
tolls charged to all who go over the bridge. This structure cost a
great deal of money, and the interest charges will be very heavy.
As yet, neither New Yoik nor Brooklyn has been taxed to meet the
interest. So far, all payments have been made by the sale of bonds,
but as soon as the bridge is opened and the work of construction
over, very heavy sums must be raised yearly to pay the interest on
the bridge debt. It will never pay for itself, of course, but still the
railway companies and vehicles which will want to use the bridge
can do something towards lightening the burdens of the tax-payers
of New York and Brooklyn.





The River Weser is to be rendered navigable between Bremer
haven and Bremen, at a cost of about $7,500,000. It will take
six years to complete the work, but it will be a great benefit to
Bremen, as it will give that city an unobstructed route to the
ocean. We cannot expect that our Congress for many years to
come will be generous in the matter of appropriations for rivers
and harbors. We ought to spend, with our enormous coast line and
great internal system of waterways, about $50,000,000 annually,
but an appropriation of some $19,000,000 last year raised such a
howl in the press, and ruined the fortunes of so many Congressmen
at the last election, that there i<j no likelihood of other appropria¬
tions passing at all commensurate with the necessities of the
country. During the whole hundred years of its history, the
American people never did anything so absurd as the rage they
got into over that River and Harbor Bill. There was no "steal"
about it. It has never been proven that more than a very few
items were uncalled for. The recommendation of the Board of
Military Engineers was to expend $35,000,000; this was cut down
to $20,000,000 by Congress, which instead should have increased it
to $50,000,000. Nations can be mean, stupid and angry without
cause, as individuals often are, and this was the case with the
American people last fall apropos of the River and Harbor Bill.





Many shrewd dealers in real estate refuse to give warranty
deeds in their own names, because of the dangerous condition of
our laws affecting titles. A " dummy " is employed, usually a clerk
in a lawyer's ofiice, who for a small consideration becomes the
nominal owner of the property, and signs the warranty deed.
But the practice is sometimes dangerous, as will be seen by a
reference to the proceedings in the law courts last week. A cer¬
tain lawyer having made out a deed in the name of his confiden¬
tial clerk, found that the latter entered into a conspiracy with a





woman in order to make a compromise, the woman claiming the
right of dower, as the deed was in her pretended husband's name.
Our laws affecting titles are disgracefully behind the age, and
ought to be radically reformed.

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Corners, Futures and Speculation.

The legislative investigation into the operation of " corners" and
the effect of «« future" sales and purchases has resulted in afford¬
ing the public both amusement and instruction, by compelling
well-known railway magnates and speculators to furnish the world
with their theories of how business or speculation should be con¬
ducted. Jay Gould appeared to the best advantage. His manner, the
reporters said, was ineffective on the witness stand, but the matter
of his answers, as they appeared in the World, was full of
interest and pregnant with meaning. Men who malce a great deal
of money on the exchanges of the world may be gamblers and are
often deficient in moral sense, but they must be possessed of an
intelligence greater than their associates. All the public utterances
of Jay Gould are those of a man of very marked ability. James
R, Keene did not belie his name, for his answers were also those of
a person of rare intelligence. Henry Ward Beecher was, as usual,
fluent, acute and striking, but it is clear he had no practical knowl¬
edge of the subject about which he was questioned.

The only practical suggestion made to the Legislative Commit¬
tee for preventing corners came from Jay Gould, who objected to
any legislative interference, but thought that the London practice
of giving the losing side the right to tender ten points of the buy¬
ing or selling rate might be adopted by the various exchanges,
which would thus put an end to all future corners. It is because
of this regulation that grain corners are unknown on the European
exchanges. This rule, if adopted on this side of the water, while
it would stop corners, would add to the volume of speculation, but
would also, we fear, lead to litigation and numberless violations
of contracts. Gambling in products of all kinds would become
more common, as the operator would know that at the very worst
he would lose only ten points upon his selling price.

One fact has been prominently brought out by this investigation.
Gambling in all manner of products has now become a great
peculiarity of American business life. Before the civil war specu¬
lafcion could be hardly said to have existed, compared with the
enormous volume of transactions which obtain to-day, Tliat is to
say, there are probably a thousand purchases and sales of a specu¬
lative kind now where there was oue in 1859. "Phantom" sales
of wheat, com, pork and petroleum have increased of late years a
thousand-fold, and the only effect on actual business has been to
enhance the price for the producer. He profits, while the specula¬
tive fraternity, in the end, loses money. Such being the case, it
is clear that the law should not interfere. Speculation, when it
becomes generally unprofitable, will end by being unpopular.
While it lasts, as Jay Gould truly says, it helps large money mar¬
kets like those of New York and Chicago, by attracting capital to
be used in buying and selling the articles, the prices of which
fluctuate so widely.





About 1,500,000.

The population of, the City of New York has increased in very
large proportions since the census of 1880, and this has shown
itself especially in the augmented number of passengers carried
during the past two years by the surface and elevated railroad
lines. In the year 1877, the total number of passengers on horse
railroads and omnibuses was 114,492,831, and in 1880, the totai car¬
ried, elevated roads included, was 154,734,498, being an increase in
three years of over 35 per cent. As the population of the
city in that year was 1,206,590, it will be seen that the figure given
represents 128 fares to each person. If the increased number of
passengers on the different carrying lines may be taken as a criter¬
ion of the growth of the city's population, we may very easily get
at an approximate of the number of inhabitants there may be at the
present. For instance, presuming that the proportion of passen¬
gers from 1880 to 1882 will have increased in the same ratio as.from
1877 to 1880, the total number carried in 1882 would be 190,839,-
214, being an increase of 23}{ per cent, for the two years from 1880
to 1882. On the basis of 128 fares per head of the popula'ion, the
number of inhabitants would in 1882 be 1,490,931, being an
increase on the census of 1880 of 284,341.

The figures of the elevated and surface roads may probably not
be the best criterion on which to estimate the population. It may
therefore not be uninteresting if we calculate on the vital statistics
of the city, and then compare the conclusions. During the four
quarters ending September 30, 1882, the total numoer of deaths in
the city of New York were as follows: First quarter, 9,022; second
quarter, 10,288; third quarter, 9,618; fourth quarter, 10,349, being
a total^for the twelve months of 39,277. Now the number of deaths
in 1880 was 31,937, which with, say, the population at the census,
1,206,590, would show one death to every 37.78 persons. Thus
presuming that the death rate will be the same in 1882, the follow-