July IS, 1884





THe Record and Guide.





739





THE   RECORD  AND   GUIDE.

Published every Saturday,
191   Broad-way,   N.   Y.





TERMS:

OEVE YEAR, in advance, SIX DOLLARS.

Communications should be addressed to

C. W.   SWEET,   191   Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





JULY  18, 1884.





The nomination of Grover Cleveland after that of James G.
Blaine settled the question that the great corporations will be
taken care of during the nest presidential term. No one has ever
charged the Republican nominee wiih being an anti-monopolist,
and Mr. Cleveland, who made his fortune as a railroad lawyer, has
never professed to be unfriendly to the corporations. This nomina¬
tion will make the contest in this State very interesting. A large
labor and Irish vote will be eaat for Blaine, while some of the most
reputable of the old time Republicans will for the first time vote
for a Democratic President. The Republican vote in this city -will
undoubtedly be largely increased, while in New York and the New
England States tens of thousands of Republicans will cast their
ballots for Mr. Cleveland. "Were the election to be held next
month we believe that the Democratic nominee would be chosen,
but the tide may change before November next. The contest will
be an exciting one in any event.





The platforms of the two great parties are sorry reading. They
are both evasive, obscure and demagogical. Neither of them really
mean anything. They both endorse the monstrous swindling pen¬
sion appropriations, and deliberately muddle the tariff issue, which
ought lo have been a matter of distinct dispute between the parties.
The Eastern presg^ and foreign banking interests Is ignored in* tlie
platform of the two parties on the silver question. Both parties
announce their belief in bi-metallism as the true policy of this
country. The real issue will be the personal character of the two
candidates in the field. It is what they and their party associates
would be likely to do under a given set of circumstances, which
will determine the voters in their choice on election day.





"To-day," says Eraereon, "isKing." What the sage of Concord
meant was that the present epoch was usually as fruitful of great
events as any period in the past. There is now going on before
our eyes a revolution in political parties of the utmost moment.
A very respectable section of the Republican party with some of
its leading organs is separating itself from the main body of the
organization and marching into the Democratic camp. Then the
Irish and some of the laboring vote which formerly could be
depended upon for the Democratic nominee will this time cast
their ballots for Blaine under the supposition that he will oppose a
bolder front to British and other foreign powers than his opponent
in case an international difficulty arose. How great the defection
will be on either side it is not now possible to say. Accident will
have a good deal to do with the final result. Had the last presi¬
dential election taken place in September or October, instead of
November, Garfield would have been beaten. But Roscoe Conk-
ling entered the field and, with General Grant's help, turned the
tide of battle. Were the election to be held next week or next
month the Democratic candidate would probably be chosen. But
the temper of the voters may change towards the close of the can¬
vass. Should Great Britain be rude, Spain insolent, or Germany
ahowherbaudin the matter of Cnba, it might so fire the American
heart aa to advantage the Republican candidate.





Governor Cleveland has appointed five very competent lawyers
on tlie commission to draft the acts to reform our system of land
transfers. Their names are Dwight H. Olmstead, Chas, F. South-
mayd, Edwin W. Coggeshall, Chas. E. Strong and J. H. Riker, The
laat named gentleman has given time, money, thought and study
to this very important matter. His associates understand this sub.
ject thoroughly. The one doubt in the matter is that they are all
lawyers, aud, strange as it may seem, lawyers are the Jast persons
in the world to draft laws or amendments thereto wliich are not
ambiguous. The real estate interest will watch this commission
closely. Its members will be open to criticism if they are not ready
to report to the Legislature early in January next, so that prompt
action can be taken. It is the habit of lawyers to potter and pro-
crastftiate, and the powerful interest which demands this reform
will be impatient if any unnecessary delays occur. What is needed
is the ridding of deeds of unnecessary verbiage, the simplification of





the indexes, and such changes in the laws sa will admit of quick
and cheap transferaof property. le the alterations proposed do not
aim to accomplish these ends, it will be charged upon the lawyers
of this commission that they wish to retain what they can of the
to them profitable abuses in tbe present barbarous system of real
estate conveyances.

Value of City Property.                        ^^|

The comparison between the assessed valuation of city realty of
the present with the past year is of course in favor of the former.
The table itself will be perused with peculiar interesD by all who
deal in real estate, as it shows what parts of the city are increasing
in value and what sections remain stationary. The increase of
over §1,500,000 in the First Ward was to have been expected. The
Mutual Life Insurance building has just been finished, and the
Produce Exchange, with a number of buildings adjoining, have
added largely to the value of property in what may be regarded the
toe of the i-sland. Next year there will be a still further addition
to the valuation of property in this ward, for the assessment lists
will cover the Astor office buildmg on Broadway, between Wall
and Pine atrepts, the Mortimer building at the corner of Wall and
New streets, the fine Union Bank building on Wall street, near
William, the new office building on the corner of Wall and Pearl
streets, and the great Standard Oil building on Broadway, adjoin¬
ing the Welles building. But whde these and other improvements
are increasing the taxable property of the First Ward it may as well
be acknowledged that the older buildings are not any more valu¬
able for business than they were in former years. Outside of the
very large structures it ie doubtful if the rental of the First Ward
improved property will be as large during the present year as it
was last year and the year before.

The large increase in the Twelfth, Nineteenth and Twenty-
aecond wards was to have been expected. It is in these localities
that the new buildings are being constructed. The assessors have
dwelt leniently with property-holders in the Seventh and Tenth
wards. Judged by the sales at the Exchanges, property near and
below Grand street, on the east side, is more highly appreciated
by a certain class of inveatorg than any other part of tbe city filled
with a working population.

The Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth warda show but a rela¬
tively small increase. They will do better from this time forth.
The region beyond the Harlem is destined to be the sceue of very
great improvements. It will surpass in building activity and in
enhancement of values the Twelfth and Nineteenth wards. But
here ia the table :





Ward.
1.....

3  ....
3.....

4   ....
5.....





1883.

....................     $6i,7Si,657

....................       30,199,197

....................       b5,b8(i,351

....................       13,108.108

....................       43.713,203

......;..............        2a,437,Hja

7...........:....................        ]a.lti8,B4a

B ...............................         87,377,774

9................................       37,0;-2.9e4

10............................       J7.(I03,9S4

11...............................       16,2W,a93

12..............................      103,430,854





-Assessed Valuation.-





13.

14.

15.

16..

17..

18..





U,9I),515
a.3,H6-J,543
64,390.440
35,146,j68
83,S9.i,843
73,4ii.45:i
J8:;.ti03,!i48
42,mi,i-i2
87,(8 ■,443
8^i'83,16l
14,846,410

9,T5a,!JS3





18ri4.

$6G,3r3,300
30,53il,881
35,988,871
13,3(12.006
4!),6:Jl),618
!i3,(ilil.u88
16,346.193
aB,fl3il,698
28,793,8'4
17.1ti7,934
16,50l';143

115,163,425
10,035,615
3i,9()4,79i
5S061,158
36,3a6,9l3
3:J,7i ',443
75,445 363

193,7!).i,9J3
44,-je9.773
88,19«,B9S
01,(lni.eu6
15,633.355
9,888,810





79,130,669          $1,119,761,597





1BS3.

Resident.........................  $137,678,543

Kon-resident....................      10.7i5,.')33

Shareholders of banks...........      69,153.430





-Personal estate.-





197 ,.■146.495
Total real and personal estate., $1,276,677,164





1831.
S141,03rn.4a9
10,6 lO 5 "3"
66,3.50,765

31K.53»,T48
$1,838,393,313





Increase.

$1,6111,643

331,634

8 '3,530

193,900

91tj,4!6

224,360

177,550

643.934

830,850

] 63,950

248,850

11,751,571

84,100

6n3,360

673.718

1,0-0,450

124,600

■  3,0:6,910

9,103,400

1.576,.15lI

l,ll6.5->0

5,919.443

785,845

133, MS

$40,630,938





Increase.

$ia,9^S.8tiT

* ■4,961

7,(193,313

31.045 313
$61,678,140





* Decrease.





For lack of certain vital amendments to the shipping bill passed
by Congress we shall, it eeems, lose the Australian, New Zealand
and Oceanic tiade. This is supposed to be worth altogether $500,-
000,000. We were getting our share of it, but no provision was
made for the mail service which has been maintained by the New
South Wales government, which gave a subsidy of $300,000 to the
mail steamers and agreed to continue it if the United States sup¬
plied one-third of the amount, but our New York press, always on
the alert to damage this city, howled " job," and so the provision
to do our just share for carrying the letters was stricken from the
Dinglfy bill. About 13,000 letters originate in tlie United States
for the Australian colonies besides an immense quantity of printed
matter, samples and parcels of merchandise, the postage on which
is retained in tne country, but the letters and parcels are distributed
free in the British colonies; not only so but New Zealand alone p9ys
$190,000 a year to the United States postoffice for railroad transpor¬
tation of its enclosed mail, although it exacts none for our letters.