L. -_^®5F"ebruary 21, 1885





The   Record  and Guide.





179





— Pp





THE   RECORD   AND GUIDE,

Published every Saturday.

191 Broad-way, KT. Y.

TERMS:

OIVE TEAR, in advance, SIX DOLLARS.

Commmiications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.

FEBRUARY 21, 1885.





To Whom it may   Concern.

The prowth of the statistical and tabiUar departments of The Recoiid
AND Guide has been so great that the mechanical difficulties of getting out
correctly without errors of greater or less degree so much printed matter
in one issue have become quite serious. Whether the times are good or bad
New York continues to grow. Every year shows an increase in the Con¬
veyances, the Real Estate and Chattel Mortgages and the plans for New
Buildings.

Take the Conveyances {done—in 1874 they numbered 6,191, in 1884 we pub¬
lished 12,2(53. The Mortgages—real estate and chattel^the Judgments and
the plans for New Buildings, have all nearly doubled within the same period.
While giving less than one-third the matter than we do now-a-days the
price of the paper was then $8 per annum. We have recently been pub¬
lishing a journal covering far more ground and triple the size for $6 per
annum. AA'e have been enabled to do this by the very much larger sub.
scription list and the increased value of the paper as an advertising medium.
But this increase of the statistical departments gives the impression that
The .Record and Guide is a catalogue rather than a live journal, although
every line, outside of the advertising pages, is written and printed fresh in
each issue.

Some of our readers have complained of the bulky size of the paper.
Our " Business World," notes on trade and editorials have greatly
widened the circle of our readers, particularly out of town, and many of
them are not interested in tho technical matter which real estate dealers,
financial institutions and nioney lenders generally find indispensable to the
prosecution of their business.

There is but one way out of th3 dilemma. The matter must be
separated; the more important departments being given in The Record
AND Guide, pubUshed on Saturday, and the other e.ssential features in the
Chronicle, published on AVednesday. After this week, therefore, the former
paper will be found to contain tho New York Conveyances and Mortgages,
the Judgments, the plans for New BuUdings, as well as everything
that relates to real estate and general business, while the Chronicle
wiU give the out-of-town real estate, including Kings County, the Chat¬
tel Mortgages and the other departments heretofore published. The
price ot The Record and Guide will as before be $6.00 a year, the
Chronicle $5.00 a year, but should anyone wish both papers, they will be
furnished for .?8.00 per annum, which is just about the increased eipen.se for
white paper and printing.





Spring elections are no protection against municipal misgovern¬
ment. People forget that we had spring elections before, and that
under the city officers then chosen were perpetrated some ot the
worst evil acts of the Tweed regime. There should, indeed, be
fewer elections, as proposed by Mr. Heath's bill now before the
Assembly. A city election in the spring would cost a quarter of a
million dollars, at least, to be paid by the city treasury, while the
election expenses and loss of time would cost individuals probably
a million more. We are now trying responsible government by
lodging large powers in the Mayor. Let us test this plan thoroughly
by giving our local executive the authority to remove, as well as
appoint. Let us have single heads of departments, responsible to
and removable by the Mayor. Should the latter prove to be cor¬
rupt, or grossly inefficient, let power be given the Governor of the
state to remove him and call a new election. AU this is practical,
but spring elections are a quack remedy for municipal abuses, for
they have already been tried and proved worse than useless.





There is much just complaint at the increased valuations on real
estate in the lower part of the city, especially in the First ward.
The figures show an increase over last year out of all proportion to
the natural increment of values. The assessor, we believe,
claims that he has been guided by the consideration named in the
deeds upon record in the Register's office ; but these are often mis¬
leading, because of the dishonest practices of certain speculators,
who deliberately put false considerations in the deed in order to
enhance the apparent value of adjoining property which they hold
for sale, or on which to make a claim for mortgages more than the
property really ought to command. Then, in trading one piece of
property for another, either or both of the parties are apt to put
down extravagantly high figures as the price of each parcel
exchf^nged. This makes no difiference to the traders, but it gives
an entirely erroneous idea of real estate values when the figures are
published.   This practice opght to b? stopped h^ hvr,






















L'ns and Pis.




Specie.




t<*»fr. tend.




Oircurn.





Feb.




14,




18.S5..




. $299,4.53,100




$103;29a,8aO




$37,674,500




$11,024,000





l-eh.




It),




1884..




..    34.5,K94,200




78,319,800




82,577,100




14,.'-v-JS,200





Keh




17,




1R8.S. .




.    32,1.352.100




59.99«,.300




2l,.^^3,fiO0




16.M3,000





Feb.




18,




1882..




..    3-38,659,300




59,479,000




18,065,000




19.975.1)00





l-'eb.




IIP,




isai..




..    3.>0,807,300




«5,(M9,6flO




14.887.200




lK,i»9..«)00





Feb.




21,




18,S0..




..    290,091,200




59,«87,!»0




15,.-K'6,.W0




21,'iH2.200





The Stockholder republished our table showing that the heavy
exports of the precious laetals were in the six years previous to the
passage of the Bland Silver Bill, while the heavy imports of the
precious metals were since that act was passed over President
Hayes' veto in 1878. The natural inference we drew that silver
coinage was no danger to the country, the Stockholder thinks, was
more or less sophistical; but what has it to say of the figures in
the following table taken from its own columns showing tho con¬
dition of the national banks for the past six years ?

Deposits.
$.357,040,900
863,544,400
310,712,700
30S,887,100
307.718.100
271,801,000

If the reader will look at the specie column in the above he will
notice that in six years the gold reserve has increased over 70 per
cent. So far as solvency is concerned the banks are ia better con¬
dition than ever before. Now if the silver law was a danger and
was tending to put us on a silver basis why is it that the banks
have so enormously increased their stores of gold ? And how is it,
we again ask, that since the silver coinage law has passed, the store
of gold in the country has increased from $200,000,000 to over
$600,000,000? Our stock of silver has increased in the meantime
from $85,000,000 to about $270,000,000. In other words since the
coinage act was adopted we have added $2 in gold to $1 in silver to
our store of precious metals. These facts are never given in the
Financial Chronicle, TYibune, Herald, Times, Evening Post or any
of the papers which have been denouncing the silver coinage bill
Why?





Mr. Dorsheimer's bill to solve the currency dispute has fortu¬
nately no chance for passing. It proposes to increase the amount
of silver in the standard dollar, from 412}^ grains to 480 grains.
The objections to this are numerous and overwhelming. It would
require the recoining of the $200,000,000 already minted in this
country, and would further create confusion in the silver markets
of the world for the reason that the $600,000,000 ot silver five-franc
pieces in the Latin Union have 3 per cent, less silver than our
standard dollars. Should bi-metallism be re-established it wiU be
fovmd that the Latin Union ratio of 15J^ parts of silver to 1 of gold
is as near the normal relation ot the two metals as can very well be
secured. We should have made that proportion in originally mint¬
ing our silver dollar; but Thomas H. Benton, in the Senate,
insisted '.hat we should put more silver in our dollar than was found
in the dollar of the rest ot the world. The result was that before
silver was demonetized in 1873, it was at a premium ot 3 per cent,
over the gold coin of the country.





Then Mr. Dorsheimer does not seem to understand that gold has
not only been made artificially more valuable than silver by the
force of positive law, but that gold production the world over has
fallen off very greatly. The fall of prices in every coimtry is due
to this added natural and artificial value given to gold. After his
dollars of 480 grains had been coined it would be found that the
disproportion between silver and gold would be as great as ever.
The only solution of this problem is an international agreement
upon the Latin Union basis ot 15J^ to 1, with free and unlimited
coinage ot both metals in all countries. Whenever that is done tho
dreadful shrinkage in prices will c«ase, and the cloud will be lifted
from every department of business the world over.





It seems there will be no official announcement of the members
of the new cabinet until their names are sent in to the Senate for
endorsement after the 4th of March. It is pretty well known, how¬
ever, that Mr. Bayard will be Secretary of State; and the other
statesmen mentioned for positions are all men of deserved repute in
the councils ot the Democratic Party. There is very little excep¬
tion to be taken to any of them and it is to be hoped that before the
inauguration Mr. Cleveland will be induced to reconsider his deter¬
mination to appoint Mr. Manning and in his place send in the name
of Mr. Hewitt, Mr. Randall or some statesman who would add
weight to the administration, and whose experience and training
fitted him to wield the great powers lodged in the hands ot a Sec¬
retary of the Treasury.

—-----•-------

Daniel Manning should never havebeen thought of for Secretary
ot the Treasury. It is the most important office in the gift ot the
President. The monetary necessities of the Civil War induced the
Congress which was in existence when the strife commenced to
confer extraordinary powers upon the finance department of the
government. It had charge, not only ot the fiscal arrangements
of this great and growing nation, but also of the foreign commerce
and the newly created internal revenue system. In addition the
powers conferred in other governments upon national banks are in
an indirect way, exercised by our Secretary of the Treasury acting
in Conjunction with the New York associated banks. Mr. Man-
.'.'.yt's career as a reporter, editor of a cowitry paper and a pditical