October 81, 1886





The   Record  and  Guide.





1183





THE   RECORD   AND   GUIDE,

Published every Saturday.

IQl Broadv\rav, IST. "^.

Our Telephone CaU is.....JOHN 370.





TERMS:

ONE TEAR, in advance, SIX DOLLARS.

ConiDimiioations should be addressed to

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J. T. LINDSEY, Busmess Manager.





Vol. XXXVI.





OCTOBER 31, 1885.





No. 920





There has been no change for the woi*se in the outlook for gen¬
eral business. The domestic exchanges show an enlarged volume
of trade. The activity in orders for coal and iron continue, traffic
on the railroads is much larger than at this time last year, and
from the West especially comes word of the deficiency of cars and
more offering of business than the road can handle. The local
stock market is not so excited as it was and the bears have made
their reappearance, as there are many who now believe the
market is a sale whenever it gets an extra head of steam on. But
tbere is a well-grounded belief that even if quotations should fall off
another upward movement would be in order before November
closes.





The death of General McClellau so soon after that of Geueral
Grant naturally provokes comparison between these two distin¬
guished military leaders. The former was severely criticised for
his excessive caution, but it should be remembered that the army
he commanded was an untried one—the men were undisciplined,
while the officers, largely composed oC lawyers and politicians, were,
as subsequent events proved, unfitted for their duties. There was,
indeed, early in the war a prejudice against West Point, but a
little experience in active field operations discredited the civilians,
and long before the end of the war the military men trained at
West Point filled every important position in the armies North
and South. General McClellan was aware better thau anyone else
in the country of the danger of operating offensively with an army
of green troops led by incompetent politicians and civilians. Some¬
thing could be done with such troops defending fortifications or
behind intrenchmeuts, and this was all that was required of the
Southern soldiers under General Lee. The loss of the Army of the
Potomac would have involved the capture of Washington, and
perhai^s Baltimore and Philadelphia.





The army General Grant commanded wheu he set out to make
the campaign ot the Wilderness was a very different one from that
controlled by General McClellan. The men were seasoned veterans,
while the officers had been trained iu the stern school of war for
their duties. One cannot help asking the question what if the posi¬
tions of the two generals had been reversed, and Grant had com¬
manded the Army of the Potomac early in the war and McClellan
later on. Would Grant have dared to attack Lee's intrenchmeuts
with the uutrained and badly led battalions which had been hastily
marshalled on to Potomac for the defence of Washington and the
suppression of the reoellion ? Then again, would McClellan have
been so over-cautious were he in command of so veteran a body of
troops as those with which General Grant finally ended the war?





Several of the daily papers are complimenting Judge Barrett for
the prompt manner in which the trial of Ferdinand Ward was
conducted. The praise is deserved; but should not the newspapers
overcome somewhat their awe of the Bench and more often call
Courts to account for the preposterous length of trials and the use¬
less and wastefid litigation which they permit V Our administra¬
tion of justice has long been a scandal in this regard. Yet our
press has doae nothing to correct the evil; on the contrary, when
some of these procrastinating judges have filled their terms of
office the demand is made that they be renominated and re-elected
without inquiry into their efficiency as presiding officers of the
Court. The simple fact is, our Court machinery is practically
though perhaps unconsciously organized not to dispense ju stice
but to add to the emoluments of the legal profession.





One cannot help but feel some pity for '' Convict" Fish, as he calls
himself. He has lost everything—a large fortune—his good name
and his liberty. His overt acts do not seem to have been intention¬
ally criminal, for he would never have invested his means in real
estate if he thought he was making his money fraudulently, and
run the risk of detection. He was clearly the victim of Ferdinand
Ward's extraordinary power of creating confidence on the part of
those he dealt with.    Many women and some men have this gift of





personal fascination; indeed, all human beings possess it more or
less, but Ferdinand Ward was a psychological wonder in this respect.
If the latter had escaped or was punished lightly public opinion
would have demanded that Fish be released from prison, for he was
the victim of monstrous frauds which there is no evidence that he
originated or abetted, for he has so far been the greatest sufferer
from them. What a remarkable story this of Ward's is from begin¬
ning to end. It is the very romance of financial rascality. Ward
is in every way an exceptional personage, and, what must be par¬
ticularly mortifying to Fish and other clever men who were duped,
he was as much a fool as a knave.





Taxpayers iu New York are unaware of the exact facts with
regard to the growth of their fiscal burdens. The following table,
showing the rate of taxation for every year as far back as 1830, is,
we think, interesting and instructive :

leSO................$ .36       18.51.............$ .91       1874.............$2.80

1836 .........i......46  1852................96        1H:5............... 2.94

1838...............56  18.53............. 1.23        1876............... 2.80

1841..............66  1854............... 1.05        1877............... 2.65

1855............... 1.20        1878................ 2.55





1842.
1813.,
1844.
1845.
1846.,
1847.
1848.
1849.
1850.,





.79





..   1.05

..   1.05

..   1.07

..   1.18

..   1.13





1856....

ia57.. .

1858....
18.59....
1870....
1871....
1872. ..
1873....





..   l.I

..   1.55

..   1.03

..   1.79

..   2.25

..   2.19

..   2.90

..   2.56





1879.,

ISSO.

1881

1882.,

1883.

1884.

1885.





2.58
253
2.62
2.25
2.29
2.25
2.40





These figures are not as bad as they at first appear. Money has
become cheaper as years have rolled by, and hence a dollar in 1830
would probably purchase as much as ^3.50 to-day ; but, for all
that, our taxes are too high. Were oiu" city government what it
should be, one percent, on the assessed valuation would be ample to
meet all proper charges as well as provide for liberal improvements.





The new director of the mint in his forthcoming annual report
furnishes facts respecting the precious metals which are of vital
interest in view of the pending discussion upon the coinage of the
silver dollar. On July 1st last, he states that there were $830,000,-
000 gold and silver coin in the country, of which |542,000,000 were
gold and $378,000,000 silver. In addition to this coin there was in
the mint and assay offices $71,501,052 bullion, three-fifths of which
was gold. During the past year we exported $19,000,000 worth of
silver. In view of these facts how strange it is that bank offices
and writers on financial topics insist that there is imminent danger
that we shall get upon a silver basis. Ever since the coinage of
the silver dollar in 1878 we have been importing gold and have
trebled the stock on hand, while we have been exporting a large
proportion of our silver production. Dr. Kimball, the director,
emphasizes the fact that the gold production of the world is steadily
declining. On the Pacific Coast it has fallen off $8,000,000 since
1881. France has $14 in silver for every inhabitant; we have only
$4 in silver per capita. But gold is not thereby expelled from
France, for that country has more of the yellow metal than Eng¬
land and Germany combined.





Negotiations are on foot to merge the Produce Exchange with
the Consolidated Stock and Petroleum Exchange. It would be a
good thing to do, as the grain and provision dealers have too large
a building for the business they transact, while the mining and
petroleum brokers are in need of better accommodations. If joined
together the new organization will comprise over 4,000 members,
of which over a thousand would be either solid and responsible opera¬
tors or else active and energetic traders. The new combination
would soon become a formidable rival to the Sto^k Exchange, and
would in time doubtless transact a business qttite as large. The
Produce Exchange has now a monopoly of the grain and provision
business, while the Consolidated Stock Exchange is the sole agency
for dealing in petroleum and mining shares in unlisted securities
and in fractional shares of railroad stock. There are, of course, too
mauy brokers, and should the corsolidation be etfected measui*es
should be taken to buy off or cut off members who now do no busi¬
ness. Perhaps further on it might be wise to amalgamate with the
members of the Metal Exchange. The time is probably not distant
when New York will do a large business in the buying and selling
of options on iron, copper, lead, tin and the other metals.





The new depot which the New York Central managers are about
to build on Fourth avenue and One Hundred and Thirty-eighth
street will not only be a great present convenience to the people
who live above Eighty-sixth street, but it may lead to very impor¬
tant consequences. In time this may become the great depot for
the Central road, and the Forty-second Street Depot decline into a
mere distributing point for lower New York. As the railroad busi¬
ness of the country increases the pressure will become too great
for the accommodations now at Forty-second street. The ground
is too valuable in the neighborhood to admit of its use for engine
houses and the storage of cars, and hence the chances are that the
One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street Depot will steadily enlarge
with the growth of New York City's business.     Then, as a corre-