September  24, i887





The   Record  and  Guide.





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THE   RECORD   AND   GUIDE,





Published every Saturday.

IQl Broad^way, l^T. 1^.

Oar Telephone CaU Is      •      «      -      -      -      JOHN 370.





TERMS:

OIVE TEAR, in adrance, SIX DOLLARS.

Communications should be addressed to

e. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





Vol. XL.





SEPTEMBER 24. 1887.





No. 1,019





Mayor Hewitt voices the general discontent of our citizens over
the constant tearing up of our street pavements by the steam-
heating and gas companies. New York from its situation is a
crowded city, and is forced constaatly to do a larger business than
probably any similar area of street surface in the world. Under
these circumstances to have the streets torn up week after week is
a grievous interference to business, and unless radical measures are
taken will in time become intolerable. Every year adds to the foot
passenger and vehicular travel of the metropolis. While the old
lines of railway are steadily increasing their business new ones are
constantly throwing still more traffic upon our streets. The Long
Island Railroad will in a short time have terminals in New York
city. "When the Hudson River tunnel is completed an enormous
amount of freight will be handled on this island instead of on the
Jersey shore.    Then the tide of travel through the metropolis is

steadily augmenting.

.---------«---------.

But water mains, steam-heating pipes and gas leaders are essen.
tial to the city's business and must from time to time be replaced
and repaired. Is not the real solution the building of a series of
New York sewers, patterned after but an improvement upou those
of Paris. Our present sewerage system is radically defective. It
must some time be reconstructed and made adequate for the wants
of the myriads who will be forced to live and do business on this
island. It will be a gigantic and costly work, but when completed
there should be no more need of tearing up our pavements, as the
water mains, gas and steam-heating pipes and electric wires could
be made a sort of an annex to a sewerage system suitable for New
York. Property-holders may not like the prospect of the vast
expenditures which will be necessary to give us a proper system of
sewers. But if New York wishes to occupy the position it ought
to hold as one of the great cities of the world the work must be
undertaken some time or other.





The proper function of an opposition party and its organs is to
criticise and expose the shortcomings of the party in power. The
Tribune endeavors to occupy this position towards President
Cleveland and his cabinet, but curiously enough it defends the
administration on a point where it is most to blame. There is a
large surplus in the Treasury which ought to be in the channels of
trade. The Democratic party is clearly responsible for this locking
up of the funds of the nation. Although warned the Democratic
majority in the last House took no measure? either to reduce the
surplus or to spend it. The leaders were warned that the neglect of
Congress would be sure to embarrass the businesa interests of the
country later on, but President Cleveland would not call an extra
session of Congress, while the measures taken by his Secretary of
the Treasury are clearly inadequate to get rid of the large and
unnecessary Treasury accumulations. But the Tribune holds to
the curious theory that the business of the country is in an
unwholesome state, due to a redundancy of currency, and it backs
up the administration in retaining the large surplus now in the
Treasury vaults.





The following table  tells the story of  the  surplus  at   various
periods :

1886
Aupuat..................     $76,537,561 31





September.

October___

November.
December.

1&87.
January...





67 896.3 n 01
53,^83.199 88
40,093,5*16 32
43,196.633 77





1887.

February...............     $19,148,975 45

March...................        31,859,983 51

April.....................        34.886,0.38 SO

May......................        33.951.693 44

June..................        40.853.360 38

July................   ... •    45698,59115

August................        44,760,908 86





...........     $37,780,050 87

It is understood that the end of this month will see nearly
$50,000,000 of a surplus. True, this is less than in August, Sep¬
tember and October of last year ; but the business of the couutry
is more active and we have at least 2,000,000 more population.
There is nothing unwholesome in the general situation beyond a
real estate craze in some of the far Western cities. It is true we
are building rather more railroads and houses than our present
means in the way of capital will warrant, but this is an evil
which corrects itself. But the government should not interfere to
make  money scarce  when it is needed for legitimate^business.





The $14,000,000 which the Treasury Department is willing to dis¬
burse will afford no sensible relief, for the accumulations will be
greater than the expenditures. That is, by the end of October
there promises to be more money in the Treasury and less in the
channels of trade than there is to-day. The Democrats have not
managed our finances wisely in this respect, and their mistakes
are properly texts for the opposition to emphasize.





Have We a Sufficiency of Currenoy?

One of the current reasons given for the recent depression in
Wall street is that there is an insufficient supply of currency to
transact the now active business of the country. We have been
adding to our trade, opening new fields of enterprise, while our
population increases more than 2,000,000 per annum. But to meet
the wants of this growing population and naturally expanding
trade there are no adequate additions to the circulating medium
required for the much larger transactions.

Curiously enough, there has been no publication of the total
amount of gold, silver and paper afloat at certain given periods.
Should we know what our gross currency was in 1878 and compare
it with 1887, it would tell the story of the money employed to carry
on the business of the country then and now. The following table
is from official sources, yet many of the figiires are necessarily
defective, for it is difficult to tell how much gold is retained year
by year, and then there are certain seasons, as in the spring of 1886,
when we exported some $34,000,000 of gold bars and coin. Still,
the figures we give are approximately correct. In the table we are
credited with over $500,000,000 of gold coin on July 1st last, but at
that time we had also in the Treasury some $80,000,000 of gold
bullion uncoined. We really have nearly $(i60,000,000 gold in the
country.

It will be noticed that we increased our store of gold coin, not¬
withstanding the continual coinage of the silver dollars. Many
persons who think themselves well informed really believe that the
silver coinage expels the gold from the country, but the very con¬
trary is the fact, as shown by the table we give below. There is
no danger from the silver coinage.

Total Circulation of Gold, Silver, Greenbacks and National Bank Notes, including

Bullioa in United States Treasury, with estimated Population and per capita:

National
Silver.

$85 914,970
1I»,893,565
138.859,286
164-68i6.M
19i.375,688
321.738,115
349 411.337
377.933,366
306,815.484
334,000,000





Greenbacks.

$316 681 )'16
3»'' G"<1.010
316.6'<1.0IG
34*^.681.016
346 681,('16
346 681,016
316 681,016
346 681,016
346 681 016
346,081,016





June 30.                            Gold.

1H78................  $186,500,000

1879................    311.500.000

1880................    309,000,000

1881................    436.00-1.000

1883 ...............    444.000000

1883 ...............    467,iH'0,n00

1884................    463,500,000

1885  ........   ......    500,000.0(10

1886................    496,700,000

1887...............    553.500,000

The four                    Estimated

June 30.                                                          currencies.                population.

1878..................................    $910,563 676                  47.500,000

1879 .................................   1.01'^,6t7.993                  48.750,0fi0

1880................................   1,148.069.743                   50.J61.000

ISn.................................   1,387.493 110                  51,750,000

1883................................   1,339.736,934                  53.250,000

1883..................................   1,390.7,53,110                   54 75').O00

1884................................    1.398,363346                     56,350.000

1885..................................    1,441,033 759                     57.750,000

1886..................................    1,458,388.682                     69,3^0,000

1887...............................   1,513,844,055                   61,350,000

Statement showing the Circulation of Money in the United .States, and Dlstribu
tion thereof June 30,1887.





bank notes.

$3M,487,690
337.494.573
343.543 411
3i3,5^9 440
356.6H0.720
355.333 979
338,077.003
316,418,477
3 8.19^.083
278.663,039

Per
capita.
$19 84
20 79

33  03
24 87
35 15
35 41

34  85
34 93
34 6J
24 69.





In Treasury.
$

Gold Coin ...............193.868,915 85

Gold Certificates_______ 30,261,3^0 00

Sliver Certificates........   8,435.133 00

Standard Silver Dollars.311.483.970 00
Subsidiary Silver Coin.. 36 977,493 79
National Bank Notes .... 3.363.585 00
Legal Teoder Notes . . 28,783,796 :9
Legal TeoHerCertiflcatas      310.000 00

State Bank Circulation.........,___

Old Demand Notes.................

One    and    Two    Year

Notes of 1863 .....................

Compound Int. Notes................

Fractional Currenoy___              551 73





In National

Banks.

$

98,137.439 47

54.374.940 00

3.535.479 00

6.343,-il3 00

3.813,188 81

S5.4»0.213 00

74 4^2Mi 01

8,770.000 00





In Otber Banks
and in individ¬
ual hands,
$

263.993 644 68
36.9'A497 00

138,583.5H8 00
49.113.934 no
45.M84 '30 40

251.434.991 00

343,414,877 31

.....98,697 66

57,130 00





Total.
$

658.600,000 00

121.486 817 00

145,543.150 00

261.940.117 00

75 671,753 00

379.317.788 00

846.68I.0I6 00

9.08i>,0"0 00

98.697 00

67,130 00





664,366 72





65,605 00     65.605 00

19*.880 00            193,880 00

14.758.079 92      16,333.898 37





Total   ..............49%978,8.;6 16 374.811,031 00 1,048,515.994 31 1,818.860.851 37

U. 8. Treasurer's Oflace, Division of Accounts, Sept. 31, 18S7.

In the above it will be noticed that we are constantly adding to
our store of the precious metals, but are reducing the amount of
outstanding national bank notes. Unfortunately vaRt quantities of
our gold, eilver and greenbacks are locked up in the Treasury vaults
and are unavailable for business purposes. We ought to have some
fiscal institution similar to the national banks of other countries so
that these reserves would be available iu the channels of trade.
They should be loaned out under such restrictions as would insure
their safety. Under our laws the Secretary of the Treasury is
really the head of a large banking institution. It is in his power
to make or unmake prices. It was never intended that the head of
our Treasury Department should have any such authority, but
some one has to say when bonds shall be bought, when the surplus
shall be decreased or diminished, and whoever exercises this power
is the arbiter of prices, not only on the stock, but on the general
exchanges of the country.

It will be noticed that in the official table given above the total
currency is put down at |1,813,860,851,37, which is over 1300,000,000