August IS. 1888





Record   and   Guide.





1017





Dn^TEO TO f^E^L EsvME. BuiLoif/c -Af^cKitectji^e .Household DEGOftATlori.
BUsirJESs A^^D Themes of GeHer^I 1;Jte[\est





>>                ESTABLISHED ^«y^RPH^r-i^ 1868.





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Vol. XLII.





AUGUST 18, 1888.





No. 1,066





Now Ready—The Index to the Conveyances and Projected
Buildings published in The Record and Guide during the first six
months of the current year. The Index fs printed on extra heavy
paper, and, as usual, includes New York and Kings Counties, and
is the most exhaustive ever xiuUished. The labor and expense
connected with the work has become so formidable that a charge of
iifty cents is made for this issue, as announced in these columns on
January 21st last. Subscribers requiring copies should send in their
orders at once.

The stock market during the past week has shown how largely it
is a weather market. With the coming of one or two cool days on
Monday and Tuesday quotations ca.me to a halt, and as the fears of
an eai-ly frost to the injury of the corn crop increased, just in that
proportion began the quotations of stocks to decrease, until
there lias set in quite a respectable reaction. Of course when it is
considered that an early frost means a probable corn crop of ouly
1,700,000,000 bushels against one of over 9,100,000,000 busliels with
no frost before the middle of September, the differences in the value
of which will amount to a round $175,000,000 to trade, it is no
wonder that timid holders in Wall street would try to market a por¬
tion of their holdings and wait further developments of the weather.
General business throughout the West in the dry goods line has been
very good for the past four weeks, but through the East it has been
very quiet. Stocks of cotton goods are accumulating in first hands
in many kinds, wlule print cloths, the most standard of all goods,
show a notable scarcity, with prices very firm.





Our wheat crop will not be up to the average. Indeed, it maybe
less than 400,000,000 of bushels. Bradstreet's say 370,000,000, and
as we eat up and use for seed some 300,000,000, it follows tliat we
will not have much for export. Tliis looks like high prices for
wheat and flour during the coming year. But, after all, our most
important crops are bay, coru and oats, because they are animal
food, and our cattle, hogs aud lard—tliat is. provisions generally—
ai'e of vastly more value than wheat or even cotton, Wheat, of
course, gives directly more busmess to the raikoads. Only 6 per
cent, of our corn crop ever leaves the locations where it is grown.
But it forms an important item of freight in the form of cattle,
lard, whiskey, ghicose and the like. It is stated as a curious fact,
tbat were all the railroads in the United States doubled iu capacity
they could not transport all our corn crop, even if they worked
every minute of the day carrying that cereal exchisively.





divorce, those concerning commercial paper and those affecting comity
between tbo States ami tbo o.ttradition of criminals.

The organization is called tbe National Bar Association. There is
another body, tiie American Bar Association, M'hich has been eleven
years in existence and w liicb has the same genera! objects in view.
It is a curious fact that tlie profession which profits so largely by
the confusion in our laws should be the one which seems most anx¬
ious to ha\-e them unified. It will be recalled that it was the law¬
yers who made the most ado about our absurd laws relating to tbe
transfer of real property, but somehow no progress has been made
in that direction. Can it be that the active interest of the lawyers
is to prevent this necessary legislation, rather tban to help it?

Of course, the most straigiitforward way of unifying our mar¬
riage and commercial laws would be by amendments to the Consti¬
tution of the United States, giving Congress authority to pass laws
operative in all the States. Under our present system a woman is
a mistress in one State and a lawful wife in another, and childi-en
are legitimate in Illinois who are bastards in tbe State of New York.
This, of course, leads to entanglements as to inheritances and titles,
to tlie benefit of no one but the lawyers. Then tlie various State
laws relating to debts and their collection are in a condition of the
wildest chaos. It is impossible for the most industrious lawyer or
the most careful merchant to keep track of the multiform enact¬
ments relating to debts. All this is an obstruction to trade, and
shows the folly of insisting on local self-government in matters so
vital and natural as Interstate commerce.





Should tbe corn crop turn out even reasonably well, we shall cer¬
tainly have a prosperous fall business. This will help President
Cleveland's chances for re-election. We have pointed out from
time to time the lack of interest in this Presidential canvass. Col.
Brice, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is deplor¬
ing the apathy amongst the Democratic leaders; but it does not
seem as if the Republicans are mucli more energetic. The Demo¬
cratic war horses are apathetic because they fear, if Mr. Cleveland
is re-elected, that he will revert to his civil service heresies, as they
regard them, and there wiil consequently be no offices for the faith¬
ful. Should Benjamin Harrison be cliosen, however, there is no
doubt at ai! but what tens of thousands of Democratic office-holders
would be replaced by active Republicans. This state of feeling on
both sides may lead to more active personal interest on the part of
the Republican " outs." It is hard to gues& as to the result of the
pending Presidential election.





A national convention of lawyers was held at Cleveland recently,
and its proceedings ought to have attracted widespread attention.
Its composition and objects are thus described :

It is formed of delegates from State and local bar associations, and its

leading object is to promote the unification, so far as practicable, of the

la-ws of the various States which relate to matters in which the people of

fhp country Jiave a common interest, such as those relating to marriage and
■'■ ■ 'I.   '.   1.....                                                                                                              .... ■'■■"'





Years ago. The Record and Goide proposed that a national con¬
vention should meet on the hundredth anniversary of the adoption
of our present Constitution, in order to revise that instrument and
put it in harmony with the existing condition of affairs. But noth¬
ing ever came of it. It is found practicaUy impossible to alter our
fundamental law, although many parts of it are obsolete and
other parts were getting more unworkable every year. This Cleve¬
land convention of lawyers proposes that a codified series of laws
relating to marriages, divorces, inheritances, debts and their col¬
lection, should be hawked about from one State Legislature to
another, with a view to getting some uniform methods of procedm'e
on all these important matters tliroughout the Union. But what a
roundabout way thia is of securing State action, when a national
law, if Congress had authority to pass one, would be so much more
efficient.





It seems the countiy has been mistaken respecting the iron out¬
put. It has been supposed that there was a heavy falling off in pro¬
duction and consumption compared with the last year. It is true
that there has been a decrease in the demand for, aud the produc¬
tion of, steel rails. The first half of tliis year775,261 tons only were
produced against 1,144,080 tons in the corresponding half of 1887.
But this does not tell the whole story, for we produced 3,383,503 tons
of irou for 1888, compared with 3,415,003 tons for 1887, a loss only of
32,707 tons. In other words, the general iron industries of the coun¬
try consumed more iron tills year than last, and almost made up for
tlie lieavy falUng-oft' in steel rails. We shall build a great many
miles of raib-oad tliis year, but it will not be in tlie West, as the
scene of building activity has clianged to the South and the Pacific
coast. Those who believe tlie u'on trade is the key to the industi-ial
situation will argue from these facts that the era of prosperity ie not
yet over._______

A pipe line is now being built from Lima, Ohio, to Chicago, and
it will he completed early next year. Tlie carrying capacity
of tbe pipe will he 1,000 barrels an hour, and it will supply
Chicago witli 8,000,000 barrels a yeai". This is equivalentto 3,000,000
tons of coal. Tbe oil of Oliio is not of much value as an illuminant,
but it will take tlie place of coai for manufacturing purposes, as it
is vei7 mucii ciieaper and cleaner. If this Chicago experiment
succeeds, pipe lines to carry oil will be built in many different di¬
rections. Wliat with its coal, petroleum and natural gas, the re¬
gion extending west to the Mississipjii from the Pennsylvania oil
fields promises to become the greatest manufacturing region in the
country. New England will be at a disadvantage, as it has neitlier
gas or oil and no coal nearer than Pennsylvania. It is worthy of
note tliat notwithstanding the discovery and use of natural gas for
manufacturing purposes the demand for coal has not decreased.
On the contrary, the output and consumption of both anthracite and
bituminous coal steadily and largely increases.





An idiot, named Pliilips, who called himself a geologist, supplied
the papers with a yarn recently, to the effect that natural gas would
not last over a couple of yeai's longer, and tliat tiie numerous fac¬
tories which depended on it would be forced to go back to
coal as a motive power. He was foUowed by another fool, who
says he is a Heidelberg professor, and who declares tha earth ia
teeming with gas. There is so much of it, he says, in the neighbor¬
hood of Fjnlay, Oliio, that there is a strong protw,bility t^t tow.ii