September 15, 1888





Record  and   Guide.





1107







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DZV&TO) TO f^EJ^L ESTME , BuiLDlf/G Af^crilTECTUI^E ,HoiJSEHOLD DeGOHATIOII.

Bi/sif/Ess aiJd Themes of Ce^eiviI- Ij^Jtci^est





PRICE, PER VEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Fidylished every Saturdaij.
TELEPHONE,          -          .          .          JOHN   370.





Commumcations should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 191   Broadway.

7. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





Vol. XLII.





SEPTEMBER 15, 1888.





No. 1,070





Congress ought to adjourn. The members will naturally want to
take some part in the political canvass, at least so far as their own
seats are concerned. An announcement that Congress had decided
to take a recess until December would be received with great pleas¬
ure by the whole of the business community. The great bulk of
the appropriation bills Iiave been passed, and the rest are well under
way. It is admitted that the appropriations already made will
seriously diminish the surplus. Our national Legislature can afford
to be hberal. We ougiit not to object to spending money for desir¬
able objects. "Why not pay tlie French spoliation claims ? Presi¬
dent Andrew Jackson bullied France out of the money to settle
these claims, but the effort of Congress ever since has been to keep
tbe money away from those to whom it belongs. Of course the
original claimants are all dead, but the money is due theJr heirs. If
it is not paid to them it should be returned to the French govern¬
ment. It certainly does not belong to the United States. There
are other legitimate ways of getting rid of the surplus. Passing
the Blah- Education bill would be one of them. But in any event
Congress should vote to adjourn over until December.





Neither party in Congress shows to much advantage in dealing
with any question likely to affect votes. The hot haste with -which
the Chinese Exclusion bill was passed is calculated to make every
self-respecting American citizen heartily ashamed of his counti-y.
However objectionable Chinamen may be as residents of the United
States, there is every human reason why we should deal justly and
temperately with the Chinese government. That power has done
us no harm and it should have been treated courteously. Even
regarding the matter from the low plane of self interest, we should
have respected the susceptibilities of the Chinese people and govern¬
ment. Tlie trade of that empire is very valuable to us aud it is
capable of indefinite esteusion. We have heretofore stood well
with thia great Asiatic power, as we have not bulhed or made war
upon it as did Great Britain and France. The passing of the Chi¬
nese Exclusion bill before w^e knew what the Emperor and his
counsellors had done with the treaty was legislation dictated by
demagogery, not statesmanship.





The Republican Senate will act unwisely if it presents to the
country a tariff bill of its own. No matter how adroitly it is drawn
it win affect powerful interests adversely, and will hurt the party
in the Presidential canvass. The Fisheries Ti-eaty rejection and the
quarrel early in the session with the President over appointments
shows that the Republicans are not wisely led. Senator Edmunds
stands high with his party, and has been thought well of by the
country, but he has shown neither tact, sense nor judgment as a
pai-ty leader. The Fishery Treaty could have gone over until the
December session, but the Vermont Senator insisted on its rejection,
thus enabling President Cleveland to play a trump card in the
Presidential contest. It would be a stUl greater blunder if the
Republicans put forth a revised tariff of their own. The recent
elections show that they liave a fair chance for success in the
November election, but they cannot afford to miss any points in
the Presidential game.





The passing of the dividend on St. Paul common and the reduc¬
tion of the dividend on the preferred was a blow to prices in Wall
street. The real weakness of our railway system is, and has been,
in the West, where there has been undue extensions in the way of
railway construction and resulting in rate wars because of inter¬
ference with one another's territory by the several great corpora¬
tions. St. Paul, Burlington & Quincy, Atchison & Sante Fe have
all been selling too Irigh %v;ien one considers their great mileage
and the lack of business in the regions where the railroad building
was most active. But it does uot seem likely that the stock market
will long continue weak, as the general factors at work favor the
'" buUs," Tlie business of the country is on a sound and prosperous
'basis; the price of iron and all the metals is hardening, due to a
large and increasing demand.    But the best feature of all is our





magnificent crops of cotton, small grain, and more particularly
corn, which is now practically out of danger; true, our wheat crop
is short, but then the price we will get for that and aR oiur other
agricultural products will add largely to our national wealth and
enable our farmers to consume more manufactm-ed goods than they
have done'for many years. The general outlook for business is
excellent, and will make itself felt in our real estate market, if not
this fall, certainly next spring.

--------•--------

The Mugwumps are in open revolt against the candidacy of David
Bennett Hill for Governor. The daily Times and Evening Post,
while still standing earnestly for Cleveland, urge their readers to
vote for Warner Miller as against Hill. Henry George and Father
McGlynn, although separated in other matters, agree on calling upon
the laboring people to oppose Hill. Yet, with all this opposition, the
active Democratic leaders firmly believe and loudly iiroclaim that
Hill's vote will be larger than Cleveland's, and that the Governor
will be re-elected in any event. The situation is certainly a curious
one, and if Hill finally ti-iumphs he wiU rank with the foremost
leaders of the Democratic party. Anyone who can carry this gi-eat
State against so much opposition becomes an inevitable candidate
for the Presidency. The Republicans generaUy seem to tliink that
this nomination of Hill gives them a better chance to carry this
State for Harrison and Morton. The canvass so far show that
Governor Hill is a man of exceptional ability and one of the most
adroit politicians that has ever taken his place as d Democratic
leader in tlus State.





The Two Letters of Acceptance.

The documents put forth by Messrs, Cleveland and Harrison,
accepting the nominations for the Presidency, may fairly be said
to represent the best opinion of the respective party leaders on the
questions of the day. Indeed, these two letters may be called
revised editions of the platforms adopted at St. Louis and Chicago
by the Democratic and Repubhcan conventions. President Cleve¬
land, in all probabfiity, consulted his advisers as to what he
should say, while Candidate Harrison's utterances undoubtedly
reflect the sober second thought of the Republican leaders.

"What strikes the reader in both documents is the abandonment of
any advanced position by either candidate. Mr. Cleveland, instead
of being a Free Trader, practically avows himself a Protectionist
of a conservative type, while Mr. Harrison abandons the ground of
proiiibitory duties which was taken in the Chicago platform, and
indeed favors a reform, nor does he indorse the proposition to
reduce the tax on whiskey. Indeed, so far as a declaration of
affirmative principles goes, even on the tariff, there is little to
choose between the two candidates. But, of course, the cardinal
issue remains that the Democrats favor a liberalizing of the duties,
while the Repubhcans insist that the first consideration should be
protection to American industry. The real conflict will take place
over this particular issue, which, by the way, is world wide. For
the past forty years the leading commercial nations—that is,
France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Spain—have been levying
duties on British manufactures so as to encoui-age home industries.
The United States has had the same object in view, and so indeed
have the two dependencies of Great Britain — Australia and
Canada. Should the Democrats win in the pending contest it will
be regarded as a new departure by at least one great nation. It
will mean that for a time at least we will try to frame oui- impost
duties on a more liberal basis. Are the American people prepared
to make this experiment? That is the question to be settled by the
vote on the 6th day of November next.

The other commitments of the candidates are not of much
account. They both agree in denouncing Trusts because they think
it is the popular thing to do. Then they both profess to be heartily
in favor of the monstrous pension swindles. It is very evident from
his minor vetoes that President Cleveland understands thoroughly
the atrocious character of our whole pension legislation, but poli¬
tical considerations force him to take the wrong side. Candidate
HaiTison is still more emphatic in favoring a continuance and ex¬
tension of this wasteful and reprehensible legislation. Both candi¬
dates favor civil service reform on paper, but no matter which is
elected it will be found that party services will be repaid by
appointments to office.

On one point Mr. Harrison's letter is a disappointment. In his
speeches to the delegations which have called upon him he has
favored the using of our treasury surplus to rehabilitating our
foreign commerce and to improve our rivers and harbors. There is
nothing of this tn his letter of acceptance, but he indorses the pohcy
of President Cleveland, -wliich is to get rid of the surjilus by buying
unmatured national bonds. We have never taken stock in tliisway
of doing business. "We cannot see why the government should col¬
lect money from the euthe people and make a present of it to the
few milUonaires and corporations who own the evidences of what
remains of our national debt. Money ia worth fiom four to six per
cent, in the channels of trade, but government bonds ftt preaem;
prices wiU return barely twp per cent.    This is because there is a





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