Msfch 9,1886





Record  and  Guide.





307









■^y               ^^           ESTMUSHED-^WARPHSI"^ 1868.

De/ojeO to fW- Estate . BuiLoif/c Ap.ctf itectv1R.e .KousEilou) DEGOfV.TlorJ.
BUsh/essaiJd Themes orGEiJERALI|JT£i\EST





PRICE, PER TEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Published every Saturday.
TELEPHONE,          .          -          .          JOHN   370.

(cmmunlcations sbould be addressed to

C.W, SWEET, 191   Broadway,
/. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





Vol. XLIII.





MARCH 9, 1889.





No. 1,095





The stock market is not a very cheerful place nowadays. The
public seems indisposed eitlier to speculate orjinvest in bonds, and
good dividend-paj-ing stocks bring prices which do not yield 5 per
cent. The coal stocks are no longer attractive in view of the stop¬
page of work in the mines and the diminished demand for coal; the
grangers and the Soutliwesteru roads continue to be a drag in the
market. Although rates are maintained much of the new mileage
is thi-ough uninhabited regions; the population of the West will
have to grow up to the present railroad facilities, and that will take
some years. General business is not good. It seems as if Europe
was still buying our securities, for though the balance of trade is
steadily against us there is no outflow of gold. As a business
boomer the new Republican administration is not a success ; there
is, however, one hopeful sign—to wit: the renewal of building
activity in the large cities, especially in New York and Brooklyn.





Merchants and all connected with the shipping and naval interests
of the country ought to unite tc give a dinner to the Hon. Wm. C,
Whitney. He has the distinction of leaving office with more honor
than any of his Cabinet associates; he has giveu the country, if not
a navy, at least the nucleus of one; he has not been afraid to spend
money, if by doing so a service was rendered the country, while
es-President Cleveland and the rest of his Cabinet, nearly every
Democi-at in the Senate and House and nearly all Democratic
papers, were a unit against expenditures—they preferred to give
away the funds to the rich individuals and corporations who held
evidences of the national debt. The credit won by Secretary
Whitney ought to furnish an example to President fiarrlson, to the
members of his Cabinet and to the leaders of the administrative
party. By all means let Secretary Whitney be honored by the
maritime interests of the country. An expression of oinhion might
on thatoccasion be made, which might or should reverse the " do-
nothing policy " of the governmnnt. We ave rich and can afford to
spend a good deal of money for public improvements, sea-coast
defenses, and for rehabilitating our merchant marine. We are sure
of four prosperous years if this policy is pursued by the adminis¬
tration.





The Manhattan Company is not in favor with the public. Not
because it has not been a benefit to the city, but on account of the
questionable management by Gould, Sage and Field. But the
movement it is making against a certain class of legal practitioners
will be viewed with approbation by the bulk of the husiness com¬
munity. The blackmailing of corporations by politicians, lawyers
and even bankers is one of the crying evils of the time, the magni¬
tude of which is not generally recognized. Tbe fact is it has
become impossible to name any public improvement or remedy
without at the same time calling into light gi-oups of individuals'
intent upon making money out of it. The list of shyster lawyers
who watch the records of the police and other courts and follow up
trivial accidents and mishaps for the purpose of inciting litigation
or being " bought off" by the pestered individual, has become dan¬
gerously long. Builders have always been serious sufferers
from this class of legal harpies, who strike at them through
statutes framed for the just protection of working people. Cases
are "worked up" against them by these lawyers merely on con¬
sideration of '■ contingent fees." Our readers may recall the staud
taken by a prominent builder some time ago, the facts of which
were given in these columns. It has come to such a pass now that
if a person falls and bruises his shin in going by a house a lawyer
■will at once he on hand to suggest a suit against the landlord on
whose property the accident took place. As we said at the outset,
it is a pity the action commenced against this class of lawyers by
the Manhattan Company was not undertaken by a company
which could enter the courts with more of the sympathy of the
community. Of course, the Manhattan Company has seriously
damaged some very valuable prjperty and will be forced to make
good any real losses, but advantage was taken of this state of things
by speculative lawyers to induce hundreds of property-holders to
bring suits for damagea whose property was really benefited by the





I-unning of the elevated trains. Doctors who should run around
and tell people they were sick on account of the elevated road
T\ ould soon be fired out of the profession, and lawyers who make
it a business to induce people to bring action against the "L"
people do so against the best traditions of tbe Bar.





The interlocutors in "Our Prophetic Department," last week, were
lucky in their guesses as to the principal features of President
Harrison's policy, wh'ch was to be outlined in his inaugural
addi-ess. He favors legislation that will protect the blacks of the
South in theii- political rights; he avows himself a strong protec¬
tionist and an opponent of the spoils system; he talks moderately,
but takes high ground on the Panama Canal question; he favors
reform in our emigi-ation law, and where the States are delinquent
in the matter of education he would have the general government
interfere to diminish illiteracy; he favors additions to our navy, and
inferentially coast defenses for our principal sea-girt cities. His
most questionable recommendation is that in favor of additional
pensions to men who served in the Federal army, but did not get
hurt. The last annual appropriation for pensions was eighty-four
million; in 1880 it was fifty-six million. Ifc is safe to say tbat
fifteen million per annum would be au extravagant appropriation
for our surviving soldiers; yet, before the close of President Harri¬
son's term of office, it may reach a hundred miUion per annum. Our
newspapers know what a gigantic swindle this pension business is,
but they are too cowardly to stigmatize it as it deserves.





But President Harrison's attitude on one or two important matters
radically differs from that of ex-President Cleveland and the Demo¬
cratic party. He specifically recommends that encouragement be
given to shipbuilders to construct vessels that will carry our flag to
distant ports; be favors coaling stations and harbors of refuge in
distant seas, evidently having in view the creation of a great mer¬
chant marine. All thi^ is very cheering. The i>arty which has
just stepped out of power regarded "Uncle Sam" as a wretched
old bankrupt who must save every cent of money and not spend
anything, even for the most essential objects. But President Har¬
rison says in effect: "We are a prosperous nation; we should-Spend
money to make money." He believes in a full Treasury so that we
will not have to impose new taxes or borrow in emergency. Here¬
after the United States government may be regarded as an active
factor in stimulating the business of the country. If there is more
money in the Treasury than suffices for our immediate needs he
would buy bonds. This ought to be a bull argument in WaU street';
nevertheless we do not approve of the policy of giving the money
of tbe community as a bonus to the bondholders.





I
I





1





The composition of President Harrison's Cabinet, and the strong
but cautious tone of his inaugural address, warrants the expectation
that we are entering upon an era during which the country's affair.=(
will be well administered, Mr. Blaine has excited a good deal
of personal and political animosity, but he is confessedly one of the
most brilliant men of the country.. Mr. Windom has been trained
iu public affairs. As Senator he favored internal improvements,
and when Secretary of Treasury under a former administration he
performed the notable feat of converting 6 per cent, gov¬
ernment bonds into 3 and S^ per cent, bonds. Mr. Wanamaker
ought to prove a very capable Postmaster-General, as he has built
up and personally conducted one o? the largest stores in the world,
He must be a man of great organizing ability, and possessed of the
general intelligence as well as the power to co-ordiuate a vast mass of
details. Messrs. Miller and Noble are personal friends of the Presi¬
dent, and his judgment of their merits will have to be tested by
theii- subsequent careers. The country knows nothing of the capa¬
bilities of the Secretary of War or of the Secretary of Agriculture.





Still, there is something in the Cabinet we do not like. There are
too many lawyers to begin with. In a country filled with first-
class business men, these last ought to have a larger representatiou
in the executive part of the government. General Tracy, for Secre¬
tary of the Navy, is objectionable in every possible way. True, he
is a clever lawyer and a good speaker; but we doubt if he could
tell the larboard from the starboard side of a vessel, though
he might discriminate between an anchor and a smoke-stack.
It is a jjity tbat the practice of our government did not permit
the continuance in office of ex-Secretai-y Whitney, who has done
so much to give us an efficient navy. It will take General
Tracy two years to acquire the right kind of knowledge to caiTy on
Mr. Whitney's work. Indeed, one is prone to suspect that he was
appointed more in view of the patronage of the Brooklyn Navy
Yard tban because of any ability he may be likely to sbow in recon-
stinicting our navy.______________

The exasperating part of this business is that President Han-ison
had excellent business material to choose from. Cornelius N, Bliss,
John F. Plummer, Warner Miller, Thomas C. Piatt, all of whom
have been spoken of for this important office, would have made





i