December 91, 1889





Record   and   Guide.





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Vol. XLIV.





DECEMBER 21, 1839.





No. 1,136.





The Record and Guide, this week, contains a sixteen-page
Supplement devoted to illustrations of ike Paris Exposition and
sarne recent examples of Aineriean Architecture. Subscriber's
should see that they are provided with the Supplement in each copy
of the paper. Ten copies of the Supjylement will he mailed to as
many as len addresses upon receipt of $1.00, at this office. No. 191
Broadway.





The most encouraging aspect of the stock market during the past
wpek liag been a strong undertone, in spite of a rather depressing
dullness. Indeed, throughout the whole of the fall this has been
true of the general market. Certain specialties such as tbe sugar
trust aud the coal stocks have been depreciating in value ; others
like Union Pacific and the Vanderbilts have ranged strong, but
the list in general has simply refrained from moving. If witb the
new year a general upward tendency is developed some one stock
is sure to lead tbe way. Undoubtedly tbe principal cause for the
failure of the market to respond to the good business conditions has
been due to the fear of a tight money market—a fear tbat is not
likely to remain with tbe coming of January. It is noticeable
tbat the increased business of the railroads is at last beginning to
have an effect on tbe dividends. New York Central has declared
an extra dividend of one-half of 1 per cent., Western Union
three-quarters of 1 per cent., and Lako Shore is confidently
expected to follow suit. Moreover, tbere is little fear of further
Granger legislation in tbe Western States, for tbe experience
of Iowa has too plainly shown that a State in hampering its
railroads is simply cutting off its nose to spite its face. Perhaps,
also, we do not quite appreciate the effect of the present English
prosperity in tbe future of our own securities. Large amounts of
capital have already been sent over here by English investors, but
compared to the amounts of money lyine idle in that country
awaiting investment, tbe capital already sent over is insignificant
The political troubles in Brazil and the financial ones in the Argen_
tine Republic will tend to make the British capitalists pay still
more attention to tbis country. This can hardly be called an
immediate bull argument, but ultimately the conditions outlined
are sure materially to increase the price of our railroad and indus¬
trial securities.





The dead-lock that exists in tbe election for president of the Real
Estate Exchange is unfortunate and, in a sense, iannecessary, for
the candidates of both parties—Messrs. Geo, R, Read and George H.
Scott—are men, either of whom would, without question, make an
excellent officer. Both sides would no doubt admit this ; and the
fact that this does not make tbe solution of the difficulty easier
shows that the basis of the trouble is factional rather tban per¬
sonal, so far as tbe presidential position is concerned. Tbat tbe
dead-lock has occun-ed is a sm-prise equaPy to both parties, and
though it could probably be overcome if either side would support
the claima of the vice-president to the higher office, botb are right
in taking the position that despite the estimable cbaracter of that
gentleman the president of tbe Exchange should be a representa¬
tive member of tbe real estate interest. It is to be regretted that
the directors cannot make a selection for president outside of their
own body, and thus make available the first-class material that
exists for the position in tbe membership of tbe Exchange ; such
men, for instance, as William W. Astor, who would be able to
devote more time and thought to the Exchange and the furtherance
of its interests than would be possible with men whose time is
almost completely occupied with their business.





The city authorities are again at loggerheads with tbe electric
light companies, and again the city is in darkness. It is needless
to point out, at this late day, tbat this is eminently proper. It
furnishes the world with anotber splendid example of tbe perfec¬
tion of our municipal airangements and the profound respect in
■which our corporations hold tbe law and their duties, that when
,(3»e law 18 broken and the decrees of the courts set at naught and





the life of people endangered in tbe public thoroughfares, the
authorities have only one effective resource open to them, viz.:
to employ gangs of men to proceed through the city demolishing
property. It is to be hoped that no one will confound this witb .
anarchy, which it somewhat resembles undoubtedly, or with pro¬
ceedings wbicb hitherto have belonged entirely to a state of war.
We all know that most civilized communities enforce their decrees,
in these times, principally withtbeaxe ; aud when a street railroad
company refuses to put down proper rails, or a gas company to
make proper connections, the municipal authorities in all the great
capitals in the world proceed at once to send out their official des¬
troyers on a tour of devastation, and in this way they bring the
corporations to terms.

---------•---------

We have at last, it seems, got beyond the stage wherein mere legal
processes are effective, or the law in itself has any power to
enforce its decrees. The law, indeed, still surrounds pretty closely
those unfortunates wbo are prone to commit petty misdemeanors,
but tbe circle between the law's activity and the activity of corpo¬
rations is widening rapidly.





The position of New York City in electrical matters is now well
worth studying. It is more tban instructive. It is so full of the
elements of the grotesque, the ridiculous, the absurd, of those very
qualititiea which, as it were, tickle and provoke the mind of tbe
investigator, tbat it is doubtful whether there has been anything
{in its way) so interesting since men first gathered themselves into
cities and attempted to govern themselves. We have here a Board
of Electrical Control composed of one butcher, one tbeatrical-agent,
one lawyer—eminent experts, naturally, in electrical matters ; tbere
are subways that no one wants to use ; poles in whicb the public
fiud danger and the companies profit, and consequently which the
former would remove and the latter maintain; courts making
decisions which other courts upset; coroners investigatmg deaths
without reaching any conclusive decision ; grand juries protesting
and recommending; tbe public clamoring; the newspapers
denouncing ; the streets of the city torn up and in a conditiou that
would disgust tbe inhabitants of a second-rate town in Asia Minor;
the city's departments fighting one another as to wbo has jinrisdic-
tion; and, finally, the city in darkness and men employed hacking
down wires and poles. This is the sort of management tbat would
be expected tf the Sandwich Islanders were to undertake electric
lighting, and is as near to what it should be as a savage's use of
tbe hahilaments of modern society is. Tbe condition NewYork is in
is not the result of anything that sbould be called government. It
is the unwholesome product of a despicable system of managing a
great city by "politics." Are our most filthy streets, our pave¬
ments twenty-five years behind the times, the present darkness in
our chief thoroughfares, the corruption like that of which we
caught a glimpse lately in the Dock Department, the confusion
and inefficiency to be marked in every field of municipal activity
the best that can be expected in the metropolis of this Continent?
Is it the reflection of ourselves, as government everywhere is tbe
refiection of the people ? or is it in a sense an accidental product?
New York must decide whether the government of this city is to
be a matter of positions and duties or of places and spoils. No
man who walks our streets to-day can be so fatuous as to think
that the result before his eyes is the outcome of the former.





Tbe latest news from Brazil but confirms the impression created
by tbe first announcement of the overthrow of the monarchy and
the establishment of the Republic, There was nothing either heroin
or dignified about it from the beginning to tne end. The people of
■Rio Janeh'o seemed to take it very much as a matter of course,
Tbey neither aided nor interfered with the army in assuming the
control of the government; they were simply apathetic. The worst
tbat bas been alleged of the ministry was corruption, red-tapeism
and a certain irresponsibility. It need scarcely be pointed out that
deficiences such as these are to be found to a greater or to a smaller
extent in tbe governments of all nations ; and that a people, which
has no other means of correcting them than revolution, is scarcely
fitted to assume the responsibilities of self-government. A revolu¬
tion is justified only when the central authority through'the
weight of custom or privilege constitutes a bar to the advance¬
ment of the people. Nobody has alleged that such a state of
things existed in Brazil. The form of government was represen¬
tative. If the p0O]3le really desired tbe overthrow of the ministry,
it could have been accomplished by legal means. The fact is, tbat
the apathy of the population was reflected in the inadequacy of their
governors. To say that the state of such a country is improved by
change to au elective head or a federal constitution, is to mistake
the real form of Republicanism for tbe condition of popular intel¬
ligence tbat alone makes it possible. Brazil, in truth, seems to
differ but httle in her fltness for Democratic machinery from the
Central American Republics, in which, as we all know, it is the
merest farce. If, however, tbe revolution was dignified, it bad an
element of common sense in it which, though not impressive, ■was