-October 25 1890





Record and Guide.





537







Dwbid) TO fM- Estate . BuiLoiffc A^itectuiv ,HaJSErtou) Deoo^tioiI.
BUsu^ESS Mb Themes of GeHeiW- I|<t€i\esi

PRI€E, PER TEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Published every Saturday,
Tbijiphonb,       •   .         .         .         Cortlandt 1370.

CtMiimuiiicatioiis should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 191   Broadway.
J. r. LINDSEY, fiumneos Manager.





a number of stocks vrhich show this decline, is a good thing
to sit on.





Vol. XLVI.





OCTOBER 25, 1890.





No. 1,180





THE NEW MERCANTILE DISTRICT.

Dating back perhaps as far as 1884, biit progressing so slowly at
first a^tobe scarcely perceptible, a movement has been on foot in
that section of the city bounded roughly speaking, by Canal and
\Uh streets, Broadway, Uh avenue, and Carmine street, which has
now attained quite unexpected proportions. > landing back, cs the
district does, from the main thoroughfares of the city, transfor¬
mation from a region of rookeries into a district of costly umre-
houses and stores of the first magnitude has not only been unob¬
served by the general public, which see only those " things on the
way," but by even the greater part of those who from financial and
other reasons follow closely the devetopment of the metropolis.
In the illustrated supplement which accompanies f/itst»«t*e,THE Rec¬
ord and Guide has undertaken to discover to the public this" New
Mercantile District."' A history of the district is given, with a con¬
sideration of the causes which led to the neglect for so long of so im¬
portant a part of the city,and of those cauMS which have now turned
it into the hands of capitalists for improvement. With this there
are tables of values, list of transfers and other statistical informa¬
tion, with illustrations of practically all the important new build¬
ings recently completed or at present constructing. From the
builders and real-estate man's point of view, for some time to come
this section promises to be the most important in the dty How
much vsork has already been done, and the high character of that
uxrrk, can be seen in the supplement, wliere it is all made nsible, as
it were, at a glance.

It is not the practice of The Record and Guide to " puff ' itsef,
but in this case we J eel Justified in going so far as to draw the
attention of our subscribers, readers and advertisers to the magni¬
tude and the high character of this issue, and to the great labor and
the heavfy cost involved in producing it; and we desire especiaUy to
point out the fact that, differing from the common practice, the
price ot this number has not been increased, so that the full advan¬
tage has been given to our readers and advertisers. Undoubtedly,
many of our subscribers unll wish to send copies to friends abroad
and throughout this country. If they urill send to the office of pub¬
lication. No. 191 Broadway, a list of the names and addresses and
the number of copies wanted, we will mail them to their destination,
collecting the cost aftervcards.





A SHREWD opemtor in Wall street once said that he always
beUeved in selling stocks when railway presidents declared
tbat they have more business offered them than they have cars to
carry it. Most ot the dealings in Wall street took place, in the past
week, under the Influence of some such idea, for prices sagged off
despite the undoubted general prosperity throughout the country.
Every week the scribes have confidently predicted that the bottom
was reached; but, apparently, the end is not yet. The process of
levelling pnces down to the rates of money still continues.
Neither is there much hope that the feeling of apprehension as to
the future money market will be immediately dispelled.
The European money markets are in an equally uneasy
state, and depend upon drawing gold from this centre,
while the contemplated restoration of specie payments
by Austro-Hungary will depress silver and create a pressing
foreign demand for gold. The contingency on which the fall in
prices during the past week immediately hinged has been the break
in sugar certificates; and as is usual in such cases, tbere exists in
Wall street just now a pessimistic feeling as to the future of the
industrial securities. But it is safe to say that there is as much
money in these properties as there is in railroad stocks. The Sugar
Trust is at present under a cloud; but enormous fortunes—quite as
large in proportion to the extent of the industry as in railroads—
have been made by the Havermeyers, MoUers and Spreckles in the
past; and there is no reason to suppose that the Trust will not be
able to make the same profit in the future. One thing to be always
remembered is that the time to buy stocks is not when they are
up, but when they are down.   A twenty points drop, and there are





ON the European money markets the scramble for gold still
continues and uneasiness for the future still prevails. In
London it is anticipated that gold will shortly Ite imported from
this country; but at present rates there is apparently no probability
of such a contingency. The Bank of France has allowed some of
that metal to be exported to England, but according to the latest
reports from Paris it is not likely that the movement will continue.
The most important influence at present at work in the European
money markets, is the resolution to re-establish cash payments, men¬
tioned before in this column, at vsrhich the Austro-Hnngarian gov¬
ernments have arrived. Definite and final arrangements have not
been completed; and, indeed, it seems probable that no speedy
solution of the difficulty with which Austrian statesmen have
wrestled so long will be forthcoming. But the principles
in which, the final arrangements will be made have
been settled. The ratio of the value of gold and silver
is to be based on tbe average of a certain number of
years. The Austro-Hungarian Bank, it has been decided, shall
convert a portion of its stock of silver, amounting to 166,000,000
florins, into gold. The amount of the silver thus thrown on the
market will be 60,000,000 florins, an amount equal to about flve
months' purchases of our government. Steps in this direction may
soon be expected, and the inevitable result will be drain on all the
European markets for gold, as well as on our own, and to keep
down the price of silver. Hence it is that some apprehensions for
the future exist on all the European money" markets. The Bank
of France is tightening its grasp on all of its metal; the Bank of
England is not expected to get through the year without raising its
rate of discount, and in Berlin, although the banks are strong
enough to weather the expected storm, speculators are inactive
and prices depressed. In regard to the general commercial
conditions there is apparently little change. The Scoteh
iron trade is in a temporarily paralyzed state, owing to
a disagreement between the masters and their workmen.
The struggle promises to be prolonged pretty well to the flrtt of
the year, with 'the probability of victory on the side of the
employer. The French government is sitting in deliberation
on proposed changes in the commercial system of that country.
It is said that the Cabinet Council has decided that the general
tariff should be a maximum to be reduced in a determined pro¬
portion for those countries which afford commercial advantage
to France—a system which, if enacted, would seem to open the
way for a reciprocity agreement under the McKinley bill. The
inverse system, that of a minimum, to be increased against
countries which do not concede favors to France has been aban¬
doned as presenting serious political inconveniences. Whether
the general tariff will be retaliatory in character has not trans¬
pired.





IN another column will be found an account of tbe last meeting
of the Exchange and Auction Room Committee of the Real
Estate Exchange, wherein a resolution was proposed by Mr. Rich¬
ard Deeves, apparently with the sanction of a majority of his
fellow members, to adopt a new schedule of knock-down fees. It
is generally admitted that the revenue which the Exchange receives
from auction sales is inadequate—not a few believe very inadequate
—and tbere is very little doubt that the adoption of a higher sched¬
ule of charges will receive the support of practically all the mem¬
bers of the Exchange, 'fhe making of an equitable schedule, how¬
ever, wherein the charges shall, in all cases, be in strict proportion
to the benefits received, is very far from being an easy task; and
that the Exchange has not yet been successful in devising such a
schedule, especially where it is apparent that no standard has yet
been fixed for measuring the accommodation which the auctioneer
pays for; is not to be wondered at. The new schedule increases the
fees considerably on all knock-downs for sums over $5,000. The
scale is much more minute than formerly, and instead of grouping
all sales between $5,000 and $100,000, and exacting a $5 fee for
them, the new schedule divides them into amounts
which pay $5, $15, and $25, so that now on a sale
of $100,000 the Exchange will receive $35. It needs only
a glance to show that the new schedule is only roughly graded and
follows no very definite plan. For instance, a sale of $10,000 will
pay in knock-down fees 1-20 of t per cent; a sale of $50,000 will be
about 1-25 of 1 per cent; a sale of $75,000 willbe about 1-30 of 1
per cent; a sale of $100,000 will be about 1-29 of 1 per cent; a sale
of $200,000 will be about 1-26 of 1 per cent; a sale of $300,000 will
be about 1-24 of 1 per cent; or, looking at the matter in another
light, if a real estate owner puts up a piece of property which sells
for $25,000 it will coet him $10; if he should get another bid of
$25,000 that bid vriW cost him another $10; but supposing some¬
body bids another $25,000, the latter will cost him only $5, while
another bid of $25,000 will cost him $10. Or, again, the first $50,000
obtained at a sale produces for the Exchange $20; the next $50,000,