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Record  and Guide.





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^                           ESTABIJSIIED^IIWPK21u^ie68^

Dr^rpEO 101^ Estate . BuiLoi^ A^itcctoi^ J^ouseHou) DEoavknoil.
Busntess Alb Thekes or GeHei^ I|(tei^s j

PRICE, PER TEAR IN ADTANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Puttished every aaiurday.
Telephone,          .         .         .         Cobtulhdt 1370.

Communicatjopg shoald be addrocod to

C. W. SWEET, 191  Broadway
J. T. LINDSEY, Buaineas Manager.





Vol. XLVI             NOVEMBER 29, 1890.





No. 1,185





rpHE tendency of prices since the panic, as was anticii«ted, has
been upward, and we see no reason to modify the opinion
that there is room for a stUl further, though moderate advance.
It is true that Congress is about to meet; and thia occurrence gen¬
erally aflFects prices unfavorably; but such a disturbance is at worst
only temporary, and it is not probable that tbe Republicans will
find an opportunity to pass much industrial legislation whether for
good or evil.   The market at present very certainly contains a
great deal of Mr. Gould in its composition.   The frequent inter¬
views of that gentleman and his invariably fcullish utterances
can   mean   nothing,   if   not   that   he   has   some   stocks   to
sell.     Nevertheless,     if    he     is     working,     as     indications
point, towards a restoration and maintenance of rates in the West
his influence on the whole is for the good.   Furthermore, as there
18 no one, according to common report, who knew more about the
recent stringency of money than Mr. Gould, hisstatement that tbese
rates would be easy by January 16th ought to mean something
more than the opinion of Mr. John Jones on the subject, even
if John Jones is the president of the bank.   It must be bome in
mind, however, that exchange at the present time is very near the
gold exporting point. Our cotton crop may be and probably is as
large  as  the  experts tell  us it  is,  but it has not y^t come
to the seaboard or entered  largely into our foreign exchange.
These    conditions    are    liable    to    vary    at    any    moment,
but It 18 well not to forget them.   Altogether there seems to be no
important reason for a decline, while there are many for a further
advance.   That there are English investors who stiU think well of
securities may be drawn from the fact that the London speculator
who, months ago had accounts open aggregating $50,000,000, ha^
now entirely liquidated, his seciurities having passed into safe and
steady hands.   The fact that any one London speculator controlled
such an enormous mass of securities goes far towards explaining
the sharp rise in the prices of stocks last May.





A CCORDING to some recent utterances of Lord Salisbtiry it
^   would seem as if peace were assured in Europe throi«faout
the coming year.   The English Premier has been making this pre¬
diction annuaUy for six years past, and in each instance have his
prophecies been verified, so that, although a year is a long distance
tolook ahead^thepubUc are justified in putting some confidence
in his fore<»8t8.   With the fear of war thus removed, so far an the
removal of this fear can be warranted by human forethought,
Europe WlU be free to recover from the disturbances produced by
the recent crisis.   The financial fabric abroad, lUte that of this
country, has stood the strain very well; the actual failures have
been few and unimportant, and the recovery wiU doubtless come
m time, although it may take more time than it has under our own
more elastic business conditions.   In England there Las been a ten¬
dency for mvestoient business to expand, but naturally the public
have bought only on a very moderate scale and have exereised
much discrimination in selecting reaUy sound securities.   The best
judges anticipate an increase in thi^ respect without, however
expecting any decided revival of speculative activity.   France hw
nevOTbeen very deeplj involved in the catastrophe, and the Bank
of France, in spite of  its loan to the Bank of England  con¬
tinues   to   be   veiy   strong.    The   prioee   of   securities   have
remained steady   and   in   some   cases   advances   have   been
sooreo.    m   Berlin   the    defuression   appears   rntber   to   be
growing;   and  the   prospects,   acterding   to   a   ooaservatite
authority, "are gloomy enough to justify «,ost uafevombie com¬
mute.    The aecline tiieet» with a stubbon rteistoiMa: bat tbe
public w out «f Mw^narket and offer but little support.   ^ bulk
of the raUway stoote, industrial iad baok^baras ara «1I krtw.   It
IS dnnimd iajwoh^ble. however, that imythiag Uke a^eaeml o<tl.
lipse WlU occitt, for tbe position df the htokakstroBg^oMh to
tteetanyemwigency.   Tbe Austrian Bourse, also, sufferedtor a
ttmequite seriously, bat the irecovery has beea more rapid than
ZJ^friT^J n^ Hmigariaa mlwayshave. awing to the new
ttm»mm «»*«ia«Kajllent«»ps,pai8«laAoatprosperousywr,





the State lines earning 4.4 on the invested capiUl, and 8.66 on the
nominal capital; whUe the private companies earned 4.54 per cent
on the actual, and 8.87 on the nominal invtstmeat.

—,-----•-------•

A   MOVEMENT is on foot, and alreadj has gained considerable
-*•-»-   force, for the acquirement of adequate headquarters for the
Mechanics' and Traders' Exchange.   An excellent committee of
ten representatives of tbe building and allied trades has alreadr
been appointed, and it is expected tbat its investigations wUl end
m reportmg favorably some plan for the purehase of a site for the
construction of a fine exchange building.   That this step, or one
eqmvalent to it, sbould be taken, hahily needs to be pointed out.
The building trade is one of the most important industries in the
country, and New York is the seat of its greatest activity.   In
other cities of tbe country there are large, well-equipped building
exchanges, and it does not speak well for the enterprise of the
trade m New York that they have hitherto been so meanly housed.
An exchange should be something more than a meeting-room    It
might be, and in other cities is, a very effective piece of machinery
which not only promotes ihe interest of the trade concerned, but
effectively consolidates it and even in a sense dignifies it. Attached
to the Philadelphia Exchange there is a permanent exhibition of
buildmg materials and appliances which not only promotes trade
but spreads considerable knowledge of improvements aud inven'
tions and new methods.   We understand, moreover, that it bas
been financially very successful.   An announcement has recer Uy
been made that in Brooklyn an exhibition on similar lines has been
established by The Review and Record, the real estate paper ot
tliat city, and has met with very encouraging success.   It seems to
us that a building exchange, organized on broad lines, might be to
the trade what the old guilds were two or three centuries ago.   It
might regulate customs, promote legislation, encourage and sup¬
port technical education.   Builders and building material men, and
any and aU who are interested in the making of our houses'and
homes should encourage and assist the movement and use every
effort so that it may not fail of the fullest accomplishment possible.

-------•-------

rpHERE is no use crying over spilt milk; yet, on the other hand,
-^ it Is worth pointing out what the real estate interest of New
York City lost when local bickerings and mismanagement played
into the hands of politicians and gave Chicago the World's Fair.
Since the selection was made transactions in real estate in the
Westem city have increased wonderfully, and the figures of the
conveyances for the week ending November 20th may betaken as
typical of the greater activity. During that week 790 deeds were
filed for an amount aggregating $5,009,607; for the corresponding
period last year the number of the sales was 607. and the amount
$2,772,879. Accompanying this " boom " is a marked increase in
the value of new building operations, so that when the Fair has
been closed there will remain to jChicago a very tangible reminder
of the part she has played in the Columbian celebration in addition
to whatever permanent buildings areretained from the Exposition.
It is a pity that there is not enough public spirit in this city topro^
inote a local celebration that would emphasise New York's posi¬
tion as the commereial capital and greatest seaport of the country.
--------•--------

pROPERTY-OWNERS in this city will be interested in ascer-
-L     taining  that  there is a movement under way in Massa¬
chusetts to adopt more or less completely in that State the Torrens'
system of land transfer ; and that the movement has among its
supporters such a capable lawyer as Prof. Thayer, of the Harvard
Law School, and such a distinguished economist as Edward Atkin¬
son.   "It would not be surprising," stys the Evening Post in a
recent issue, " if the success of the new systems of balloting sug¬
gested by the Australian law should give an impetus to another
reform originating from the same remote soiu-ce—the registration
of titles.   Nor is it surprising that a movement in this direction is
beginning to make itself felt in Massachusetts, a community that
seems to be as progressive as any of its sister States."   New York
can claim precedence in this matter.   It is now ten years since
attention was first called to the advantages of the Torrens' system
by Dwight H. Olmstead, then president of the West Side Associa¬
tion.   After a decade of continuous discussion, the city finds itself
about to obtain the advantage of what we hope wiU be the first of
a series of laws which WiU help to facilitate the transfer of real
estate.   A sharp distinction, however, should be drawn between
the toriwus' system and the shape which the effort at land transfer
reform has taken in this city.   Sir Robert Torrens has declared
that    tbe    principal    merit    of     his    system    lay    in    the
aivbidaftce    of    "the    accumulation     of    instruments    with
Vtilttminous indexes."   The originators of the block indexing bUl
claim, on the other hand, that the bother and uncertainty arising
hom tbe accumulation of instmments can be removed l^ an index
which would not be voluminous; and that this method of meeting
the difficulty would not necessitate a State guarantee of title,
which is unnecessaty. " Under the Torrens qrstom," ^ays the PMt,
"thelandowno: Uiay, by proving his title before the Regi&trar,