January 17, 1861





Record   and   Guide.





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Vol. SLVII,





JANUARY  17, 1891.





No. 1,198     i





THERE ia no denying that in the flnauoial vvorld Uciuidation
continues. Prices are not so much affected by natural causes
at the moment ae by the needs of large debtors atill laboring in the
heavy sea of distrust and demoralization caused by the financial
storms of last November, while the rottenness then revealed by tbe
lightening shock of the suspension of the greatest commercial and
banking house of the world, if it has done nothing else, has called
a halt everywhere. Consequently, we find that while people talk
hopefully they are acting conservatively, In all trades the
instinctive feeling is that it is best to keep out of debt, or, if in
debt, not to go in deeper until it is possible to peer a little
further into the future; and so it may come to pass that
this very caution, or perhaps excess of caution, may
bring about a condition of business which will be called
" dull," or may be even designated as " depressed." Such a state
of depression is always bad for people with schemes to float or for
banking houses having loans to place, based on the promise of new
ventures; but those who can see beyond know that from the veiy
moment extreme conservatism prevails all things at bottom are
making for better times. It may be laid down as an axiom that
when everybody is acting with caution one cau afford to bo bold.
The stock market can hardly be called weak, for after a
rise of nearly ten points on tho average some reaction was
due, and it is undeniable that in most cases ruilroad atocks are
cheap. The bonds specially selected by us in an article iu December
as worthy of attention have all scored big advances. Duluth,
South Shore & Atlantic firsts have risen from about 90 to 96 ; Peoria
& Eastern firsts from 73 to 793-4", and Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas
City Railroad firsts from 85 to 91. The Chesapeake & Ohio (Rich¬
mond & Alleghany Division) firsts and seconds have not advanced
as they deserve to. There should b« buyers enough even in times
like these for a hundred year 4 per cent bond of so great a corpora-
tior to quickly absorb the offerings of all those forced to sell at
current prices, 68 and 71, respectively. There are many encourag¬
ing features iu the situation. Tbe strong position of tbe banks ia
one, and it should not be overlooked that never before have the
great railroad systems been pulling together so harmoniously to

produce net results.

—•---------

TAKING the past year tbi-ough, Europe has been fairly prosper¬
ous ; but France has led all ber neighbors in this respect. A
retrogression had been naturally expected after the prosperous
exhibition period, but all tbe visible elements of national prosperity
were maintained and improved on. Tbe revenue shows an advance
on the favored year of 1889, and foreign trade both in imports and
exports has increased. The government securities all show
handome advances, and no catastrophe has interrupted
business and disturbed credit. Nearly, all the miscella¬
neous securities dealt iu on ^ the Paris Bourse have
also risen. Prices in Berlin, on the contrary, have
steadily declined. Well-informed observers, however, consider
the reaction healthy. The inflated plane of values which prevailed
throughout 1889 were untenable, and the absence of a slow decline
could have meant only a disastrous panic. If bad times should be
in store business men will be able to meet them, whereas, if a
revival of speculation and brisk business sets in, the decline in 1810
will have made room for advances in 1891, The _feeling at the
present time is fairly hopeful for the coming year. In Vienna,
-■■^also, a bullish sentiment prevails. Both the Austrian and Hun¬
garian governments are doing their level best to stimulate trade,
to remove the existing restrictions and to devise a better system of
governmental machinery. In England prices have stiffened up
just as they have in this country, and we may expect, if no catas-
K-trophe occurs, that English investors will buy back during the
coming year a large part of the enormous mass of securities which
were returned to us under tbe stress of the Baring trouble.





respects, so confused that we continue to abide the event with Bom«
misgivings. The matter will come up for consideration In the
Senate next week, and very probably Mr. Stewart's bill, will be
passed, without muoh opposition. According to last accounts thia
bill has undergone a transformation, The Republican Senators
have assumed a po^iition of sturdy independence in respect to Mr,
Piatt; they have been converted to home rule. The number of
commissioners provided for by the bill la five, and a unanlmoua
vote is required for action on all Important matters. Mayor Grant
is to flll the vacancies. This measure is said to be satisfactory to
Hamilton Fish and to Tammany, As Mayor Grant put it, Tarn-,
many wilt agree to anything that preserves the saored principle of
home rule. And so tbe threatened battle royal may turn into the
sweetest of agreements. How happy, then, will be the citizens of
New York I Like little Peterkin, they will know that a great vlc^
tory has been gained; but, unlike that simple-minded person, they
will understand the reason for the battles they will
reap the fruits of the triumph, After many years
of talk, and three years of bitter contest, they ■
have taken the first step towards obtaining accommodations, tbe
necessity for which no one has ever disputed, and withal retained
the right to manage their own affairs. Of course all this to some
extent is still problematical. We have no doubt that the Even¬
ing Post will be able to discover several more Tammany tricks in
the coui-se of a week or so, and that the Times correspondent wiU
continuetoexpoaethedevlouswaysof the wicked Mr, Gould's agents
at Albany. Little humors of this kind are inseparable from public
events. While the course of things at Albany has been smooth,
the Rapid Transit Commission have held a meeting in this city,
and listened to a recital of the various plans among which In the
future they will have to decide. Any discussion of this aspect of
the matter may be postponed; but of the plans as yet submitted,
the one deserving of the most careful consideration is the Great-
head system. In the past there has been a most reasonable opposi-<
tion to underground roads because of the intolerable discomforts
of traveling on them. But if the claims of the advocates of this
system are true, many of these ciacomforts have been removed,
The one great merit of the system is its cheapness.





TN another column we give the totals of the assessed valuation
-L of real property in New York City for 1891, These totals will
of com'se be revised to some extent, but not to so great an extent
that they will not stand in a general way for the totals of the
present year. The aggregate increase for the twenty-four wards Is
$68,559,031, an increase which is undoubtedly justified by the
activity of real estate for the past few years and the amount of
building. The size of the augmentation recalls the protest which
Tax Commissioner ColemF.n entered some weeks ago against the
totals of the deputy commissioners. We do not know whether the
protest resulted in auy diminution of the figures, but if it did, it
probably should not have done so, for the increase as given is, if
anything, rather too low than too high. About $68,000,000 was
spent in building during 1889, and there is of course a steady
growth in the value of property already improved or still to be
improved. The only reason that Commissioner Coleman could
allege for his protest was the then existing state of the money
market, but in what way the temporary stringency of money could
diminish the amount of capital already invested in buildings
was something we have never beeu able to understand. The
scare of last November and December did not affect the
values of real property in this city at all; for its owners, even those
who were speculators, were strong enough to tide over the diffi¬
culty without throwingany of their holdings ou the market. The
anti-Tammany newspapers in their discussions of the matter
renriinded one of the German commentators on Shakespeare, who
read into the simplest phrases meaning too deep for anything but
German words. When an increase in tbe assessed valuation of
property is announced, a simple minded person would naturally
turn to whatever facts were available to see how far the increase
was justified. Did the unprejudiced critics tuni to the building
figures? Did they make any inquiries as to the state of the real
estate market? Not they. A Tammany " job " was immediately
discovered aud loudly proclaimed—"merely another trick to reduce
the tax rate," was the comment oft'ered on every side. It is such
silly talk, born of prejudice and ignorance, tiiat brings the daily
press into ju&t contempt.





TF there has been any change, during the jJast week, in the pros-

-*-   pects for an early passage of a rapid transit  bill,  this  change

■ has been for the better; but the reports are so meagre and, in some





SOUND policy requires legislative atquitscence to the report of
the Senate Committee recommending a government guarantee
of the bonds of the Nicaragua Canal Company, It is in dealicg
with questions of this character that representative government is
generally seen at its worst, for such questions are seldom ma'tera
of party polity, and consequently are seldom consistently advocated
and triumphantly pushed to a conclusion, A strongly centrahzed
government which is not continually obliged to keep the next elec¬
tion in view is far more likely to take intelligent and vigorous
action on such a matter; the reasonsjor which do not appeal keenly