January 31^ 18bl





Record   and   Guide.





153









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Vol. XLYIl,





JANUARY 31. 1891.





No. 1,194





THE DAILY RECORD AND GUIDE.
Armounbement was made in these columns last week that this
journal had been appointed by the National Association of Builders
to officially report the proceedings, and that a daily illustrated
paper would be issued by The Record and Guide, during ihe week
of the Convention—from February 9th to l&th, inclusive. This
morning paper will be of the same size as this number o/The
Record and G-uide, will be printed on fine,paper and handsomely
illustrated. In addition to a report of the proceedings of the Co?i-
vention, the programme for the day, bulletins and other infor¬
mation from the Executive Committee, it will contain editorials,
the gossip of the Convention, and articles on Architecture, Building,
Sanitation, etc., and several special features. Newsdealers and
others desiring copies should send in their orders at once.





Advertisers wishing to familiarize their names and goods to the
builders of this city and the for',y other cities represented in the
Convention, can find no medium, lor their purpose, comparable to
The Daily Record and Guide. Copy for .advertisements for the
issue of Monday, February Wi, must be sent to the office of publi¬
cation, No. 191 Broadway, not later than noon of the Saturday
previous.

BUSINESS conditions and prospects have not changed mater-
iallj- during the week. Prices have, indeed, been somewhat
stronger, in spite of the exertions of an active, if not very numerous,
bear coterie; and there is no gnod reason, leaving out of account tbe
possibility of free coinage of silver, why prices should not continue
steady, if not advancing throughout the spring. "Very certainly if
there has been any truth in the received explanations for the
decline in values which took place previous to and during
the panic, a certain amount of strength is now in order,
for tbe conditions which largely brought about the depres¬
sion have been removed. If values have been adjusting
themselves in the past to the higher rates for money, they ouglit
also to readjust themselves to the lower rates. And if tbe decline
was partially due to the selling by English investors, necessitated
by the precarious situation of their investments in South Atnerica,
then our securities ought again to come into favor when the
position of British capitalists becomes stronger. As we predicted,
the bond market has been particularly strong, and it ought to
remain so, for there is room for further advances. The purchasing
of stocks, liowever, is open to more uncertainty. On the
whole we think that Wall street overestimates the effect of the
smaller grain tonnage for tbe Western roads. The situation is
simply this; Last year a very lieavy tonnage produced small net
results because the rates were poor and the roads were under the
nece^ity of making extensive betterments. This year the tonnage
promises to be smaller in the two items of wheat and corn; hut the
business generally continues prosperous, and in other respects the
railroads ought to do equally as well as tJiey did in 1890. To
counterbalance any deficiency, however, there is every probability
of higher rates. The newspapers are inclined to turn np their noses
at this aspect of the matter : bufonly because they have been usedso'
long to chronicling rate-cutting that they cannot come to see that
circumstances have changed. Neither is it probable that tbe large
companies will be under such a heavy expenditure for improve¬
ments. From present indications, it is quite possible that there
win be larger sums available for distribution in 1«91 than in 1890.
A review, theii, of the whole situation, appears to offer a presump¬
tion in favor of higher prices.





rpHEBI- are no perceptible signs of weakness in the foreign
-L markets and exchanges at the present time. Their condition,
on the contrary, very closely resembles in its principal features
that of our own. Money is easier, not only in Loudon and Paris,
but in Periin, and indications are not wanting that it will remain
BO. In London these lowej- rates have already had son:e influence
0^1 prtQes, an4 t)>iB in epite oi t^ie fact that three classes of seppri





ities dealt in on that market have been disturbed by special causes.
South American bonds have been hurt by the political commotions
in Chili—a State whose credit has hitherto ranked highest among-
the South American Republics. The British home railway market
has been weakened by the railway troubles which, although they
have nominally ceased, have created uncertainty and an indisposi¬
tion to buy. Neither have the American railway shares been
particularly strong, for the same reasons that have prevented
activity in this city. Nevertheless, the large bank, brewery,
insurance and finance corporations generally have, on the average,
declared fair dividends ; and the prevailing disposition, although
not strongly bullish, is reasonably confident. In Berlin the principal
pointof weakness is the iron and steel trades. The prices for steel rails
which have been controlled by a combination have recently fallen
considerably, and there is said to be some cause for the assertions
of the bears that-the railway department, unless further conc^.-
sionsare made, will foster foreign competition. The negotiations
as to an Austro-German oonamercial treaty bave been resumed,
and the German delegates have retuined with instructions .to
meet the wishes of the Austrian and Hungarian govei-nmentff.in
.every possible way, so that an amicable arrangement is probable.
In Hungary the zone tariff continues to give excellent results.
Between August and December 31, 1890,1,319,715 passengei« more
.were conveyed than during the same period of 1889, and the
receipts were 449,599 florins larger. The total receipts of the year
when expenses have been deducted will certainly exceed20,000,000
florins, against 16,500,000 last year. Another interesting fact may
be gathered from the report of at) Austrian cotton mill owner, who
shows byfigures that the expenses of establishing a cotton mill in
Austria are exactly twice as high as in England. Certain com¬
mentators have taken these figures as an argument against estab¬
lishing such enterprises in Austria, but the mill.owner finds In
hie figures only strong evidence for increased protection.





THE Senate and the Assembly both having passed the Rapid
Transit bill, it bas now practically become a law. The city
is tc he congratulated in the tinal ending of this long, tedious, exas¬
perating and most unnecessary dispute. The circumstances sur¬
rounding the passage cf the bill by the Senate are full of instruc¬
tion. The high level of the debate is fairly indicated by the
intensely democratic remarks of Senator Brown, who wanted to
know why Sth avenue, the rich man's thoroughfare, was exempted
from any manner of rapid transit road when 3d avenue, whereon
tbe poor man dwelleth, was burdened with an elevated structure-
As a rule the Senators betrayed about as much knowledge of the
true conditions of the rapid transit problem in this city as did a
certain Secretary of the Navy of the affairs of his own department
when upon going aboard a ship he was surprised to find it hollow.
That New York needed i^apid tra,nsit they all apparently knew,
but tbat the city needed two kinds of increased facilities was an
idea too complicated for their legislative minds. They immediately
began to oppose the early but essentially makeshift improve¬
ment of facilities which the Manhattan Company can give us,
to the adequate aud elastic accommodations which must be sup¬
plied by the new system—after the expiration of the several years
necessary for preparation and construction. "We have repeatedly
pointed out that this o]DpositioH was purely fictitious; that the case
was exactly parallel to the improvement of the bridge facilities,—
which no one was foolish enough to confuse with or oppose to the
building of a new bridge or tunnel. Jay Gould is, indeed, suffi¬
ciently stupid to claim that the Mauhattan Company can give us
all the transit we need ; but then Jay Gould is hardly an unpreju¬
diced witness, and as yet he has made this belief constitute a
ground for opposition to a better system. Perhaps he can, as has
been hinted, make the opposition moreetfecLive when the timecomes
to raise money for the construction of the uew road, and for this
reason, if for no other, it would have been %vell for the city itself
to have assumed the responsibility of building the new system.
Because there is every reason to believe that tbe bill will imme¬
diately go on the statute book, people must not suppose too hastily
that we are out of the wilderness. The difficulties to he overcome
are still enormous, and we have no doubt that the hours of per¬
plexity will be as numerous in tbe future as they have been in
the past.

I> APID TRANSIT, when once it has been secured by this city,
V -,vill make possible a better distribution of population within
its limits; but it must not be supposed that along with this exten¬
sion of local passenger transportation will come full and sure relief
to the overcrowded districts. Lands rendered convenient for occu
pation will, by reason of the very convenience thereby imparted,
be raised in value. The rise of rents in districts thus opened to
habitation will, in a great measure, counteract the free immigra¬
tion of population to these districts from the crowded quarters of
the city. It is evident, however, that the enlargement of tbe
habitable area within ttie city by means of inQreased rapid transit
faciliti,es canpot fail of bj-inging about to sDpie extent a better dig"
);i'jbution of its popalat(Qn|   The point made Jiere is pjeyely %\f^i