February 21, 1891





Record   and- Guide.





903









#_____________________

DeAteD to nEA.L Es WE . euiLDIlfc AjftlilTEinJlV MoUSEHOLD DlOOR^TWlt

BUsitlESS Alto Themes of GEfJER^l !;Jt£f^est

PRICE, PER VEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Published every Saturday.
Telephone,           .          -          -          Cortlandt 1370.

Communications should be addressed to

C.W. SWEET, 191   Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





Vol, XLVII,





FEBRUARY 21, 1881.





No. 1,197





rriHE stock market haa been OuU almost to stagnancy, and in
-^ spite of some small concessions in prices during tbe past
week has retained such a strong underttjlie that important declines
Heed not be expected. The most discouraging featute during, the
week was the suspension of tbe American Xioan ^nd Trust Oorii-
pany, which appears to be entirely solvent, but with ita assets'
partly locked up in bonds tbat could not be immediately realized
on. If there was a similar iunsettlement of cianfidence
in otber institutions no doubt tbey would be found to
occupy a like position. Tbe failure produced some uncei^-
tainty, but apparently is not likely to result in mueh disaster.
Tlie report of the House Committee against free coinage is proba¬
bly the death-blow of that measure for the present Congress; and
Wall street apprehensions in that respect will be confined tothe
possibility of an extra session. That, however, does not seem to be
Tery likely. The immediate source of danger for the future lies
rather in the labor market thao in any other direction, for the
wheat crop prospects are good. The holders of coal stocks will do well
to remember tbat the labor organizations are sufficiently strong to be
ready in May to strike for an eigbt-liour day in that region, and as
it is unlikely the concession will be made, a fight must result.
Indeed, all over the country the trades unions are getting restless:
so that no one can teil what disaster may not be threatened. The
reduction of the Burlington dividend to four per cent indicates
that its managers understand the situation thoroughly and mean
in future to pay only earnings, a policy which is probably assisted
by the fact staring them in the face that the surplus of former
yeare cannot now be depended upon to carry the road through
bad years. The time was wbeu the dividend paid was
no indication of the earnings, but now the case is different.
One encouraging feature is the strength of themarket for cotton
manufactures. The prices of goods in that line have hardened at
the very aame time that cotton itself is very cheap, selling as low
one day dm-ing the past week as 8^^ cents. The print cloth market,
even, which lately has been the only point of weakness, has
strengthened. Barring the possibility of strikes the outlook is
very good. The miners' strike will be no common one. The trade
unions will be under a leader already appointed by the federated
trades of the country, who will bring every force known to trades
unionism to win the battle. On the side of tbe railroad and mine
owners the fight wiil be a determined one, and will show that their
inanagers are alive to the importance of the issue. The recent
crushing blow which trades unions have received in Austraha,
likened by tbeir leaders to that which Napoleon received at Moscow,
will encourage capitalists to fight to the end. Capital federated will
prove to be stronger than laborfederiited should the issue be fought
out on these lines, but it is to be hoped that wise counsel may yet

avert the contest.

■ i-------—

THE foreign markets are beginning perceptibly to feel the
influence of easy rates for money. A large majority of the
iictive stocks and bonds show a tendency to advance. This is par¬
ticularly true of government issues, those of France, Germany and
Russia being stronger than the rest. In London the English rail¬
way securities have been slightly weak, owing principally to small
reductions in the dividends of important rOads, while American
railway securities have shown sti-ength, following the course of
prices in New York. Tbe discussion of Mr. Goschen's Leeds speech
continues, and from its temper there seems to be no doubt but
that some change in the banking laws of England, as
well as in the currency system, will result. There is a disposi¬
tion to give the government the advantage of every doubt until
definite proposals are made to Parliament. The shareholders of
the Bank of France are becoming more reconciled to the terms on
which their privileges are to be extended, for the shares of that
institution which declined at first have since recovered. The broad
lines of the budget of M. Rouvier, for 1892, have been announced.
A sum of 76,000,000 francs will bave to be provided for, of which
38,000,000 are for supplementary expenses arising from the laws
TOted    during    the     last     session,    12,000,000     for    interest





ou the new loan, and 36,000,000 for the reduction in
the railway duty. Of this 40,000,000 are expected to
come from the normal increase in the revenue from asieting
taxes and the residue from new or increased duties in the customs
tariff. In Berlin home secui ities bave not been very strong, but
foreign issues have. The government is preparing for a large block
of 3 per cent bonds; bow mach is not exactly known, the estimates
varying between 400,000,000 and 700,000,000 marks. An interesting
item comes from Vienna: An Austrian manufacturer, described as
a '■ man of enterprise," has started for New York with a number of
young skilled workmen, to attempt to establish a rnother-o'-pearl
manufactory in this country, and thus repair {for him) the damage
done by the McKinley bill. A few more sucb instances might help
to reconcile the electorate to this bill.





OWNERS of Broadway property, between Canal street and
Waverley place, will find in another column an article of
much importance to them. Hitherto property between these two
streets has been among the most jjrofitable of all on the city's main
ttuxoughfare. At present only a glance is needed to see thatthere is
sometiiing wrongwith it. There is scarcely a buUding in that section
that does not display signs "To Let," and on some buildings theSe
placards are so numerous that the question arises whether the rents
received are sutficient to pay the tases. TUe reasons for this unex¬
pected ctHidition of affairs are obvious. Witbin the last ten years
the New Mercantile Uistrict has been building up, and it offers to
certain divisions of the dry-goods trade advantages not only in the
matters of rent and accommodations, but favorable facilities for
bliipping, due to location. How impor(5.nt tbese advantages are
may be understood from the fact that though the rent of Broadway
stores and lofts has declined fully 10 per cent, and in some cases
more, property is only partly tenanted.





IT is easy to be seen that owners of Broadway property bave,
depended for tenants too much upon mere position. In most
cases their buildings, if not old in years, are at least
antiquated iu tiieir equipments. Most of them were planned more
than twenty years ago; ventilation is poor, hght is bad, they
lack elevators, and pretty nearly all of the essentials of a first-class
modern buildiug. They have been badly cared for, too, and in
many cases bave a certain ramshackled api)earance which savors
more of the Bowery than of Broadway. On the other hand the
buildings in the New Mercantile District are ali modern, compara-
tivfctyi well-planned, and are usually thoroughly equipped for the
purposes for which they are^intended. Moreover, they are located
on streets where general traffic is very light and where the sbipment
of goods is an easy matter. We expect to find, as new buildings in
this district are completed, a steady desertion of Broadway, at tbe
point we are speaking of, unless owners tbere make still greater
concessions than they have so far made, or turn entei-prising and
improve their property. The latter is the proper course, and the one
which will be adopted in the end.





MASSACHUSETTS was the first State in this federation to
adopt the Australian ballot law, and it now promises to
be the first State to put into practice tbe Torrens system of land
transfer. Both Edward Atkinson and Professor Thayer of tbe
Harvard Law School have recently been considering the matter,
aud as ideas spread in that community more easily than in any
other in the country, we are not surprised to learn from a letter to
the Evening Post that tbe Boston Executive Business Association
indorsed the plan of a commission to examine the sub¬
ject and report a law to the next Legislature. Ten years
ago discussion was running high in this city over the same matter,
audit, too,finally crystallized in a commission. Butasmost of our
readers will remember, the matter was presented in a different
way. The security of titles in this city was threatened by the
multitude of instruments recorded, which affected them, and the
utter lack of any system of indexing, whereby the various papers
could simply and conveniently bo found. We are uot so sure that
this was not the best approach to a satisfactory reform in the
methods of land transfer. We have obtained our block indexing,
which is working satisfactorily, and which in time will greatly
simplify the trouble of searching. But, meanwhile, the
title guarantee companies have come into existence, which, while
they do very well for a temporary expedient, will constitute an
impediment to tbe manifestly desirable extension of the system in
the direction of re-indexing. We are not sorry, however, to see
tbat Massachusetts is approacliing tbe matter in a more direct and
radical fashion. Governor Russell, who, let it be hoped, will fulfill
the expectations which his career thus far have created, has sent
a message to the Legislature " explaining the system, enlarging on
its advantages, summarizing its history, and recommending
the appointment of a commission," He believes that the
Torrens system is the longest step that has yet been
taken toward?-freedom, security and cheapness of land trans¬
fer,   He finds ife advantages to lie in the fact that it is optional and





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