AprU 4, 1891





Record   and   Guide.





509





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DEvfe-jED TO J^EA.L Estate . SuiLoif/o Aji,cKiTECTui^E .HouseiJolii DZ0Wf.TVM,
BUsit/ESS Atto Themes of Qifii^i 1;jt£!\est





iilil.





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Vol, XLVII





APRIL 4, 1891.





No. 1,203





NOTICE OF REMOVAL.

The offices of The Rec!oro and Guide will be removed to Nos.
14 and 16 Vesey street, over The Mechanics' and Traders' Exchange,
on May 1st.





rpHERE is something sublime in tlie courage and persistence of
,J-    believers in railway securities who are now  and have been
for two years large borrowers of  money to enable  them  to carry
their fancies. "While it is notijossible to buy what might be termed
ffilt-edge, full-grown bonds, that is to say, bonds of old companies,
so as to receive a greater return than say 4 to 4^ per cent, yet for
years money could be loaned on time on securities of equal intrinsic
value at 6 per cent, and in very many cases the borrower has been
forced    to     pay     the     interest     in     advance     by    way    of
discount.   Now, taking into consideration the number of tinies in
the last two years when  large premiums have been exacted in
addition, it will be seen that it has altogether beeu a harvest
period for the bilious and dyspeptic money-lender, while the liope-
ful, optimistic believer in the country and its growth bas been pass¬
ing   through  "the valley  of   the  shadow.-'     Leaving   out    the
shrinkage in market value of   his   collateral   and the   amount
of    capital    he    bas    been   compelled    to    use   by   way   of
margin,     the     borrower      has     been      paying     out     perhaps
twice   as   much    by    way   of    compound   interest   and   com¬
missions   as   he    has   received   by  way   of   income   from    his
securities.    So he has been out both ways.     Instead of an advance
m price to compensate him for the greater amount he was paying
to the money-lender than that received from the coupons, he has
had to contend with a shrinking in mai'ket value, to be made good
by the deposifc of additional margins.   As it is clear that the low
prices at which many new issues of railroad bonds can be bought
IS due to  the tiring oufc of speculative holders, it would seem to
be  an   opportunity  to   pick   up  tbe   bargains   this   exhaustion
offers.      And    this    exhaustion   accounts   for    the    anomaly
of    undoubtedly     good     bonds      selling     for      mucb    lower
pnces than bonds not so good  or uo better intrinsically, but practi¬
cally absorbed by investors and consequently not being pressed on
the market for sale.   To illustrate : the C. C. C. & St. L 4's sold
April 2d for 94, and the same day the Peoria & Eastern 4's, interest
guaranteed by the C. C. C. & St. L., sold at 75, tbe latter bond
being intrinsically as good as tbe former.   The price of these two
bonds may be expected to steadily approximate until in  the near
future   It    IS   quite    likely   that   the    Peoria    bond   will   sell
higher  than   the  bond    of    tbe   guaranteeing   company.    It   is
obvious,  therefore,  that safe railroad  bonds, whose only crime
IS youth, or that they have hitherto been held by speculators, are
cheap at ruling figures.   Ifc would seem fchafc a turn is close at hand
and while for two years it bas been vastly more profitable to  lend
on railroad securities  than to own  them  prices have   reached a
point where a much larger return can be realized by the purchase
of good low-priced bonds than by lending against them even at the
lull legal rate.





rriHE English stock market continues as dull as does tbat of Wall
■^ street, and prophets of good times to come are getting a little
discouraged, A depressing influence is being exerted by the
returns of the Scotch railway companies. It was well known that
the strike of the employes and fche blowing out of the furnaces for
so many montbs would mate tbeu- earnings contract largely, but
the actual shrinkage has been even greater fchan was
anticipated.       The   net   revenue   of   the   North   British  Com-

*?.Tnnn 'T^'^^ '^""''^ *^^ ^«^o°^ " ^^'^ ^^ 1890 over
1550,000 while that of the Caledonian is more than $450,000
theBtualler This means a reduction of ly. per cent in one case
and 6)4 m the other. Prices have steadily recovered in Paris since
the collapse of the Societe des Depots, The many failures of fraud¬
ulent private banks bas led to a discussion as to the expediency of
suppressing them entirely, and prosecuting tbe  journals which





insert their advertisements; but the discussion has thus far led to
no definite action. Tbe govemment intervention in the matter of
the above-mentioned failure has started some criticism, to meet
which the authorities have annouuced their intention of introducing
a bill to require banks to employ tbek deposits at call or at short
dates in commercial bills discountable at the Bank of France, or in
loans on those public securities on which the Bank of France makes
advances. The debate on the new Customs Tariff bill has been
begun and the opposition to many of its provisions is daily growing
stronger. French foreign trade improved during February, and the
net result of the t^vo montbs is a decided advance over the
same months in 1890. The Berlin market does not improve, and it
is sfcated that any furtber bad news from Buenos Ayres would
cause a stampede (o sell Argentine securities, wbich
might result mosfc seriously. Italy, it appears, has been veiy
imprudent in the issue of loans, and while there is no fear that the
country, as a whole, will not meet its engagements, the price she
will bave to pay for solvency wiU be heavy and depressing. In
Vienna, ifc is reported that the present excellent condition of the
Hungai-ian exchequer will lead the financeminister of that country
lo make strenuous efforts to convince his Austrian colleagues of
the advisability of returning to specie payments.
----------■----------

A BILL has been introduced into tbe Senate, at the instance.
-^^^ we presume, of Comptroller Myers, to place the searching
for unpaid taxes, assessmenfcs and water rents in the bands of fche
Finance Deparfcment. A measure similar to tbis was introduced at
the last session of the Legislature, and rightly failed of passage.
The present bill is less objectionable tban that of last year; but
is still both unsatisfactory and unnecessary. It is unsatisfactory
because it provides for tbe appointment of tliree searchers, who,
since they are to be under heavy bonds, will doubtless receive fat
salaries, to perform a service that one clerk is quite sufficient
to accomplish, and because it allows ten days for makiog a search,
which, if the records are properly indexed, ought not to take ten
minutes. This is altogether incomprehensible, because it is also
provided in tbe bill that these records of unpaid taxes, assessments
and water rents are to be indexed according to the block system,
and a search under this system would mean simply an inspection
of the appropriate block number, under which could be seen at a
glance what city liens there were against fcbe properfcy. The bill is
imnecessary, because another meastu-e, introduced by Senator Stew¬
art, proposes to accomplish tbe same end. This measure, to which
we bave already referred, is of far wider scope and of far greater
importance. It has for its purpose the indexing of records, not only
of tbe Finance Department, but of fche Register's and County Clerk's
office. Thafc all of this work should be undertaken by one set of
men with definite aims in view aud clear notions of what they are
aboufc, must be patent to everybody; and for this reason, if for no
other, the bili of tbe Comptroller should nofc be forced tlirough, but
all wbo are friendly to it should unite in endeavoring to pass the
more comprehensive and important legislation. The Real Estate
Exchange should do its utmost to secure favorable action on this
measure.





1~VURING fche past week a new element has been introduced into
-*--'    tbe   discussiou   ranging  around    the    site    for   tbe  new
municipal   building.    The   increasing  commercial importance of
fcbat part of the city north of I4th street, relative to the older sec¬
tions, has suggested to some the notion that the City Hall should
follow this movement of population and business.    The zeal which
the Herald bas  exhibited  in  advocating this solution is  readily
explicable, because tbat paper itself proposes to march northward ;
and     why     should    it     not     take      the     City     Hall     in
its   train?    It   is    undoubtedly   to    the    advantage    of    tbe
city tbafc the reporters of tbat journal should have ample oppor¬
tunity to keep their eagle eyes on  the workings of our municipal
depai-tments ; but there are other considerations which enter into
tbe matter.    If tbe new building is intended to meet the require¬
ments of  the future as well as the present the fact .should not be
neglected that before many years are passed tbe City of New York
will include Brooklyn, Richmond and  Westchesfcer Counties.    In
so far as Westchesfcer is  concerned the argument iu  favor of an
up-town     site    would     be      strengthened;      but     the   presest
City   Hall   Park    is     far    more    accessible    from   all     points
in    Richmond    Couuty   and    mosfc   points    in    Brooklyn    tban
would be  a  site between   14th and   42d  streets.     Furthermore,
it must be remembered  fchat  although,  without  doubt, a larger
amount of business is transacted north of 14th street now tban for¬
merly,  Wall  street, north and south, remains and will continue to
remain the business centre.    At the preseut moment fche shiffcingof
tbe location of our municipal  offices  three miles furtber   north
would cause immense inconvenience, aud though  the  amount  of
this inconvenience would tend to diminish, still there can be little
doubt that City Hall Park will continue to be more accessible fco the
majority of people needing to visit the " Mayor and fche corporation "
tban would any spot nearer the site of the new Herald building.  And
lastly, the question of cost is one which must be considered even in