Oeoember 12,1891





Record  and  Guide.





761







mm





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Vol. XLVIII          DECEMBER 12, 1891.





No. 1,239





SPECULATION in Wall Street is still confined within very
narrow limits. In many caies prices are too high for the
present rate of dividends, having been bid up in anticipation of an
increase in distribution. This anticipation is sure to be realized,
but with prices so h'gh speculators are naturally cautious. On the
other hand the bears have no arguments except the disappointingly
small increases in earnings on some large systems in face of the
heavy crop movement, and the amall decreases in others. These
decreases are due to the comparatively light freighting of general
merchandise, which is a feature of the business situation, but
obviously only a temporary feature. The prospects for
the spring trade are considered excellent. Although
there has been some discriminating buying ot bonds,
it still remains true that a fair margin of proflt
exists in many good issues. Furthermore their position is much
more secure than that of the best stocks, which might be very
much hurt by an unforeseen calamity, whereas the bonds are safe
under any circumstances. Money is. rapidly becoming cheaper
the world over, and it Is bound to becoine cheaper still. The prices
of investment securities will, of course, adapt themselves to the
lower rate of money, and just as during the period when bonds
were falling the process of readjustment took a long time, so now
that they are rising the adaptation will consume many months.
But it is certain to come, and in all probability foreign buying will
do much to help tbe rise.





WHAT the depression in Germany has amounted to may be
judged fiom the following facts, taken from a Berlin news¬
paper. At the end of the rear 1889 there appeared on the official
list of the Berlin Stock Exchange industrial securities, with a nomi¬
nal value of 1,458,000,000 marks, and a market value of over 2,344,-
000.000 marks. In the July of this year their nominal value figured
1,506,000,000 andlheirmarketvaluel.844.C00,0C0,newvaluestothe
amount of 40.000,000 marks having been added. The difference
between the market price of the two periods was in round figures
400,000,000. Since July the quotations have fallen in the average
at least 25 per cent. The loss, therefore, is increased by about
450,000,000 marks, and the shrinkage in value can be
estimated at 900,000,000 marks for the last two years.
In bank stocks the contraction has been equally severe,
being estimated at between '600,000,000 or 700,000,000
marks. Accompanying this it shouid be remembered
that the issues of foreign governments, some of which are largely
held In Berlin, have undergone a similar, though rather less severe,
trial. Lately the statement being made that both the German
Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia would soon make another
appeal; it to the money market, has led to the depression of these
funds. The rumor was subsequently contradicted, the trutb
appearing to be, however, that both the kingdom and the empire
are in want of money, and will not be able to put off their require¬
ments ve'y long. The indebtedness of the German Btnpire has
grown rapidly. In 18?4 it was only about $1,000,000; now it is
$800,000,090, for wbich the Budget has to provide $12,000,000 inter¬
est. Of course this is a trivial debt compared with that of France,
Bussia or England, but the heavy expenditures which caused it are
naturally leading to some critisism in the present hard times.





EVERY shareholder in the Consolidation Coal Company, of
Maryland, must wish the stockholders of the Ohio & Missis¬
sippi R. R. Co. God-speed in their efforts to prevent the Ohio &
Mississippi property from falling under the control of tho Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad Co. In alraost every case such a consolidation
.means diea^tjcc tpthe interests of the sl'areholders of the smaller
iBi:^p<ication,Vrlifeb is operated sollely in the interests of the operating
vOBifmj.  7b'e ^^t^pry 0( tbi» CovfoU'dalaioxi CoalOoim|»iiy e»m|)li<





fies tLis truth admirably. In the old days, fifteen years ago, when
it was managed solely for the benefit of its stockholders its shares
were actively dealt in on the Stock Exchange and tanked with
those of other companies paying 4 and 5- per cent annually, the
range of «aarket quotation being from 50 ta 70. At tbe sanne
period and contending with the same market conditions for its
product the Maryland Coal Company was unable to pay
dividends and its shares generally ranged at about one-
third the price of the Consolidation Coal Company. In other
words, before the Consolidation Co. fell under the withering control
of the B. & O. one hundred of its shares would sell for enough to
buy three hundred shares of the Maryland Coal Co. Now the Mary¬
land Co., under a fostering management working solely for the
stockholders, has gone on steadily appreciating uutil with the depre¬
ciation of the Consolidation Co. the prices nearly approximate,
while as to dividends, the Maryland Co. will this year pay its share¬
holders a large amount. It has just declared what is called a semi¬
annual dividend of 1}^ per cent, having already paid 1 per cent
before this year, making 2)4 per cent in all. Tbere has been some
talk of 3 per cent on the Consolidation Co.. but it is not likely the
B. & O. management will allow more than 2.





IT may not be generally known that the Speaker of the Assembly
is, by virtue of his offlce, a member of the Stale Board of
Equalization of Assessments. In addition to the three State
Assessors, the board consists of the Lieutenant-Governor, the
Speaker, the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, tbe Treasurer, the
Attorney-General, and the State Engineer and Surveyor. For the
coming year New York City will not have a single representative
on this board of ten persons unless the Speaker is selected from tbis
city. New York has long complained of the unjust ptoportion of
State taxes levied upon her. Is this city to be totally deprived of a
representative to look after her interests in that board? In the
contest now going on for tbe Speakership it is said that the Tam¬
many leader hesitates to demand that place for fear that the
country Democratic members of Assembly will resent the city's get¬
ting the much-prized offlce when the chief credit for the party vic¬
tory in the late election belongs to the country districts. But in
view of the importance to New York oi equitable taxation a mem¬
ber from this city should be selected for Speaker, and the country
members will doubtless see the propriety of acceding to the only
way in which this city can be given a representative on the Board
of Equalization of Assessments. Tammany will neither be true to
the best interests of this city nor to her own organization, both
interests being identical according to Democratic premises, unless
an earnest effort is made to have one of the members from this city
elected as Speaker of the Assembly.





THE petty, senseless opposition on the part of the press of this
city towards tlie coming Exposition in Chicago which The
Record and Guide has combatted for more than a year past, has
at last given way to an intelligent, and in places even a sympa¬
thetic appreciation of the vast enterprise in progress in Jackson
Park. Quite naturally, following this editorial change of heart,
there is to be noticed now a greater popular interest La the World's
Fair, and this is certain to increase as the Exposition approaches
completion. It would be ungracious to criticise the tardiness of the
arrival of this better feeling towards a great national enterprise,
and we are sure that Chicagoans and the people of the West gener¬
ally, who have hitherto been inclined to resent the apathy of the
metropolis, will recognize this and welcome the support of New
York without looking backward. All said. New York can con¬
tribute more to the success of the Fair than any other two ciiies.
The coming dinner which the Secretary of the Union League Club
is to give to the directors of the Exposition is botlj iudicious and
timely, and will serve not only to direct public attention to the
Fair, but will give a cordial tone to the new attitude of the
metropolis.





SINCE the Democrats have been protesting so loudly against the
appropriations of the " Billion Dollar X3ongres8," it is ttardly
to be expected that they will be particularly liberal in their dis¬
bursements; but the representatives of New York should see that
ample funds are provided for the new po-t-office so very much
needed in this city. Ignorant Congressmen from the country dis¬
tricts cannot be made readily to understand the enormius price
which land is worth in New York, and consequently the appro¬
priations made for the purchase of property for government build¬
ings tend rather to be too small for the purpose. More important,
however, than the size of the appropriaiion, is the necessity that it
should be made during the session just begun. The delay of every
year will tend not only to increase the cost of the improvement to
the government, but to add considerably to the inconveniences of
the present situation. Already the post-office is overcrowded, and
the service to the public is liampered by-tbe lack of sufficient room.
^tbfeflttbiBatei^pl9itS^«ta »t^ «04 tbe ocfngtruceion of *b9 xs^