February 53, lâíî





Record   and   Guide.





239











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VOL. XL]X.              FEBRUARY  13,  1892.





No. 1,248





THE ReadÍDg deal is the biggest advertisement which tbe stock
market has had in years, and may well infJame the public
mind 80 as to produce a season of speculatiou. It shows clearly
how an intelligent and wealthy body of capitalists can, by a well-
conceived plan, turíi 'Wall Street into a whirlpool within twenty-
four hours, reaping Jarge profits by the operation; and the example
is not likely to be lost on the a'stute American financieis. It is
quite possible that this Reading deal will be only one among
many, whicb, by following each otlier iu succession, wiU
give the markec recurring spasms of excitement. It is
true that tbe specolative side of the deal is r.ot yet
consummatod; and that some signs of weakness were
displayed on Friday. The coming week will develop how
far the advance in price in the coaiers can be sustained: and if the
rise is suslained, the elîect will certainly encourage other big poola
to try similar deals. It should be remembered that this Reading
transaction means an actual saying of several million dollars a
year, so that it is not only the speculators that will profit thereby.





THE arrangements for a return to specie payments by Austro-
Hungary are very nearly compleled. The Hungarian Finance
Minister lias beeu having long conferences lately with the leading
statesmen and financiers of Austria. It appears to be beyond doubt
that the governraents will place their respective bills before the
legislative assemblies eai'Iy in the spring. In consequeuce the price
of all securities has been steadily rising. The Hungarian Finance
Minister has also held long conferences with the head of the Vienna
house of Rothschild, wúth whom he has arranged method of obtain-
ing the necessary gold. According to the best reports,
there is uoc at present any idea of a State loan
íor this purpose, for the cofîers of both governments are
■well filled. The first step will be a confereuce of experts, chiefs of
banking first, preiidents of chambers of commerce and representa-
tives of the government to decide the details of Ihe oijeration, and
above all to settle tlie proportion between the old currency and the
new. The abiiity of Austro-Hungary to take this step is the result
of the commercial prosperity of the past few years, which con-
verted a deficit into handsome surpluses. The causes of this pros-
perity havebeen several. Lately the country has fared becter than
its neighbors, because its crops were fair in size and were sold at
good ijrices. One of the cbief causes, however, has
undoubtedly been the introduction of the zone tariff
on the railways. This metUod of making rates did
not have this beueficial effeot simply because the raihvay mile-
age was blocked off and the same charges made for passengers and
freight deposited vvithin the block or zone. The importance of the
change consisted in the fact that the rates were largely reduced
and consequently trading was immen.sely stimulated. The indus-
trial life of the whole nacion was quickened, both production and
consumption increased, and prosperity set in.





ASSEMBLYMAN WELLS ouglit to be supported in his opposi-
tion co the bill fathered by Edward Blurphy, Jr., authorizing
the consolidation of all the surface roads in NorCh New York. If
the measure is passed an organizdtiou, to be known as the Union
Railway Company, which has obtained all the franchises of exist-
ing roads, would briiig them under one management and equijj
them with tlie troUey system. Certaiu features of this schcme are
notonlj'unobjectionable but desirable. North New York would
undoubtedly benetit tiy haviuga vigorous and progressive corpora-
tion, well" backed with capital, take possessionof the existing ineflS-
cient aud feeble local roads, and the trolley is so obviously adapted
to light subm-biu Iratfic tliat it is very much needed north of
the Harlem and ought to be iutroduced. But while there is no
objection to the purposes of the bill, the way in which these pur-





poses are to be accomplished is utterly bad. The Cantor Act is to
be abrogaled in favor of the Union Railway Company, so that the
city wiU not receive a cent for what will eventually be a most ralu-
able franchise, and the railroad is not required, as is every other
street railway in New York, to pay half the cost of pavins the
Btreet betwefen its tracks. To pass such a measure would not only
be injurious itself, but it would constitute a most vicious
precedent. For all the talk one might have assumed it to
be settled that corporations operating public franchises should
pay roundly for the privilege. Mayor Grant and other Tammany
oíHcials have repeatedly announced their adherence to this prin-
ciple; and if he has any respect for consistency, he ought strenu-
ously to oppose such a measure. These particular franchises may
not be worth much at the present time, but they are worth some-
thing, else capitalists would noc be wiUing to invest large sums of
money in them, and eventually they will be worth a great deal
more. The passage of the bill would virtually mean the gift for
all time, to one company, of the right to carry surface passengers
in North New York. 'We have had enough of that kind of busi-
ncss south of the Harlem. 'What ought to be done with
a company desiring to operate such franchises is
obvious. Considering the desirabUity of an extension of
the lines and a change of motive power, the fran-
chise:> could be given away for a certain small number of years;
but after the expiration of such a time, or after the company's gross
earnings reach a certain amounc, it should be made to pay comfort-
able percentage thereof to the city. Unfortunately the Cantor Act
would exclude such an arrangement. This act, by the by, as we
have frequently pointed out, ought to b". repealed, and :i statute
more flexible in its provisions substituted in its place. So long as
it remains the law, a relative justification exists for any
proposal to except a certain railroad or place from its provisions.
These proposals are continually being introdaced, because the busi-
ness of surface transportation in the State is very much injured by
the existence of the act. They wiU not cease until some measure
is passed which makes provision for the vai-ying conditions under
which tranchises must be granted.





POLITICAL indignation is usually the cry of the politically lost.
To denounce one's opponents in the name of the ten command-
ments is the last ref uge of the entrapped, the outschemed. HiUism
apparently is not a very clean phase of politics and no doubt might
be much protested against with advantage to the nation at large.
But the recent meeting in the Cooper Union did not perceive what
in reality it was protesting against, if its proteiit was really some-
thing more than the cry oí the lost. To listen to the good gentle-
men who addressed the meeting,an innocent mightbe ledtobelieve
that a convention is a solemn meetiug held with the sacred
intent of getting at the wiU of the people. From what
was said no one could imagine that conventions are gen-
erally nothing but purely formal methods accepted by
political ringsters to carry out their own plans. Mr. HiII's
midwinter cDuvention is merely a flagrant example of a common
practice. Party rule in this country is an unstable despotism.
The voteris given the privilege of sbouting and balloting for the
individoals nominated by a fesv wire-puUers. The idea that the
rank and flle have any active part to play in the selection of a can-
didate is ludicrous. If Mr. HiII depended for support upon the
voters of his party iustead of upon the party despots and wire-
puUers where would he be ? But Mr. HiU makes no mistake about
the nature of conventions and the making of nominations. He is
reputed to be an astute man.





DURINGthepension and other extravagances of the lastRepub^
lican Congress The Record and Gtjide pointed out that the
inevitable effect of such waste of public money would be a reaction
to a period ot extreme parsimony. So it has turned out. The
Democrats of the present House are making economy one of their
chief virtues, as indeed they must do in order to make the " BiIIion
Dollar Congress" an effective campaign issue. Representativo
Holman is iii charge of the appropriations, and his antecedents
justify the opinion that he will try to run the affairs of the country
on ihe principle that any money spent by the goverument is badly
spent. The regular appropriation bills will be cut down to the
lowest point possible, and any measure callĩng for a large special
expenditure wiU have a very small chance of passage. Cities all over
the counlry in need of public works to be supplied by the national
government wlll feel keenly the effect of this parsimony. In New
York, for instance, it is very necessary that some steps should be
taken about a new site for the Post-oâice. At best it will take five
or six years to eecure a building more adequate to the needs of the
city, and if the purchase of the site is to be delayed a couple of
years the result will be that eventually it will be bought
at an increased cost. Meanwhile the mail service wiU
suffer from inadequate accommodations. As New York's inter-
ests will be injured, so wiU those of other localities.
Needed improvements will fail to be authorized, and others which