Febrnary 17, 1891





Record   and   Guide.





251









_________./XV/^   -^

FSrfvSLBKED ■^/ivRRpHBl'-^^ 1863,





"#   ^^"^     .............-.,--.-.,

Dp/oteD to Rej^L Eswe .(S;;iLcif'c- %afrrECTUi\E,Ho\JseHoldDEGOI^■^o^(,
Bi/sin'ess mIdThemes of GE]^En,iiL Uim^'i ■
PRICE,  PER   YEAR   IN   ADVANCE,  SIX   DOLLARS.
Pntitished every .Saturitay.

TELErno.vK,......Coutl.vndt 1370

Communications sliouUl bo lulelresseJ to

C. W. SWEET, 14-lG Vesey Stieet.

./.  7. LINDSEY. Business Manaijer.

HitoOKLYN  OlTICK,  t;7()-l;.Sl.'   W.V.Slll.NCiTO.V   STHEET,

Oi'P. Post Office.

"Entered at the Post-office at Xew York, N. Y„ as second-class matter."





Vol. LIII.





FEBRUARY 17, 189i.





No, 1,353





For additional Urooklyn nidtlcr, ,iee Brooklyn Dcpurtincnt iniiiicdiatcly
following New Jersey records {page 27(>).





TIIE (U'.fi.sioii of the l?iiiliiia(oii and Quincy director.s to inaiu-
taiu dividends at the rate of five per eent jter annum ouj;ht
to lieli) tliiu.u'.s a good deal. (Jiven that tlicy are aetiuK eon.seien-
tiously, aud in the he.st intcre.st.-i of the i)ro])('ity they represent,
this ou^ht to mean that tlu-y consider the proini.se for husiness
to be better than it lias been, I'ciioits for hist year sliow a h>ss
of over two millions of (hillars iu t;ross earuings aud less than
four huudifd tliousand dollars in net, whieh is a,n evidence of
the exteut to whieh economies in oix-ration have been carried.
Tlie auuouueemi'ut of the dividend caused shorts to cover
and ran the jirice of stoek up two iind a, qu.aiter i)oiuts,
besides benetiehiUy intlueueiufjr the whole market. The
liquidation that has beeu seen in so mauy direction.s
leeeutl.y, partieidarly in silver and iu wheat ought to imiirovc
the situation because the low prices make a new basis ou whieh
business may be done, ,iust as it is reported from the dry-.!<ood«
legions that the low prices for certain well-known lines of goods
are bringing buyers from idl over the country. To return to the
.stock market, the good and bad features are mixed up. For
instance it is hard to see how the situation is improved by the
announcement made by three directors of the .Securit.v Corpora¬
tion, whose bouds had tit accejit a tirst preferred stock in tlie
new Cordage Comjiany, that they intend to reorganize
Xew England, Atchison securities are strong: with reasons
more or less ab.suid in circulatiou to account for
the fact. Some shrewd jieople accept the movements of
(luotations iu preference to what in Wall street goes b.y the
name of news, and the.se people should iind Atchisim boud
issues at auy rate deserving of attention. Operators iu Sugar
are acting on the assumption that auy duty ou refined sugar iu
excess of that laid on raw will protect sugar manufacturing in
this country. For this reason su.gar advanced on a story that
the Seuiite had decided to amend the Wilson Bill b.v making the
duty ou raw su.gar 1 per eent and that on refined l^s per ceut.
The bounty paid on Oerinan sugar is e(pial to about a quarter of
a eent a. pound, and tlie difference between that and the
eighth of 1 per cent extra, duty on the letined sugar would
be. ott'set b.v our greater nearness to the market for
raws, and the fact that theUernian beet sugar is uot accejitable
to consumers oil this side of the .\tlautie. From latest advices
the manufaetiiriiig situation is less satisfactor.v than it was .some
weeks ago, iiom the fact that tin- demand for goods is .so slow in
coming, retailers still contining themselves to the suppl.y of
momentary needs only. Taken altogether the situation, liuaucial
aud commercial, while it cannot be said to retrograde as a M'hole,
is more supported by the hopes of merehauts, mauufacturers
aud tinanciers than b.y actual busiuess, or any certaiut.y of it iu
the iinmediate future.





THE statement of the En.glish Chancellor of the ICxchequer
that the Indian mints would not be reoiieiied to silver and
no further attemjit would be made to maintain a miuiiuum for
tlie rupee is ouly what might have been expected. The closing
of the mints was a matter of necessity in view of the certain
repeal of the Sherman law. Of the bad conditions that have fol¬
lowed it it is not possible to tell what are duo to trade depres¬
sion indepeudeut ot the movemeuts of silver, and uutil that can
be aiiproximately known it is impossible to apply a remedy.
The reoiieuiii.g of the mints would surely do no good, because
the value of the rupee declined continuously wheu the mints
were open aud wheu the United States was a largo buyer of
silver. The situation is a serious one for India, which will most
certainly have to meet some part of tho year's cur¬
rent espenses by further iueicase of her sterling
debt, liut  tills ■will  Tje  prciciable' to' iiitlitutiais  iittcicpts





at reform at a time when the exact conditions of the
case are not clearly discernible. A swap of ths measles for the
smallpox would bv. uo gain. Indian fiu.ance and the prospect for a
general election this sumim^r coming are the two most iniportant
question's uuder discussion in Englaud and neither is of a
nature to boom business. It is qui'Stionable whether France is
to be eougi'.atulated on the conversion of the i^a rente into 3I2 ;
as a financial operation it was a di.stiuct success, but as its object
was to clear the grouud for a new loan it is hard to see where
the congratulations are to come iu. The Government favors au
increase of the inijiort diit.y on wheat as a result of the fall in
prices iu foreign markets. Frenchmen must eat French bread
whatever the cost. Whether this is as patriotic in tho popular
as iu the political view is a question. Berlin seems to be
trving to delude itself as to the value of its holdings
of Italian rente, everytliing being done to maintain
their prices in spite of the undeniable tiuancial and
liankiii.g crisis that exists south of the Alps. Such
delusions have always to be paid for heavily .sooner or
later, and for that reason Berlin itself will be a source of sus¬
picion, if not of anxiety, to other monetary centres. The condi¬
tion of the iron business of the Empire contimies to improve,
but that is about the only favorable feature iu the business out¬
look there lejiorted this week. The visit of Prince Bismarck
seems to have been without lastin,g influence ou the situation.
The lii|uidation of a nuinber of tinancial houses is (expected if
the bill for reforming the bourse becomes a law, because it will
largely cut away their business ou the stoek market, leaving only
the banking business proper, whicli is monopolized bv the great
banks, .\ustria has accepted the recoucilialiou of Bismarck
and the Emiieror William to mean something good for itself at
least, aud as a conse(|ueiice prices on the Vienna Bourse h.ave
advanced. It is, however, iu the Hungarian part of the dual-
Empire that the most commercial activity is displayed. It has beeu
pointed out that the discounts iu Hungary for 18S-13 were almost
as large as those for .Vustria, although the latter lias fifty per
cent more iioinihition than the foriner, but it remaius to be seen
.vet whether the. smaller population has uot to discount some
part of its recent progress. We alluded last week to the with¬
drawal of accommodations from Vienna because of the extent
of the building mania at Budapesth, and the effect of this with¬
drawal is yet to be .seen. In Spain, notwithstanding commercial
and fin.iucial dei)r<!ssion, the collection of taxes for the last
goverinnent year was ,>r!r),(l(iO,!>0(l larger than in the pre^dous
year, due to thc^ efforts of a minister who insisted ou an honest
collection. Hitherto the political "pull" has beeu worked iu
Spain forthe eva.-iion of taxation with great effect. That it has
now become powerless in that respect is jirobably due to the
need the government has for mouey, owing to the decline iu
custom duties and as a result of tbe conflict in .Morocco, Out of
the deep darkness of Russia comes again the cry of the peasant
in distress. Taken altogether there is nothing iu the European
situatiou for the distressed -Vmericaa to envy, except the way
that conceited theorists, who, in and out of jiarliaments, want
to play with linancinl and currency laws, are kept in the back¬
ground.





THE President's veto has not put .ri stop fo the activit.v
of the promoters of the N'ew York and Xew .Tersey Bridge
scheme. The old bill has been amended in sundry important
particulars, and considerable coniidence is now felt that it will
become a law. This ((nilidence is perhaps not nn wai ranted, but it
will certaiul.y be dooniedtodisappointment if the.just contentious
of the Xew York real estate interests reeeive the slightest consid¬
eration iu Washin.gton. We have expressed an opinion iu these
columns more thau ouce that, uuder pieseut conditions, the
bridging of the Hudson is a chimerical enterprise. It is
impossible to demonstrate by any business ealculatiou that the
venture can be a profitable one, and we fraukl.v believe that the
desirability of the charter to tlie promoters iuterested iu secur¬
ing it lies not in its actual value but in its pro.spi^ctive value.
We have no quarrel, however, with the enterprise upou its com¬
mercial .side. If there are any lioiia fide capitalists v.illiug to
invest their mone,^■ in bridging the Hudson for the aecommoda-
tion of mythical tralllc we are not concerned in ur.aing them to
desist. Our opposition springs entirely from the fact that in
pursuing their schemes they are working positive, actual,
doUar-and-cent iii.iiiry to a nuinber of Xew York
property-liolders. We do not tiiiuk th.at this is
just or that Congress ought to permit it. In the first
place the location of Ihe Bridge has been fixed at a point where
it will produce Ihe greatest waste aud in.jury to property-owners.
All but a very small part of the Xew York water front lias been
relinquished to commerce and put to coiumereial uses, so that
the approaches of the .strncture of the Bridge, etc., could
injure it ouly in a very slight degree, if at all. At 70th street,
ou the West Side, however, begin.s not only the choicest resi¬
dential section iu the city, Jjut also (in the vicinity) one qf the.
xaost'bcautil'ul aud coitly of Xew York paiks.lE It is- right here.