September 8,1894





Record   and  Guide.





819













ESTABUSHED-^«W.CH2l!i^l868,

Devoted jo K^l Estate . guiLoijJb Appi^rrEeTUR,E ,House:Hou> DEGCUjATiori,
Bi/sii^ESS Affo Themes orGEfJa^l IfJ'iW.Esi.

PRICE,   PER   YEAR   IN   ADVANCE,   SIX   DOLLARS.

Published every Saturday.

Telephosb,......Cortlandt 1370

Cotomnnications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
J, 1. LINDSEY. Busineas Manager.

BR00KL5-X Office, 276-282 Washington' Street,

Opp. Post Office.

"Entered al Ihe Post-office at New York, A'. ¥., as second-class mailer."





Vol. liv.





SEPTEMBER ,S, 1891.             No. 1,882





For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Department immediately
folhwing A'cw Jersey records {page 3i0'i,

Till; Eecoud and Gl'ii>e edition of ibe Building Laws and Ordinances
of Brooklyn, with illuatrationa and a complete index, by which one is
enabled to find at a glance jnst what he is looking for, is now ready for
itelirery al the o.ffices of The Eecoud and Guide, li and IB Veaey
street. New York, and 276 Waahington street, Broohlyn, at the uniform
price of $2.

THE business revival, no bigger than amaii'sliuutltwo moiifhs
ago, has now reached such diuieusiotis tliat everybody sees
it, aud ut last it is recognized that once more tlie wheels ot com¬
merce are moving, slowly as yet, but none the less .surely. The
dry-goods jobbers say that the last tifteen days of business
equal those of 1S92, which were very large. This improvement
is uot local, but extends ail over tlie country,-with the possible
exception of Nebraska, low^a aud a small part of Kansas where
the corn crop failed. In the South tliere will be an increase of
P00,000 bales of cotton, which increase alone will represent a
very good business iu handling, carting, etc. In the stock market
there seems to be no general buying movement, and prices sag
when renlizatious are attempted. The next signal for an advance
will be when we begin to import gold, winch natiiially
ought to be very soon. How quicldy prices may return to better
iignres is shown by the very recent movement of the Pittsburg,
Chicago, Cincinnati & St. Louis stock, whicii a year ago sold for
about 20, and slowly decliued to 13, remaining there for montlis,
but a little buying movement taking place the price in a weelc
rose to 20 and is there now. It is the same witli Northern
Pacific preferred, which recently advanced from 13 to 22, while
it ^vas months in falling to the iirst-namcd jioint. Ou tlie whole,
it nnij' be safely said that a substantial improvement has set in
which gives every indication of being permanent.





EUROPEAN tlnancial papers continue to be occupied with
discussions of our tarift' and its consequences to the trade
of the countries they represent. Tbe Lodon Econoinist is not
very enthusiastic over its probable eff'ects on British trade,
owing to the low prices already prevailing liei'C. It takes tin
plate, cotton ties, iron and steel to be most iu question from
thiit point of view. Of the first it says : Seeing that they have
already made the larger proportion of the black plate tinned in
America there is little reason to doubt that they will be able to
overtake the production of: all tlie black plate required, so long
at least as the basis of prices is so near onr own. South Wales
makers may be disappointed if they anticipate nny
very great immediate benefit from Hie change in the
tai-ift', and we think it would be wise to keep
prices moderate so as to check the new industry
which has sprung up in America. In cotton ties the.
English manufacturer could find no comfoi't becaii.se prices on
both sides of the Atlantic were so i early equal. Tlie reduction
oE the duly on pig iron from ^(>.72 to ^1 was not likely to help
English trade at present. EnglLsli iron of th<^ same quality as
No. 1 .Vmerican and Bessemer wnuld cost Jf54 more than the pro¬
duct of the home furnaces and mills laid down in New York.
Harvest time has not yet brought the demand for money whicii
the banks expected, aud a new process of .piling up has begun at
the great European financial centres ; the Bank of.England .sur¬
plus continues fo make new precedents in proportion fo liabili¬
ties. Discount rates as a consequence remain low, and business
gives signs of i'ela])sing into dullness. If Secretaiy Carlisle
wauts :?r)U,000,000 oi even double that to put liis gold surplus
on a proper fonndation it can now be had easily and cheaply. A
westward movement of gold would be hailed as affording a
gi'atifying relief to the choked European money markets, and as
matters now stand there woiibl be no danger of its being
demanded back again for some time to come.   The Austrian





public is fighting agaiust the nse of silver in place of tho one-
florin notes fchey have become accustomed to, but this ab.surd
prejudice toward the white-metal money will not endure long.
This is what we would Iiave to expect in our Easteru States if
our $1 aud if 2 bills were retired to make way fov a larger use of
silver, as they ought to be.





"O ICHMOND TERMINAL, a name which has h.ad snch a dis-
-*-^ turbing influence in linancial circles and has been synony¬
mous for disaster in the minds of investors for so long, will soon
disappear entirely from the security lists, which places will hap¬
pily know it no more. The Southern Railroad, in which is
embraced all the lines, except the Georgia Centraland some few
others that were casb off or refused to come into the plan of
reorganization, has b; en finally organized, and the securities of
the new company which is to control it may be issued in the
course of a month or two. If auy regret is to be expressed
regarding the siihstitution of one organization for another, it is
that the process did not include an inquiry into the manuer iu
which the old ono was brought to the ground and the way in
which deceived and defi-autled security-hoklei's could obtain
recompen.se. Such a thiug was apparently not ^o be
because of tho impossibility of gettiug stoek and
bondholders to act with any spirit even iu their own
interests. The Southeru Railroad Company will start with
a compact, thotigli extensive railroad of 4,000 miles, with
about 1.50 miles of watir line besides owned directly bv it, and
leasing 000 more lines of railroad, with tixed charges cut dowu.
f o recent net earning capacities and with a reserve of securities
to provide equipment and improvements for some years to come.
Moreover, the territory it opcrat, s being the first to feel the
stress of the hard times that have weighted down commerce for
some years past is now, under the stimulus of extensive econo¬
mies aud gopil crops, returning to prosperity at a rate, if not
rapid, is at le.ast satisfactory. Consequently if: the new com¬
pany is managed conseryafivel3% it will make it.selt strong
before auott er phase of adversity is likely to come upon it.
The launching of this the first of the great bankrupt
railroad enterprises iuto renewed solvency will be watched
with interest both at bome aud abroad, beeause the
results will show whether railroad managers of this country
h.ave learned a lesson by the past, or whether the old-time reck¬
lessness and dishonesty are to continue and the process of reor¬
ganization to go on over antl over again as in the case of Re;iding
and Atchison. An immediate influence of this reorganization
is the encouragement of holders of securities of other bankrupt
properties who may well feel cheered when some intrinsic merit
eau by any process be found in securities that once seemed so
hopelessly placed as those of Richmond Terminal.





"TT is an unwholesome aud discouraging sign, that of the reported
-*- refusal of practically all those merchants who testified
before the Lexow Committee to appear now and assist the
Grand Jury to find indictments against the police officers to
whom tbey had paid regidar blackmail for " sidewalk privi¬
leges." It bears out the pessimistic view which has been
advanced frequently, bnt always with reluctance in these
columns, that New York City after all is governed in close con¬
formance to the moral and intellectual standards of the hulk ol
the people. It is a sad enough disclosure whicii reveals prom¬
inent and wealthy merchants debauching the police in order to
obtaiu small couveniences at the expense of their fellow citi¬
zens; but what are we to say when these men, having publicly
testified to their owu wrongdoing, reflnse to make their confes¬
sion effective toward producing a cleaner administration of the
Police! Under such circumstances a reformer iu New
York must ueeds be furnished with unexbau.stible confidence
in his fellow-men aud iui(;oiiqiierable faith in the long right arm
of the Lord. The truth is, whether it be pleasaut to ns or not
we have the government we deserve and a municipality ot onr
own making. It is the most arrant hypocrisy tu denounce
officials whom reputable citizens have been busy bribiug, and
whom when occasion presents itself they refuse to testify
against. Citizen and oflicer are tarred with the same brush. Let
us at least retiiin the courage of our vices. Let na clear our¬
selves of caut, as Dl. Johnson advised, and uot whine .sancti¬
moniously foi' " clean government" when the bulk of us do not
want "clean gineiinueut," which means the abolition ot* party
ride in city affairs and liie strict enfoi'cemeat of the laws of the
muuicipality. People don't want to do jury duty, pay their
taxes to the nttennosl} cent, see the excise laws
rigidly administered, and all those places-that-.shall-be-
mentioiiless here effectively closed, no sidewalks or streets
occnp'ed for the storage of: goods aud carts, no franchises
taken and no contracts let save upon terms whicii
amply satisfy the last just requirement of the city. In short,
people don't really want clean government out and out. Every¬
one no doubt would not object to his neighbor being strictly
looked after.   Th<'. merchant whose goods encumber the side-





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