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November 1", 1894
Record and Guide,
671
mm.
Dev&teD to f^L Estate . BuiLoifJc ARprfrrEcrunE .HousErioiL DEGcuijiral,
Bi/sii/ess Atfo Themes opGE|JERftl IHter.esi.
PRrCE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.
Published every Saturday.
Telephone,......Cobtlasdt 1370
Oommunlcatlons should be addressed to
C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
J. 1. LINDSEY. Bvalnesa Manager.
Beooelyn Office, 276-282 WAsnisoTON Street,
Opp, Post Office,
" BtUered at Uie Posl-offiee al New York.N. Y., as seeond^laas mailer."
Vol. liv.
NOVEMBER 10. 1894. No. 1,391
For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Deparhn^it imTnediatel]/
followina New Jersey records {page 698 f.
IF the American people have lent a too wilUngear to financial
quackery, they have shown this week that tliey know when
they are wrong and that Ihey are willin? to rectify their errors.
The activity and advance seeu in the stock inarket siuce Tues¬
day i^* as much due to the relegation of Waite, B!and and Hatch
to their private vocations as to the belief that the nest few
yesrs will see no dangerous attacks on the Tariff aud only
remedial currency legislation. Of coiuse back of this there is
the improvement in the business of the country which has been
growing tor months. Aa we have shuwn before, this growth is
uot equal all over the country, bui; iustead of a dead level of
dullness like last year there are large sections where there is
Considerable activity. It may even ae eaid that the Northwrst
looks better than it did a few weeks ago, aud this accounts for
the prominent place the Granger slocks have takeu iu the recent
advance in the prices ot stocks. The greatest danger is uow, as
it generally is, that people will e-vpect too much from the
political change tbat has been ejected. The very many who
changeil their vote I)ec;msethey held the present administration
responsible for all tho depression of a year and a-half past will
naturally espect au immediate chanjce iuto the boom state. If
all the operations which were said to await the result of the
elections should be started up at once, there would, indeed,
be a boom iu every industi\v, but it may he takeu that the com¬
ing election wns uot the only thiug that kept them back, aud,
consequently, thej' can o'dy come gradually and one at a time
into liue. The great thing in the situation is that the bad times
are behind it, an I in front many things which will from time to
time help to build up trade au ' commerce to even beyond its
fonner propurtious. Ifc is this that gives the thoughtful the con-
fldeuce they feel in the future.
OUR financiers ought to turn their attentiou to Paris as a
market for American securities. We shall be soou issuing
a large amount—large eveu in the market appreciation of
numerals—of securities which will be very attractive to inves¬
tors by reason of the writing dowu they will represent and an
enlargement of the market therefor will considerably improve
prices. Wealth accumulates very rai»idly in France, the chan¬
nels for its employment ai'C comparaiively few aud the investors
are not content with the 3 jier cent, that the best securities only
aftord. Consequentlythe poorer classes of government bonds have
found ibfir horae there; besides Spaniards aud Italians it is
estiraated that no less than $1,500,000,000 of Russians are
held iu Frauce. To such people tho stocks aud bonds of our
reorganized railroad properties ought to appear attractive. No
doubt theie are difficulties in the way of placing them in France.
Tbat market cannot have been overlooked by the large and
enterprising New York houses that have branches or connec¬
tions there, but they are surely not insuperable difficulties aud
as we shall soon have some good and cheap securities to offer
this seems like a propitious moment to prepai e to make them aa
acceptable iu Paris and Lyons as they will be in Londou and
Berlin. Reports from foreign markets are taken up largely with
conjectures of results to follow rhe change of rulers in Russia
andthe European involvements in the Chiua-Japau situation,
all ot which are very uuprnfitable, for the simple reason that it
is impossible to foresee aud consequently to foretell the out¬
come of either. The declarations of the new Czar in favor of
peace are as formal aud prefunctory as were most of the espres-
S'ons of sympathy and coTtdolence which he received on the
death of llis father. They belong to the formula, or humbug,
with which government everywhere is enshrouded and by which
the true I onditions are veiled from the sight of the masses.
Our wishes are most decidedly that futui'e events may decide
for peace and that is as far as anyone can go. There ia now
a prospect that the war between China and Japan will be a
protracted one, Jnpan seems detenulned not to listen to any
tenns for a cessation of hostilities and is now in the enemies'
countiy where progress notwith-standing the cowardice of the
foe can only be slow. The interval between now and wheu she
will have had enough of fighting contains many possibilities.
It may create the Chinese militarj-genius who can stem the tide
of invasion and terminate the war on more honorable terms to
his countiy than now seem even guessable. A lengthy pro¬
longation ofthe war may bring outside interference with fur¬
ther complications. That the war is not going to be short is to
be regretted, but we cannot overlook the fact that its extension
must have an influence on trade. The consumption and destruc¬
tion of material and provisions is already very large, but noth¬
ing to what it will be if the war is carried into a second year
The Euglish maiket is preparing for the collapse of the Grand,
Tinink RaOroad Company, whose revenue for stock has steadily
decreased iu ten years from $2,750,000 to $.570,000, while the
prospects for 1S94 are of a shortagf of fixed charges. The
property is suffering from the same causes that brought our own
Pacific roads to the ground. It has been expandt-d on the theory
that it held a monopoly of transcimtinental busiuess and on the
strength of good times and goverument aid. Now that it has
to cudurobad (imes and competition it will have to readjust
its capital in accordance with those conditions. We have
seeu what distiu'bing things snch readjustments are, espe¬
cially in the case of a corporaiion, whose capital runs into
many millions. Report from Vienna states that at a con¬
ference bi'tween the Finance Ministers of Austria and Hungary,
it was arranged that no unforeseen and heavy calls for gold
should be made on the money mai-ket, iu order ti> keep a unifonu
and moderate price through the whole year. Portugal, Sjiain
and Italy are improving financially, if the prices of their secur¬
ities and rates of exchange with other countries can be taken as
au indication, as it most probably can. The relative value of
Paris Exchange per 100 francs between January and now is
Portugal, 130 aud 121 francs; Spain, 134 aud 117 fi-ancs;
Italy, 111 and 108 francs.
COMPARISONS are odious but very instructive. Anyone
who follows the movements of money at home and abroad
cannot fail to be impressed with this idea. In New York there
is a superabundance of money, more thau the comraei cial com¬
munity can now use, consequently rates are low and banking
operations not very profitable. In London exactly the same
condition of things exists. In New York the aunonncement
that a small portion of its superabundant funds may leave the
countiy paralizes speculation, disorders business and brings
about a large decline in values of securities in the stock market.
In London the loss of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 a week has no
influence on business or speculation whatever, except, perh;ips,
to create a feeling of relief that idle funds cease to accumulate
and money is finding occupation iu trade. It may be thought
that this differiug of results from like cause is due to some
variety iu the business done in the two places. It is not so,
however. Though LDudon is the purse of the world it only
pays out money to meet ita obligations the same as New York
does. To say anything else would be absurd and mean that
Lond'iu is a society for the relief of foreign indigence; we all
know tbat it is not. The diiference between the two cases is
rigbt ou the surface, it is one wholly of the character of the
money in the two places. Londou has large and New York ouly
small stores of exportable money, consequently a draft which is
not felt iu one case tells very seriously on the other, Our small
stock of exportable money has also very heavy and responsible
duties to peiforni at home toward the other part of our money
and consequently its shrinkage is regarded with aiiprehvnsion.
C'luld the lesson of any comparison be more apparent than this?
It is simply the diflerence of provision to meet i-equirements
known beforehand as likely to occur.
OWNERS and builders in makiug contracts in future will
havetobear in mind the opinion of Justice O'Brien, upon
which the jury fouud its verdict in the case of Berg vs. Parsons,
reporied by us last week, at any rate until the Court of Appeals
has reviewed that decision. In charging the juiy that it was in¬
cumbent upou any one employing a contractor to take reasonable
and propel- pains to ascertain whether the party to be employed
is competent and trustworthy or not. Justice O'Brieu changes
the hitherto accepted relation between employer and contractor,
because while the case in point had reference only to a claim for
compensation for damages incurred as ;i result ot careless blast¬
ing, the principle iuvolved can be applied (o any kind of con¬
tract work. OE course, it is a natural inference that a competent
and trustworthy contractor will he engaged, if only that the
employer's work may be properly done, and that he himself will
have some recourse for the compensatinn of auy loss he may
sustain through his contractor's inefhciency or negligence. But
it can be easily seen that this decision, if sustained, will put a
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