November 24, 1894





Kecord   and   Guide.





731







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ESTASUSHED-g^ tfW.CH 215J> 185 8.

DzvSteD TO Re\l Estate.0uILDI^b7^p.c.^ITECTlJRE,Koysn(olIlDEoaRAT^ori.
Bi/sii^ESS Ai^ Themes oFGEftov-l 1Kter.esi.

PRICE,   PER   YEAR   IN   ADVANCE,   SIX   DOLLARS.

Published every Saturday.

Tki.ei'HOn-e,......Cortlandt 1370

Communications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, l-i-16 Vesey Street.
J. 1. LIATDSEY. Business Manager.

Brooklyn Office, 276-282 WAsnisaTON Street,

Opp. Po3t Oftice.

" Enlered at the Post-office at New York, N. 1'., as second-class matler."





Vol. liv.





NOVEMBER '2-1, 189-1.            No. 1,393





For additional Brooklyn matter, sec Brooklyn Department immediately
following New Jersey records ipa^e 7SQi.

UXTIL fhe results of the govetDment bond issue aro seeu,
not merely the amount of bonds subscribed ±'o'", boeausc
it is hardly probable that the tinaucial institutions of the
eouutry would care to face the consequences of a failure of the
offer and that therefore (be issue will he over-subscribed, but
its perni.anei)t inllueiice outhe gold reserve, there willbe no
return to good feeling and coutidence. So much is made of the
importance of increasing the reserve that it will be a great dis¬
appointment and be reHected iiijnrioii.sly on the prices of
eeeiirilifs andon general busiiiesB if a large partof: Ihe gold
received I'or tho bonds doe.s not stay with the Treasury, It will
take time to ascertain whether this is to be the case or not.
Undue stress is laid on the fact that a -small parcel of gold was
purchased this week at a price indicating a small premium; as a
matter of fact gold has passed to and fro between this country
and Europe for several years at au appai'ent loss to the shipper.
If fhe recent ca.se is takeu as putting a premium on gold,
then there has beeu a premium on the metal sini'e
1890, couimencing vrith what went to Europe in antic¬
ipation of the Baring failure. Ae affecting the gold
situation it isa remarkable fact that the cancellation of gold
certiticates is going on at a somewhat rapid rate, and that the
present amount of gold certilieates iu the Treasury and in eircu-
hition is only one-half what it was at (he begiuniug of 1893.
The call for bids for the bouds and the .subsequent discussion
thereon, have created a very uneasy feeling which will not be
easily removed. On the subscription being aunouuced, au at¬
tempt will no doubt be made to rally the stock market, but the
success of that attempt will be moderate, if any. The reduction
ill the Burlington dividend, while a proper and conservative
course, has directed attentiou to other roads that have not made
any change, as a result of the poor business of the i)a8t year and
a half, and readiug betweea tho lines of official -stateineuts iu
regard to them, it is easy to see that unless business improves
very materially, of which there is ouly a small prospect, there
■willbe further reductions iu the rates of distributed protits, if
not entire suspension for a short time. It may bo said that these
changes, heing light and bnt temporary iu their character, ought
uot to affect prices as much as thoy do, but the faet to be con¬
sidered is, that they do so affect them.





THE geueral advance in government securities in Europe fol¬
lowed the initiative sethy the governments of France .and
Russia in supporting their issues in the I'aris market on the
death of the late Czar of Kussia, and is partly due to the as¬
sumption that his successor wilt continue the policy which
secured the peac« of Europe for fifteen years, an assumptiou
that may turn out correct but has as yet no logical basis. Tho
French goverument did even more than actively support its
Rentes, it threatened operators with section 419 of the Penal
node which punishes with from oue to twelvemonths imprison¬
ment and tines ui! frrm $100 to ^12,000 combinations or coalitions
to influence the jirices of mti^chaudise or public securities. I'nces
of these eecurities can only stand w,'>or6 they do uutil this ille¬
gitimate support is withdrawn. Britisli trade returns for Octo¬
ber are satisfactory as iodicating that an end has eomo to the
declining tendency apparent for eome raonthf.. past. Imports
increased 0.9 per cent, and exports 5.3 per cent, compared with
October, 1S93. Another favorable featui* of the rGt,!rns is the
increase in the exports of coal, yarns and tin plate. As the
Rhenish-Westphalian steel rail-makers are compiaiuini, if the
preesuro of Euglish competition, the presumption is .ali.^wed
jhat future returns will show an expansion of the iron trade i^
ht direction. Tho Berliu Bourse has refused to suspeud oper-
^'j,*'a^ ou time in Riissiau roubles, the trade hetween the two
B' 4^c^*^^'equiring that merchants shall be kept apprised of the





value of the Russian paper in whicii settlements are made.
In Austria aud Hungary prices are inflated to a. poiut that
threatens collapse. Recent changes in the Spanish min¬
istry are iniUcative of tariff refonns iu the liue of
freer trade. The settlemeut of affairs in Australia
aud New Zealand drags. In the latter counti'y the
LTOverninent is hesitating in its policy of backing up the banks
liuding the position involves more responsibility than was lirst
thought would be the case. New South AVales has a deficiency
of $10,000,000, the reveuues of Victoria are declining and the
departures from the colony exceed tho arrivals, while Western
Australia seems determined to increase its luihappiness by the
adoption of a system of government loans to farmers. The re¬
sponse of Japan to our government's offer of mediation con-
flruis what we have said about the positiou of Japan and the
probable duration of the war, whieh is now the exact measure
of China's obstinacy. That country never yet yielded until the
enemy was at her capital and there seems to be uo reason to be¬
lieve that she has changed, or th,at she will sue for terms uutil
the Japanese are linockiug at the gates of Pekiu. Crossing au
euemy's country with inferior or practically no transportation is
slow work even if there is no opposition and consequently it looks
■\-ery much as if the war will be carried over until well into uext
year.

— ■■      m

IROX-MASTEKS in Great Britain are giviug a great deal of
thought to the condition of the ti ado by which they exist,
and a grcnt deal of inform.a.tiou is beiug poured out to ascertain
M-hether or not the supremacy that was once so easily hers eau¬
not be regaiued. It must be extremely galling to the local
luaunfactiirers to see the iron-work of several very important
buildings iu Londou and of some larger undertakings in the
Provinces, as has been the case latct}', come from Belgium and
other countries on the t'ontinent. It is said one German tirm
alone exported to Great Britain 30,000 tons of joists last year.
A committee of iron-workers, appointed to investigate the ques¬
tion, have reported that the decline in the British iron trado is
due (1) to the lower rauge of' wages paid on the Contiueut; (2)
to tlie coinmand of cheaper fi'eight, both hyland and by sea;
and (3) to the higher profits made in the proteVted home mar¬
kets, enabling German manufacturers to sell surplus produce in
outside markets at a low profit, or at no profit at all. Muchof
this discussion is addressed at the British workman. At the,
same time there comes to hand a report from the United
States vice-commercial agent at Hamburg, ou the con-
ditition of the working classes in Germany, which appears
to be one of unadulterated misery. He s.ays : "Frugality and
industry can hardly be expected to accomplish any miracle
greater than that of enabling a thrifty workman to keep out of
debt." If the improvement of the iron trade in Great Britain
requires that the working jjeople shall make sacrifices that will
bring them to the conditiou of the German workman, it is not
surprising that they regard the condition of the trade and the
complaints of the employer with equal indifference. Itis hard
to .'^ee how auy industry subjected to snch competition as this
can be expected to thrive, notwithstanding auy concessions the
Avork-people make. The real point of difticidty is not iu the
wages or freights paid, but in the leverage the protective policy
seems to give to the Germau in seeking foreigu markets. If the
falling off in the British iron trade sur\'ives the dull tinies, it is
not unlikely, consideiing the important part that trade has iu
the general national prosperity, that a modification in tlie free
trade policy of Great Britain will be agitated for and obtained,
at auy rate iu lines that are so seriously liaudicapped by tke dif¬
ference between the policies at home aud abroad, as the iron
trade apparently is.





' 5,aii





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THE recommendation of the National Strike Commissiou
that a permauent commissiou be appoiuted to decide dif¬
ferences between two parties, with power to the Federal Courts
to compel only one of those parties to obey the decisions of the
Commissiou after summary hearing, is not very promising of
nuich assistance iu settling the dispute betweeu labor and
capital. Of course this reconimendation is too absurd to ever
find embodiment iu the laws. The whole of the discussion that
has followed the strike of last June has been mo.st unsatisfactory
so far as its influence toward lessening or ending wage disputes
ia concerned. The first utterances appeared iu the North A mer-
icait lierleio and came from the General who commanded the
troops in Chicago, a railroad manager and a labor lender. The
first was sure the army was equal to putting down any disturb-
auco ; the second know that the railroads were right and inci¬
dentally charged that there was a wholesale and organized con-
spii-aey ou the part of the railroad employes for.t.he;destruction
of railroad property, and the labor leader said the striking rail¬
road bands had displayed a great deal of chivalry, which
■ hivaliy, however, he had previously advised the members
o( bis own uniou not to imitate. Neither these opinions or the
r,?.port of the Commission have any practical value, and the ques-





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