Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
^nuary 5, 189
Record an
'DeV&TH) jo RE\L Estate . SuiLOi,\'o ^Rp.K'iTECTUIl,E",Ho-USEll01D DEGOflfcTKIlt
Bt;s[t/Ess AtiD Themes ofGEflERiil lirtEREsi.
PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.
Fublixhetl every Saturday.
Telephone,......Cortlahdt 1370
Communleations should be addiessed to
C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
J. I. L1:NDSFY. Business Manager.
Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Washington Street,
Off. Post Office.
" Entered at t-he Fosl-office at New Tark.N'. Y., as eeeond'ctass matter."
Vol. LV.
JANUARY 5, 1895.
No. 1,399
WE are soplimgfed ioto cuiTeney disciissiou, and there ie siicli
a strong feeling throuf>'hoiit the commercial world that
things cannot mend until our emTenoy is reformed, that move¬
ments in Coiigrc^R! will ht; closely watched. No doubt tlie
iufluenee, of our monetary condition on actual trade is exagger¬
ated, much as the influence of silver was. It is the nature of
the mass to select out of several and sometimes from many con-
ti-ibutiog causes, one which they hold responsible for a particular
condition of things simply because of its prominence. Just
now it is the currency. Xo doubt this is a serious impediment
in many way.s, but eveu if we had the best of currency, busiuess
would be light in th;; corn-belt, aud tlie continuance of five-cent
cotton would cause dissatisfaction in the South and limit the buy¬
ing powers (d!fanuei's and planters, Tlie chavacterot'the money iu
circulatiou does not immediately increase the (â– onsninptivii pow¬
ers of the nation and prices of manufactures .show that demand
is not equal even to the limited output of the day. These things
uotwithstaudiug, if Congress does not show promptly a disposi¬
tion to at least i)r<)tect the Treasury from the worst effects of
our monetary system, the consetiuences cannot be pleasant ones,
because of the importauce the public attaches to the question.
Outside of this fe-ai", business shows no change; there is no activ
ity iu any direction nor any indication of prices rising. So far as
the prospect for the new year can be gauged it should, with the
currency matter satisfactorily disposed of, be one of improve¬
ment. This is doubtless the hopeful view in which the wish is
father to the thought. Its fouudatioii is slight, and, as Mr. Car-
ueffie says of the iion trade, geneial business cannot be much
worse in 1895 than it was in 1894.
LONDON Stock Exchange secmities made a fairly good record
during the past year. Arranged in thirty groups they
show declines in the market values of only four, two of which
were American railway stocks aud bonds. In fact, railway
issues of Canada and the United States represent a vast amount
of the total losses. The home government has at last consented
to the extension of the Indian live per cent import duty to cotton
goods, subject, however, to an excise duty upon the higher
counts of Indian made yarns. A recent decision in the courts,
if maintained on appeal, will have a very wholesome eftect in
checking the carelessness of directors and auditors. Thi.s de¬
cision holds that in surrendering their judgments to managers—
that is to say, in acting prefnnctoriiy—directors and auditors are
responsible for what is done in their name by the managers. In
the case in point the directors autl auditors of one of tite Balfour
group of banks are required to refund moneys paid out in divi¬
dends whicli were not earned. The operations for the return of
the Italian silver token money by France have been comiileted.
The total taken up amounted to about -^30,000,000, of which
only about $ 100 was spurious. From Berlin we learn that the
feeliug shown among the smaller bankers and the brokers
against the Bourse reform measure is very high. One banker
and the editor of a financial journal were recently mobbed on
the Exchange because of their position toward the measure.
Unfavorable reports come from the iron centres of the empire.
Outside of these matters, there is a tendency to look upon the
situation as an improving one. Sugar interests are moving
every way possible to create antagonism to the United States
because of its sugar schedule. Austrian journals are urging the
Minister of Finance to make interest on new loans 3^2 per cent
instead of 4 per cent. This, it is claimed, is warranted by the
success of the recent Russian loan. Taken as a whole, the out¬
look in Europe is a cheerful one, because money is hardening
slightly and trade promises to improve, though to the outsider
the indications are not very pronounced.
prising to find that the reverend gentleman has again to fight a
battle for general recognition of the validity of his views. It
will be remembeied that when lie commenced his crusade
against i>olice conuption the public, which has always so qmck
an eye for realities, debated with charming candor whether Dr.
I'arkhurst was a charlatan or one of those loose minded fanatics
which the ecclesiastical atmosphere nurtures freely Opinion
r.ather leaned tow;ird the charlatan theory. The Doctor, it was
said, had set out to join the army of notorieties, and the peculiar
lines which he had adojited to that end added a salacious
piquancy to the public attention given to his efforts. A clergy¬
man tramping about in the paths of vice tickles the popular
sense of the burlesque. In time, however, as we know, Dr. Park-
hurst vindicated himself, and made it clear that he was not
a hunter after sensationalism, but a. "practical politician,"
'• a man of the world" iu the high and better meaning of the
terms. The change that occurred in the mood of his fellow-
citizens toward him, after they had made this discovery for
themselves, must l)a.vti been extremely gratifying to the Doctor.
Popular approval 0f his course was blatant and extreme, as all
things popular are. This and the remarkable success, of a
spectacular kind, obtained by the Lexow Uommitt^e, the direct
result of the clergyman's personal effort.*, were enough to turn
the head of any ordinary man. Indeed, the cry to-day is that
.success has afflictcil the Doctor with "swelled head" and other
similar diseases ^hich lurk in great popular achievements.
Here, again, it seems to us the people go astray in parting com¬
pany with Dr. Parkhiust. His attitude toward the closing pro¬
ceedings ot'the Lexow Committee has very little in it that the
judicious will esteem personal. His hostility to compromise, to
Ijolicy, to sly temjiorizing, far from arousing criticism sharp¬
ened by impertinences, should strengthen the public confidence
in the man and hi^ purposes. The system of corruption made
visible by the Lexow investigation was fostered by the low
ideals of the community and bv the public sentiment so fre¬
quently expressed in favor of half mea.sures and tricky dealings
with matters wherein conscience should rule supreme. Dr.
Parkhurst is right. The Lexow Committee broke down in pur¬
pose at its last ses-;ions. It abstained and hesitated where it
should have advanced and fought hardest with lascaldom. Its
labors must strike \ he thoughtful as being tantamount to failure
when it is remembered that the core of the corruption that
exists was not even touched. The reorgani/ation of (he police
force, if that be bri>ught about, will be a good thing—for a time
at least—but the pity is tliat the areh-oti'enders will be allowed
to go scott free with the. "boodle."' The city did not need a
scapegoat or two in the form of a. couple of captains sent to Sing
Sing. Has the moral indignation of the public played out, or
have we been witnessing merely asurt of circus, amnsiug enough
while it lasted ? If the latter is the case, reform—the real thing
—has small chance in thi.s city of bearing its real fruits—cle-in,
dignified, wholesome public life. Reform in New York ought
to be added to the ] lereunial jokes in the funny papers.
THE suggestion that Mr. Cyrus Clark be appointed to fill a
vacancy in the Park Board is one that wil! bi' liighly
approved wherever Mr. Clark and the requirements of tlie office
are kno%vn. He would certaiuiy make an excellent Park Com¬
missioner. He is a man of honor aud integrity, of long business
experience, and has been to the fore in all things that concerned
the West Side since it had a history. His share in the work of
bringing about the improvement of that .side of the town has
probably been greater than that of any otlier individual. This
included much in the nature of the Park Board's work. Mr.
Clark has not oidy the experience necessary for the office of
Park Commissiouer. but he has also ample leisure which he can
give to the performance of the duties belonging to it. Mr.
Clark's name will be brought before Mayor Strong backed by
the best indorsements that the City of New York can supply
and his appointment will be regarded with universal satisfac¬
tion wherever the improvement and embellishment of the city
is a. matter of either concern or intei'est.
rpHE people of New York, as the saying is, don't know a good
-^ thingwhenthey seeit. Apparentlcrtbepublicisretnrningto
its critical attitude toward Dr. Parkhxr mv It would not he sui-
THE Arehitectur:;! League aiipoiuled a committee to guide
the League's conclusion as to whether Ihe lu-iglit of build¬
ings iu the City of New York should be regnbite*! by law. But,
although it was expected to report last fall, nothing has jbeen
heard from it yet. .hidge<l by the lalesi utieranc.e.> oP sonie of
its members, if it ever does repoi'f it will siigyest the ex])cdiency
of adopting the laissez f.'iire po!i^^y iu this case. Thi.4 is the
policy invented by iLe devil f(n- the use of those who tin not
wish that th(ar dutv shall interfere with their profit. It is sup¬
posed to provide an easy way out of an awkward dilemma in at
any rate patisfying the conventional decencies. As repi»rted in
the 2Vj/»HJ(c recently Mr. tieo. B. Po.st's conclusion seems to be
that when the owners of tall building.'-find that the rentals of
their lower stories are l)('(^o^l^ng graduall v lowei-. because of Ihe
construction of tall blâ– .ildiu.L^-. in I heir neighborhood, they will
be forced to unite and procure ihe passage of an ad lindting