April 4,1890





Record   and   Guide.





563







.Od^teD 10 Rf^LEsT^n.BuiLDiffc -Ap,ci(rrE(rruRE>{<wsa«aj)I
.Bi/snfess Ario Themes OF GEjto^Ijrtofsiv

PRICE,   PER    YEAR   IN   ADVANCE,   SIX   DOLLARS.

Published etery Saturday.
TELEPHONF,......00BT1.ANDT 1870

Oommanloatlons Bboald be addrassed to

C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
J. I. LINDSET. Business Manager.

"Entered at Ihe Post-offlce at If etc York, If. T., as lecond-etass matter,"





Vol. LVir.





AI'IUL 1, 1890





No. 1,4G I





Tni? Kkcord and Guidb will furnish you with daily detailed reports
of all building operations, coinp'iled to suit YOUR business specifically,,foi
14 cc«/» rt day. You are thus kept informed of the entire tnarkrl for your
goods. A"o guesswork. Every fact verified. Abundant capital and the
thirty years' ixperiencc of TiiK Kfcord and CU'idk (/iiardH/K' the com-
plelencss and authenticity of this service. Send to 14 and 16 Vesey street
for information.

IT \v.is not .1 little rcinorknlilc or iiiiiufing to notice liow initeh
more cliecrt'ol iirojile beoiinie, under the intJueiicc of tlie
little siiiisliine tliat nppe.nipd this week. This .showed how
nnich of the filooni of the post mouth wns due to clinialic eoiidi-
tioii.*. supplemented, of cour.se, b.v the I'e.nr that Cougress would
linally land us into trouble through i(.s fooliog -willi delicate
foreijrn questions. However, if the actual jihysical obstructions
to commerce are removed, we may naturall.v look for improve¬
ment, not onlyliecaii.se theroare demands tobemet on theopen-
ins: up of agricultural operations, but also because we are begin¬
niug to see that the dignitied indulgence of other powers is apro-
tc'ti in against the assiuine antics of the gentlemen who repre¬
sent us at Washington. The combiuatiou in the steel triidetoimt
up prices must be taken as a favorable .symptom, aiiart from
auy consideraliun of its propriety. This movement would
never liave been started unless the leaders iu the trade felt that
there was a good prospect iu sight, at'least we are .justified in
believiu.g so from their previous policy. I'rices were never
livmer than iu tho days of the greatesr activity in railroad
buildiug, when )p7i) a ton was paid for rails, or weaker
than of late years when practically railroad building had
stopped. If there is a good outlook for the steel trade we may
also assume that the future is.just as promising for other lines
and tliat there is a fair amount of business to be done in the
next two or three mouths. Jieyoiid that it would be the
height of boldness to speak. .Should political movemenis take
such a turn between this and the noininatioii.s as to
ensure tlie reform of our cuirem-.v i-illi the coming
of a new administration, business will not wait for the consiim-
iiiation of the fact before availing itself of the benefits of the
change. Wall Stieet got something of a shock wheu the direc¬
tors of the American ToViacco Company declared tlieir extra aud
extiaordiuary divideud on the stock. This actiou ought to kill
thi.s issue for speculative purposes. It is so obviously a .stock-
selling dodge that the prudent are warned oft'. Beyond lessen¬
ing activity somewhat, it had very little influence on the rest of
the list, which remained strong, and which will conlinue as
usual to reflect iu advance the busiuess situation.





\171TH the success of the Chioese loan in Liuidon and Berlin
' business ou the bom ses may .start np into something more
of activiiv than, they have shown of lale; the ntoveiuent may,
however, take an adverse liiiu if the uews from South Africa is
not more reassuring than it has beeu forthe past week. Activity
with decliuiiig values has a dittereot sigiiiticanec to that witli
rising <|no'.afious it is almost unnecessary to say. The actual
pecuui.uy ri'-ks in Snuth -\fiica arc so immense that a scare on
llie] arl of holders of the securilies that represent them would
]i:ive far-reaching results. There is always a cloud of some sort
on the lirmaiiient; the Malabele rising aud the fear that tie
TiaiisMial liepublic will lepudinte ihe convention of 1.SS4
happen to make the one uow iu view. Apai t fioiu this, the con¬
ditiou of business all'iirs alno.id is satisfactory. Alihongh
LnglLsh steel rail maker-i are making some outcry about the cap¬
ture of llie Oraud Trunk oider by the Illinois makers, the iron
and steel trades report good business, uot only in Great Britain,
but in (Jermiin.y aud Aiistri.i alsn. Lord Ciomei'.s report on the
finances of Kgypt,,)ust iwiied, will be an important argument in
the minds of all fair-minded people in favor of the coutinued
occupation of the country by the people who have dragged it out
of anarchy and bankruotcy. This report shows that iu the jiast
seven years theie has been an average surplus over expendi¬
tures of something more than if;!,000,000, dnriug which time
large reductions aud remissions of ta.xes have beeu made. The
salt tax has been leduced 10 per cent, and telegraph rales re¬





duced one-half. The expansion of levenue under such circum¬
stances is a very gratifying evidence of the prcsperity of the
people and complinieiitary to the administration. A lato aud
interesting letter from Buenos Ayres. wiitten by a correspoiid-
cut who has for a loug time takeu a iiloouiy view of the condi¬
tion of the Argentines, points to the increase in custoni.s
receipts " a.s a proof that the lingeiing poison of the crisis iu the
commercial veins of the Kepublic is losing its vimlence." Aa
agent for the French Government, who has just returned from a
visit to .Madagascar and .South Africa, says that Freuch mauu¬
faciurers can make better mining machinery thau that hitherto
supplied to .lohaiinesburg by the I'^uglish and Auierican makers,
and at no sensible dill'ereuce in price. He suc-ge.sts that French
engineers exploit this field. This ought to put ihe English and
Ameiican manufacturers on tlieir mettle. It is a proof of the
industrial priLsperity of Europe and the waning attractions of
this hemisphere to the working classes that emigratiou hither
continues to be light. The return .just published of tlM» emi¬
grants passing through German, Belgian and Dutaii jiost.s in
18!).") shows tbe lightest movement for many years. So fiir there
is no iniproveinent in this respect this year. Agiicultuial ojier-
afions are retarded by the eontiniied inclemency of the weather.





^f-AYOU STHO.NG'S outspokou advocacy of an exteusiou
-^'•*- of the elevated lailroad^ in order to snpply the im¬
mediate needs of the city in the way of rapid transit will
no doubt be received with favor by a ma.joiity of the people who
interest tliemselvesin the (juestion ol iiitrainiual travel. Whether
the publii-ity givi u fo the matter by the Mayor's statements will
]ii(>dii(-e beneficial results is doubtful, because the ]\Iaiiliaftau
Elevated Uailioad Company's policy has been a good deal of the
mulish order and there is no present pio.spect that it is ready
to make a change. It is tine that the attitude of the public and
the Legislature towards the company has not always been one
of geneiosifj'orcveuof f.iiruess, but this, of late years especially,
is due as luueli as anythingto the refusal of the company to meet
any advances towards a better understanding, Mr. Orr, tlie
I'resideiit of the Kapid Transit Commi-^sion. stated before the
Supreme ('ourt Commission recently, that he had personally
waited uiion the responsible repiesentntives of the company
to urge them to connect their road wiih some of the West
Side ferries and carried with liini an offer of the Pennsylvania
Kailioad Company to pay part of the cost of tiie work. But the
.Alanliattau Elevated Kailioad Coiniiany did not deign to do
iiioie than acknowledge his proposition. This is only one of
several instances where the (Commissiou, the body resiionsible
for oi-,)vidiiig tlie city with rajiiil tiausit, has held out a friendly
hand to the Elevated Kailioad Company to receive no response.
.Ma.yor Strong is ex-ofliiio a member of all the City Coinmis-
sious, including the lividge Commi.ssions aud the Kaiiid Transit
Kailioad Coniinission. so that he speaks, it net necessarily to
voice the views of those bodies, still with great influence. His
proposition is that the elevated railroads should be extended fo
tho extreme northern liiuiis of the cit.y and carry passengers
auy distance for one five cent fare, including the passage over
the bridge to Brooklyn, and in returu to receive privileges for
making extensions on Centre aud Canal stieets aud ofher
fhoroughfares, as well as the right to run over the bridge to
Brooklyn. This is a iir.ipositiou about w hich there may be :i
good deal (f dift'ereuce of opiuidii. The railroad c(Oii]iany will
perhi'ps not consider tho privileges mentioned a fair eipiivalent
for building lines through the spar.-ely settled portions of the
city and operating them for some years at a loss. Then, too,
olijeetion may b(-heard from the public against surrendering the
coutrol (if the ISiooklyn Biidge to I he ele\atcd railroad companies
of the two cities. The most that ought to lie allowed is Ihe
privilege of operaling over it. But it seems fo us that Mayor
Strong's lemaiks iniglif very well form a basis for negotiation.
Th< y ought to draw llie Manlialfan Elevated Kailioad Company
out of its shell, to which it seems to have willidrawn itself in
pii|ue bei-aiise it did not get all it iv.nited. Evidently this is
all that is needed uow to secure a fair discussion of the wholo
(inestion. It is :i great opporluuity for the Manhattan Company,
\vhich to-da.y owns probably the most valuable monopoly in the
world, to uoiint.iin its hold iipnii the iiassenger business of Ihis
city.

THE recent report of the Board of Kailioad Coir.inissioneis of
Massachusetts, the ttist aud one of the best of Ihe Stale
boards, contains siuiie statements about street railways which
may tend to give ofticial sanciiiin to a pernicious error, 'J'he
commissioners point out that it has been "moreor less seriously
proposed"' to make the street railway service, a source of public
revenue, eilher by the sale of railway location or by some sort
of tax or by requiring the street railway ciunjiany to maintain
the surface of the entire strei-f. In regird to fliese pioposilions
Ihe commissioners inform the pnblic that "a lax on Ihe carrier
i-i a tax on the passenger, whati ver fare the rail way pass-nger
might otherwise have to p.iy, he mut p ly iu aiUlitio.i hi-s por