June G,189«





Record   and   Guide.





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Nl




OL. LVII.




JUNE G,




1890.









No. 1,




473





The Rfcoud and GviD'g. ivill furnish you with daily detailed reporit
of all building operations, compiled to suit YOUK business specifically,,foi
14 cents a day. You are thus kept informed of the entire market for your
goods N'o guess work. Every fact verified. Abundant capital and the
thirty years' experience of TtiK Record an'D Gvide guarantee the com¬
pleteness and authenticity of this service. Send to 14 and 16 Vesey street
for information.

WE have the satisfaction of seeing .ill the rest of the world
prosperiug under the influence of-active business aud
ourselves living from hand to mouth with busiuess dull and
prices low. The political events of the week have somewhat
surprised Easteru people. Thej' have been led to believe that
silver was a dead issue aud yet see this defunct questiou obtain
control of the national convenIion of oue of the great parties.
It has to be admitted that this is a very lively corpse aud one
whose seiiulclier needs attending to. The fact of the matter is
that sound mouey interests have takeu it too much foi granted
that the countiy will not do foolish things, notwithstanding the
many it has doue. What is wanted is less reliance upou a
widespread common sense, which from all the testimony does
not exist, aud more upou active influence and \vork to crush out
error. I'ntil we know whether we can rely upon the mainte¬
nance ot the gold standard, or have to prepare for the uew con¬
ditions tliat a return to silver ictlatiou will bring, no improve¬
ment in general trade can be expected. If Congress adjourns
at once, the stock market is veiy likely to make a spurt upward
before fhe Republican Convention, to be continued or lost, ac¬
cording to the results obtained fiom that gatheriog. A pro¬
nounced and cnnfinued advance depends entirely upon a posi¬
tive declaration for gold and the prospects of the candidate who
shall represent it.

IN looking over the reports from the European Exchanges
there is uo sign of activity except in shares of South Afri¬
can aud West .\ustraliau gold mining stocks. The former have
regained tbe favor of the public on the announcement of the
release of the Transvaal prisoners and fhe brighter prospects
for the redress of the Uithmders' grievances. The much-abused
trust stocks have made substantial advances in prices this year
on the London Stock Exchange, which, as their valui s depend
upon the condition of enterprises scattered all over the world
in which the capital of the tru.st companies is invested, is an
acceptable evideuce of fhe improving condition of business
throughout the world. It is worth noting that the largest
advances have been made by the United States and South
American issues, even though it is prob.able that these gains are
due, in the main, fo the improved condition of the Aigentiue
and Chilian issues. The state of trade in Germany is thus
. described by a correspondent: A striking contrast to the com¬
parative desertion of the bourse is afforded by fhe prosperous
condition of general trade in this country. But this is in
fact an infernalional feature. The foreign trade is growing,
not rapidly but steadily. The impending bourse legi.slation
prompts all parties to fhe speedy i.ssue of loans. Attention is
now devoted to the strengthening or founding of trade com¬
panies. A report issued by the British Treasury shows the
extraordinary etiorfs that have to be made to meet the growing
public charges. In twenty years, from lS7o-G to 189J-G, the
expenditure increased by £27,018,000, of which over £12,000,-
000 were for Army aud Navy and £6,G0O,000 for Education.
The tinal deduction from fhe report is that while during the
past twenty years there has been a normal growth of about
16.92 per cent, in the yield of the revenue fi-oni taxes other
thau the income tax, aud of 1.5.43 per cent, in the jield per
penny of fhe income fax ; there has been on what may be called
an optional expenditure, aD increase of G8.26 per cent. Thus
the percentage of increase iu fhe expenditure has been fully
tour times greater than fhe percentage of increase in the yield
of the taxes. And if account be taken of the facts that during
the  twenty years the  population has increased by 19.17 per





cent., it is seen that while there has been a smaller percentage
increase in the fax revenue than in the population, the rate of
increase in the exiiendituie has been fully three aud one-half
times greater. And because the expansion of the exiieiiditure
has so greatly exceeded the elasticity of fhe revenue, it has
been necessary to impose a very considerable amount  of fresh

taxation.

■--------

IN pressing their claims in the matter of rapid transit to
consideration ou the Mayor, the residents and proiierty-
owners of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards have
oursyiiipiithy. It must be adiiiitfed that this important region,
with 90 already large populatiou, and oue that is rajiidly grow¬
ing, has been systeiiialieally overlooked by the various plans
that have been ]iieiiaied. There was no desire fo slight the
peo))le above the Ilarlem, but if was doubtless thoiiglif neces¬
sary to limit the undertakiug to relieving pressure where it
was felt most in order to get a scheme of rapid trausif that
would, ou accouut of fiie cosf, be acceptable to the public and
the authorities. Now that this (juestion of r.ipid transit hae
takeu a new turn and its luobable solution will not take so
expensive a form as au underground r.ailroad, Mr. .lames L.
Wills and his friends in fhe 'I wenfy-third and Twent.■(•-fourth
Wards, who waited upou Major Stroug last Monday, were quite
right iu bringing their claims forward .so that they may receive
due atteutiou iu any new scheme that ma.y be adopted.
The suggested plau ot the Manhatlau Elevated Railroad Com¬
iiany is given in siibsfauce in another column. This is, however,
only prcsenled tentatively. Until some surer giounds of nego¬
tiations are attained it is idle to discuss the merits of the
plaus for providing the needed travelling facilities between
fhe upper and lower ends of the city, if they are ouly to be
obtaiued through fhe Mauhattan interests.





\N iiKiuiiy lias reached ns as fo how the work ot the Com¬
mittee (m Revision of the Building Laws is attected by the
Greater New York act. The inquiry is a very proper one, but
also very difticult to answer. The Commission which is yet to
be appoiuted under that act is to make a final report to the
Legislature on or before Februaiy 1st, next, " aud submit there¬
with such bills as will, upou tlieir enactment into laws, provide
a government for fhe muuiripal corporation," etc. The Com¬
mission is fo cease to exist on .March 1, 1897. It is generally
conceded that the task set the Commission is an impossible one,
and that if cniinot finish its work within the time specitied, or
anywhere near it, aud. if that is so, it follows that one of the
first things that the next Legislature will have fo consider is
what is necessary to do to met the situation created by the
failure of fhe Commission to report as directed. But having
empowered fhe Commission to make laws for the government
of this city, will the Legislature take up the consideration of a
new buildiug law if one is prepaied by the begiuning of next
year, or will they refer any application for such legislation to
the Commission ? It is only re.ison.able to suppose that the lat¬
ter will be their course. While in passing the Greater New
York act they parted with none of their law-making jiowers, it
would be a gross slight upon the Commission it the Legislature
should go to work aud pass au act for the government of the
city iu auy one particular direction before the Comniission had
had a fair opportunity to report. The frameis of the new build¬
ing law will th'U have to ask the Commission to adopt their
suggestions for regulatiug building and report them as one of
the bills required for the government of the municipality. This
will uot be an easy task, con.sidering the enormous amount of
work the Commission will have fo do in framing a charter and
the measures to cany out the bro.id and general principles of
city government. A new building law must take the form of
amendingthc Consolidation acts iu force previous fo this year,
and the Commissiou would hardly have the time, if il had the
inclination, to go into the mass of detail requisite to embodying
the suggestions of the Committee on Revisiou of the Building
Laws into their bills. Their more prolLible course would be to
report those jiortious of fhe t'onsolidation acts relating to build¬
ing as they now stand and leave the work of aiueudment to be
done by the Legislature after they had provided for fhe general
goverumeut of fhe enlarged city. These are surmises, but they
naturally ari-e from a contemplation of the magnitude of the
task before the Commission, even wheu reduced fo its barest
proportions. If they are correct they raake the chances of se¬
curing a new building law more remote than ever; how remote
it is absolutely impossible fo say. It is very discouraging to
have to admit it, but there is no other reasonable conclusion
thau that the passage of the last Consolidation act, or the
Greater New Y''ork act, otters the most serious obstacle to this
work that has yet arisen, notwithstanding the abundant propor¬
tions of others, particularly that of getting the representatives
of the various attected interests together to give proper consid¬
eration to the work of the sub-committees.