March lo, 1900,





ICOUD ^





GUIDE.





401







1te%D p REA.L Zsrtjz.BuiLDIffc A,RCH"rrECmjRE.I^OUSEKOID DEGQRfTWrf,
Bt/sitfess AiJbThemes of GEjfeR^l IiJtehest.^
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PRICE   PER   YEAR   IN   ADVANCE   SIX   DOLLARS.

I'liblinhed   every   Saturday.
Telepiioke,                                            Coktlandt 1370,

Gommunlcatlona should be ariiJressed to

C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Veaey Street.

I   T.   LINDSEY,  Busifiess Manager.

"Entered at Ihe Post-0_gi3e at New York, N. Y., as sncond-claSH mailer,"





Vol. LXV.





MARCH   10,   1900.





No. 1669.





THE story oi the stock market this week ia one of extreme
dullness in the commission houses, and of half-hearted
proSessional trading on the short eide. A hundred and one rea¬
sons are assigned for this state of things except the right one,
the indiflerence of the public to speculation, because, it is to be
Hoped and with ample basis, of their better employment in their
more legitimate concerns. The best feature of the situation is
the comparative strength of the railroad list, In which the de-
ellnes for the week, where there are any, are light. Local trac¬
tion stocks ha)ve all sympathized with Third avenue, it being an
accepted rule of Wall Street to make believe that the fate of any
one security in a class will he that of the whole lot, so that
Manhattan and Metropolitan are sold because it is known that
they must spend large amounts of money to bring their plants
and motive powers up to modern completeness. It is probable
t|hat the selling of the Industrials is much more logical and the
consequeat shrinkage in their quotations more easily explain¬
able. In sugar we see the natural result of a combination that
makes a large profit by controlling a particular line of indus¬
try; it invites the creation of competitive organizations with
which it must fight or share its profits and so lose the very
benefit for which it was organized. This example has its effect
on other Industrials. The newer ones, particularly those based
on iron and steel manufacturers, are also affected by the sur¬
prising phenomenon of selling by insiders who are at the same
time bragging of the immense profits that are being made in
them. It is naturally assumed that this argues very little con¬
fidence on the part of those best informed In a continuation of
the business that has made the heralded proflts possible. More¬
over, the ordinary buyer will not touch these issues for fear that
Congress may take action either to undermine the organizations
or to directly affect their profits, through changes in the tariff.
When this fear is removed and an incentive to activity is sup¬
plied by the enactment of the Currency Bill, there will be better
things to record of tbe security market.
--------—.».-----------

IN the withdrawal of the Long Island Railway Company's ap¬
plication for a franchise to tunnel under the East River,
wlMch is much to be regretted, we get an idea of the results of
over-zeal in pushing municipal tunnels and of the paralyzing
effect a too active agitation of municipal ownership has on pri¬
vate enterprise, with consequent loss to the public, before we
are ready for it. It is admitted that in undertaking to build
a rapid' transit road from the City Hall to the city limits, with
the other improvements underway, or urgently required, the
debt ttmit is fully reached; then how foolish it is to drive away
any assistance that private capital will give in providing com-
iBUBicationa between the boroughs.or indeed in creating any im¬
provements that will tend to strengthen real estate valuations
and so increase the city's revenue and borrowing power. Recent
events have given ua a mere prospect of a tunnel at South
Pferry, surround'ed by all the doubts that accompany such
things, for an apparently sincere intention of a capable corpo¬
ration to build an equally convenient connection between the
two boroughs as Boam as they could get the legal permission.
That this is not bad business could only be shown by proof of
insincerity on the part of the Long Island people. It will be
very much to be deplored, too, if the agitation for pipe galleries
along^de the rapid transit railroad delays that work now that
a contract has been made aud bonds have been authorized to
carry it out. Apparently there is no need for such a fear, but
ra.pld transit has been such an elusive thing in this city for so
many years, always appearing about to succeed and then dis¬
appearing, that the people will not tolerate with equanimity
anything now that scents of delay to tbe work already laid out





and provided for. The Municipal Assembly would have to ap¬
prove the pipe galleries and they are so notoriously obstructive
of public, development that no one will want the execution o(
the work agreed upon to await their consent for doing that
proposed.





Dullness and  Its Causes.

TEMPORARY EFFECTS OF INCREASED TAXES—LOFT RENTING
SUBURBAN LAND.
T IS impossible to speak with confidence concerning the con¬
dition of the real estate market. Normally, we should be
in the midst of the busy season. As a matter of fact, current
dealing hardly rises above midsummer mediocrity. The in¬
activity of the autumn was sufficiently accounted for by general
tightness in money. However, from the middle of January to
the middle of February, a distinct improvement was discernible
in the brokerage business. Not only were sales more numerous,
but they gave promise of a broadening field of activity. So far
as can be seen, no new factor of disturbance has been injected
into the real estate market. On the contrary, one would think
the general situation had been materially improved. The cur¬
rency act wiil undoubtedly have a tendency to enlarge the sup¬
ply of money, while rapid transit will just as unquestionably
tend to reduce the rate of taxation by creating a new body of
taxable values.

The main causes to which brokers ascribe the current in¬
activity are the Stranahan bill, high taxes, and high cost of
construction. The deleterious influence of the Stranahan bill
lies principally in the uncertainty as to whether it will become
law. The bill passed, it is conceded that the mortgage loan
market will resume a normal tone, whether the virtual interest
rate to the borrower rises or falls a mill or two, for certainly
some part of the five-mill tax must be offset by new influx of
capital. The high cost of construction is not an unmixed evil.
It is putting an effectual check on the production of the common
type of flats and tenements. A very considerable part of the
decrease in sales is caused by falling off in the demand for sites
suitable for improvement with this class of housing. A season
or two of quiet in speculative building will not only serve to fill
up the existing tenements and flats, but to abolish the free-rent
abuse, and ought to be suEScient to restore this class of housing
into favor with small investors. Current building activity Is
confined chiefly to elevator apartments and dwellings, and this
activity, by no means excessive, is justified by the comparative
readiness with which the finished product sells. The brokerage
reports this week, as in the recent past, relate chiefly to dwell¬
ings and elevator apartments and to sites suitable for improve¬
ment with the one or the other housing. The rise In cost of
construction, while discouraging the market for lots, ought to
stimulate the market for improved property. By adding to the
value of every existing building, the rise makes it possible to
offer improved property at lower prices than it could be dupli¬
cated for, besides making liberal loans easier to obtain.

That taxes are high in comparison with rents must be ad¬
mitted. There has been some advance in rents, particularly In
small apartments and stores. Stores, of course, cannot be mul¬
tiplied indefinitely in a given district, like lofts; consequently
they are the first to benefit by the improvement in general trade
and industry. It is a curious incident of the better demand for
stores that second-floor lofts have lost in tenantry. Firms
which a year or two ago, for the sake of economy in running
expenses, thought it expedient to ask thei^' customers to walk
up one Sight of stairs, are now desirous of coming down to the
street. As regards offices and as regards lofts above the second
floor, there has heen perhaps no general rise in nominal rents,
but the ruinous reductions allowed two years ago and less have
been discontinued. What this saving means to the owner may
be inferred from the following typical incident. In August,
1898, two young fellows starting in the advertising business
hired a small office in perhaps the best known office building in
Broadway, north of 23d street, a building which was then sever¬
al yeara oid. The asking rent was $450 per year, but the flrm
got it for $265. Speaking generally, the jump in the local tax
iast year haa not been compensated by correspondingly higher
rents. On a 5-story building in Sth avenue, south of 19th street,
the tax was raised from $1,507 to $2,976. In this instance no
attempt has been possible to obtain any access of gi-oss income
from the property, as it is leased for a term of years. But even
if the lease had been by the year, it wouid have been impossible
to get ?1,469 more for tbe store alone; the lofts would stand no
chance of competition with the numerous new tall buildings In
the neighborhood.

Despite the gloomy forecast of the Comptroller, however, on
the subject of the local tax, there is good reason to conclude