October 19, 1901.





RECORD AND   GUIDE.





487







ESTABUSHED^tf^PeaSlV^IBea.

Devoted to P^l Esrut. Suildij/g Apc^rrrCTUHp ^ouaolciiD DzGOipiDil,

BUSll/ESS AlfoTHEUES OF GEliER^. IKEERESJ.
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX  DOLLARS

Pahtished eVery Satarday

OonmiunlcatlonB should be addressed to
C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. New YorH





J. T. lirNDSET, Business Managet





Telephone, Cortlandt 3167





"Entered at the Post Office at Neui York, N, Y., as second-class matter.'





Vol, LXVIII.





OCTOBBK 19, 1901.





No, 1753.





AT the close of the week the Stock Market took on a little
character; not much, but some. Previous to that and
since our last writing, it had been simply a trader's market.
But now, with professional operations still very prominent,
there appears buying in the best classes of stocks and bonds, as
if the investment demand, which has been absent for a long
time, is coming in again. There are further signs that the financ¬
ing of the big railroad deals made in the past year is being
taken up by the parties interested, and that in due time the
public will receive propositions from these sources. When the
financiers themselves, probably, could not state definitely.
Everyone is aware, however, that something must be done sooner
or later to give proper financial shape to the developing work
that was done, and there is, of course, much curiosity regarding
the probable disposition of the enormous blocks of stocks that
were purchased at the highest boom prices in the mad fight that
was waged for the control of the. railroad situations in the
Middle and Northwest. Since that time it is supposed that the
contestants have come to an understanding on "spheres of in¬
fluence," if not on actual ownership and dominion of territory,
and all that remains to be done is to put their purchases, and
exchanges if any have been made, into a shape attractive enougn
to induce the public to assume tbe pecuniary burden while they
exercise tbe authority. Prudence suggests that this should be
done speedily, because a change in the business aspect of the
situation is foreshadowed by the statistics relating to the move¬
ment of large-bulk freiglit. such as grain, and declines in rail¬
road earnings, though not yet apparent in the territory for WL-.eh
the fight of last spring was made, are becoming freciuent enough
to be noticeable in other parts of the country, particularly on
tbe small lines. As we said last week, as soon as the arrange¬
ments for financing the big deals are completed, the market
will be inspirited, and we may yet see a substantial upward
movement before the new session of Congress opens, and busi¬
ness has to meet the effects of tariff or reciprocity, ship subsidy
and currency discussions wbich always disturb things in large or
small extent while they last.                                                         '





IT is a distinct and certain sign of the dulness of all kinds of
business in every direction when the European reports deal
so exclusively as they do now with the movements of money and
exchange. It shows that the papers have nothing else to talk
about and, moreover, tbey have not been very correct on this
one subject. The newspaper view of technical conditions is al¬
ways, and it may be said in excuse, necessarily superficial. Tbis,
probably, accounts for the fact that the prophesied pressure on
London simultaneously from New York, Berlin and Paris, has
not transpired. In view of all tbat bas been said it seems per¬
fectly wonderful that London has kept its gold during the pas:
two months, only parting with small quantities here and there
which have been made good from other directions. In the same
way the effects of the pressure on Paris seem to be exaggerated.
This centre bas certainly suffered from a too confident partici¬
pation in Russian and German enterprises, but not apparently
to a serious extent, the extent and resources of the money mar¬
ket being considered. It is, however, towards the end of the
year that the European money market is tried most, and we
must wait until then before forming conclusions. German in¬
dustrial organizations are raising a strong protest against the
new tariff scheme that is to be laid before the Reichstag this
winter, which the Agrarians, to please whom it was drafter, will
find it hard to meet. The proposed duties on grain are especially
opposed,, as is natural in a country that finds itself in tbe midst
of a battle with other industrial nations, and does not raise
sufficient grain to meets its own demands. As was discovered
half a century or more ago in Great Britain, cheap food is a
necessary factor in nationallndustrial success; and,in the face of





the facts it is surprising that the Government framed their bill in
the way they did. Already the agitation may be said to have in¬
creased the injury done to business by the commercial and in¬
dustrial reaction of the past year, so that Germany is in no,
position to invite the tariff reprisals whicb would follow the
passage of the bill. However, judging from the numbers and in¬
fluence of the German public who oppose the bill compared witn
those who favor it, who seem to be restricted to official and
agricultural circles, the bill has a hard time before it and little
probability of passing, but the discussion of its provisions has
in meantime a bad effect on German and co-related business.





The Real Issue.'

THE speeches delivered on both sides in the present munic¬
ipal campaign contain but few references to the subject
which must be uppermost in the minds of the majority of New
York taxpayers. What these taxpayers would like to know
definitely is that any man for whom they vote will give a large
part of his energy, industry and ability to the task of establish--
ing some relation of equality between the expenses of the city
and its sources of income. And this surely is a very modest and
an essentially just demand. During the past few years, not only
has the tax rate been increased almost twenty-five per cent, but,
wherever possible, assessments have also been forced up to the
highest endurable level. At first it was demanded that an at¬
tempt be made to reduce the rate to something like its former
figure, but a long and hard experience of the apparent helpless¬
ness of any official person or any official body to restore former
conditions has led to a modiflcation of this demand. At the
present time the utmost that it seems practicable to ask is some
assurance that ejcpenditure will not continue to exceed the in¬
crease in taxable resources. Yet obviously there is grave dan¬
ger that such will be the case. As one reads the proceedings of
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, one gets some small
realization of the continual pressure for more money to spend
by every department in the city government, of the actual need
which exists for much of this increased expenditure, aad of the
extraordinary obstacles in the path, even of the most economi¬
cally inclined Board of Estimate. It is not merely that the
growing population of the city continually demands new schools,
more police protection, and ever more costly public improve¬
ments. Increased expenditure on such accounts would no dotibt
be covered by the normal expansion of assessed valuations. But
the trouble is that the city is always asstiming more numeroug
and more costly responsibilities. The New Tenement House Com¬
mission needs $500,000 for its first year's work, and if it intends
to enforce the law will soon need more. Within a short time the
branch public libraries will be making a like demand upon tne
city treasury, and so it goes. There are hundreds of good ways
of speeding the money. There Is only one way of footing tbe
bills. Unless some economies are made to counterbalance these
prospective outlays, or some new taxable asset discovered and
used, a further increase in the tax rate is as sure as anything
under the sun.

In view of this situation, what property owners would like
is not merely vague protestations against extravagance or in
favor of economy, but- some indication that tbe whole financial
situation is being carefully studied, and that the danger to their
interests is fully appreciated. Such indications are wholly lack¬
ing. To the obvious question: What is to be done to establish a
proper correspondence between future expenditure and future in¬
come? the fusionists would answer "Elect Seth Low," and their
opponents "Elect Edward Shepard;" but as long as neither caD-
didate seems to understand the urgency of the difficulty, and the
disastrous effect whicb a further increase of taxation would hav&
upon the prosperity of the city, neither answer seems con¬
clusive. If anybody should reply tbat this is a question to be
studied after rather than before election, the answer is that not
merely a vague but a definite statement of policy upon sucb
points is something which every taxpayer has a right to expect,
and that a mayor's actions subsequent to his election is deter¬
mined largely by the public promises he has made and by the
problems of municipal businesa which he has emphasized dur¬
ing his campaign. The trouble has always been that the money
is continually spent without any careful calculation of resources,
and that instead of wise foresight as to ways and means one ad¬
ministration after another merely drifts along—one party be¬
ing as responsible as the other for the expenditure, and both
being much more interested in tbe appropriation of tbe mooey
than in its careful collection. This situation comes about because
the people from whom it is collected form only a relatively
small class in the community. The millions of people who live
in rented apartments and houses all over the city have not the
slightest idea whether taxes are burdensome or the reverse, and
the consequence is tbat, whereas the numerous ratepayers in





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