May 3,-1902,"





RECORD AND  GUIDE.





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Vol.




LXIX









MAY 3,




1902.














No.




1781


























TIte AprU.Nimibe.r of ilie Areliitectural Heeord, devoted to illus¬
trations of ihe works of Mr Ernest Flagg, is-now ready for. delivery-
It contains a Imndred reprodiictio)is of htdUlinys designed by Mr'
Flagg, with ati explanation of their eharai-ie*. and a critical intra ■
duction. This niimber is the final issue of the Arehitecttiral Record
as d quarterly ma/jaffine. Hereafter it will be pnblished every
month, and its character broadened, so as to cover noi only archi
teeture and the interests immediuiely attached to it, but the remoter
df^artments of Fine Art Design. 'Ihe s«fcso'yj(io)^ price of the
monthly piiblioaiion will be $:t.00 a year—'^t> cents for each copy.

THE Stock Market incidents of the week are such as may
■be expected in a time of speculation extended oii high
values, and when comiiiercial activity makes money in much de¬
mand. If we could imagine stocl:: manipulation being in one
hand it would suggest the flgiire of a man attempting to catch
fish with a float that exploded at regular intervals. However,
the manipulators are many and without community of action
though any amount of sympathy of purpose. Notwithstanding
this the little International Power and General Carriage ex¬
plosions have, apparently, frightened away most of those for
whom there has been so much angling in the past six months
and, most probably, alao ended the spring advance, thereby de¬
stroying the chances of the boom for which insiders were look¬
ing in order to unload. For final considerations this is not
to be deplored. A boom ou such values as have and still prevail
could only be mischievous in its effects in the long run and a
little shaking down instead will be very much better. The
general commercial situation continues to be good, demand ia
active for most kinds of manufactured goods and this season
the aspect of lahor is not nearly as threatening as it was a
year ago. Money is naturally, in request, so that the high rateg
asked in speculative circles are a logical outcome of the cir¬
cumstances. Moreover, there is not merely a possibility, but a
probability that more goid will go out soon. Gold exports are
not usually accompanied by high rates for money at home, and
it is understood that the shipments, if made, will be due to
American borrowing abroad in connection with the financing
of new undertakings.





NE of the main objections to the provision made in the
House Public Buildings bill for a new post office site in
New York City, is that it restricts choice to blocks suitable in
size for the new building and to the sections of the city where
such blocks may be found. If instead of saying, that the site
selected shall be bounded on all four sides by streets, it said
the building to be erected upon it should be open to streets on all
four sides, this objection would be removed. In that case, the
commission to whom the task of choosing the site is eventually
given, could take either a small block, or part of a larger oue
sufficient to accommodate the building and provide a street, or
streets on the side or sides that may not be open at the time
of purchase. Therule of having the building open on all four
sides was adopted in the case of the Hall of Records in this city,
and to meet it provision was made for a street on the west side.
A similar course could be followed in the case of any other
public building. It is intended to put the new post office build¬
ing uptown, where, of course, it should be put, the form of the
provision in the House bill, wiil make selection well-nigh im¬
possible: It is very important that choice should be as free as
possible, because, since the matter was flrst agitated a new
factor has appeared in the problem in the form of the proposed
Pennsylvania depot. First ideas were that the new post office
should be on the line of the New York Central Railroad, as that
was then the only trunk line entering Manhattan Island. Id
a few years there will be another and a rival line centrally
located in the borough, and the question now arises, which, by





proximity, will offer the best facilities for the dispatch and
distribution of the mail? It is also a question, whether it will
not be best to place the Postal Department in a position to en¬
able it to avail itself of either. It would also be desirable to
have the Postmaster of Wew York on the commission of
selection, unless tbe presence of the Postmaster-General is taken
to mean that, his subordinate in this city will be his practical
adviser in the matter. The worst feature of the provision of the
bill referred to is that ic confers no definite powers, making
the commission simply an agent between the owners of land and
Congress, than which any clumsier or slower method of acquir¬
ing a site it is utterly impossible to conceive. This feature of
the bill arouses suspicions of the sincerity of the framers of
the bill, and illustrates the difficulty the capital of the country
experiences in obtaining anything from Congress, as compared
with the ease with which the wants of the Dodovilles of the
land are supplied.





A  Business  Proposition.

"O Y reference to the letter published in our last issue, it will
^•^ be found that Comptroller Grout has suggested a new plan
for putting the city funds, so that it will in time cease its
hand to mouth experience, and be put above the necessity of
living on borrowed money for nine or ten months of each year.
The plan is announced thus far in advance of any possible
legislative action, in order that the tax-pa,yers may consider
it and give expression to their approval or dissent, and in the
latter case to state the practical reasons that stand in the way
of its adoption, before the assistance of the Legislature is asked
in  perfecting the reform contemplated.

It should be understood that what is presented is purely and
simply a business proposition to cure a defect that has existed
in the city's financial system for many years, but one that
would not be permitted to exist in the financial system of any
private corporation or firm in good credit, for a single year:
It is this, that the city collects its income at the end of the
year'instead of at the beginning or during the course of the
year and, consequently has from time to time to pledge its com¬
ing income in order to borrow money to meet its obligations,'
for which money it has to pay interest. In short it conducts
its business on the easy theory and with resultant penalties of
that, improvidence, against which all moralists and philosophers
from Solomon to Pranklin have been railing through the ages.
The effect of this is that from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 are annually
collected from the tax-payers, which would not be necessary un-*'
der a provident and business like system. The first to call at-*
tention to this absurdity was a real estate man, Cyrille Carreau,
who for the past twelve or flfteen years has been bringing it be¬
fore the attention of legislators, charter revisers and the per¬
sonnel of city governments for the time being. The singular
thing is, that while every one has all this time admitted that the
thing is wrong, until Mr. Grout came into office aud recognized
the facts, no official of high position would take the matter up in
a practical way and declare for reform.                                         -^

Much may be hoped from the determination, force and busi¬
ness sense of the present financial officer of the city, who has
pledged himself to introduce another bill into the next Legis¬
lature in order to carry out and modernize the finances in this
particular. He should have the hearty assistance of the other ae-
partments of city government affected, and of those who are
much more interested, namely, the tax-payers. We have authority
for saying that Mr, Grout does not want to force his personal
ideas on the public; he has the economy in view and is ready
to adopt any proper means to reach it. With the evil admitted,
a remedy ought to be found. To do so may not be easy, because
the payment of taxes, while apparently a simple thing in
itself, may have serious indirect influences. The system of pay¬
ment in this city has been so long established that it has be-*
come practically a rule of property, and to disturb it without
the greatest care, and precaution against what may be called ac-*'
cidents, might do more harm than good. It should be also un¬
derstood that the tax-payers cannot obtain the benefit of the"
saving sought to be effected, unless they find the capital with-
which to make it. In some way they have to advance the
money, which otherwise will have to be borrowed. So far the
best suggestion made is that contained in the Comptroller's
latest plan, and which was first made years ago by Mr. Carreau.
This, in effect, is to leave what may be called the technical-
provisions unchanged and to encourage advance payments
dating from early in the year by means of rebates. By this
taxes would remain legally due and a lien on the property at
the date named by the existing charter, while the tax-payers
who could not employ their money would have the opportunity"