August 19, 1905.





BJRCORD AND   GTTTDE





309







E3TABUSHED-^ (WFH 2L«> 1668.







Bi;sniESS jutolHEHES Of GEjlEH^l.ljrtEflfSJ..
PRICE   PER  YEAR   IN   ADVANCE   EIGHT   DOLLARS

PabUshed   eVerg   Saturdag

CommunloatlonB should db addrsaaed to

C. W. SWEET,   14-16 Vesey Street, New York

Telephona. Cortlandt 3157





"Entered at the Post Office at New York. N. Y. as second-class matter."





Copyright by the Real Estate Record and Bailders' Guide ComVaay.





Vol.   LXXVI.





AUGUST 19, 1B05.





No.  1953.





INDEX   TO   DEPARTMENTS.
(Advertising Section.)
Page





Cement   ................     xxv

Clay Products   ...........    xxiv

Contractors and Builders..        vi

Fireproofing    ............         ii

Granite    ................      xlv

Heating   ................      xix





Iron and Steel   . .. .

Law   .............

Stcno   ............

Quick Job Directory

Real  Estate   ......

Wood' Products ....





THE stoclc market has on the whole been pursuing a health.v
course during the past week. The advance has been
checlied in certain high-priced securities and certain other se¬
curities which have not hitherto been so much afEected by tlie
bull movement have received most attention and have sus¬
tained the most marked improvement. At the same time it is
not a runaway market, and every rise is followed by a whole¬
some amount of profit taking. It looks as if the upward trend
of prices would be continued throughout lhe next few months;
but it will not be a market in which indiscriminate buying will
be profitable. The average price of the twenty leading rail¬
way stocks is now higher than the highest average price in
3902; and in these stocks at least there is small chance of an
increased rate of dividend distribution during the coming year.
The great majority of them are selling on less than a four per
cent basis at the present time, and this fact makes them ex¬
pensive slocks to carry. If speculative interest is to be kept
alive in stocks of this class, it will be by means of certain
financial readjustments which will be tantamount to extra divi¬
dends to stockholders. On the other hand, there are still some
comparatively low stocks on the list which may be good for a
further rise of ten points or more—particularly certain railroad
securities which would be peculiarly benefited by an abundant
corn crop. As soon as this crop is freed from the danger of
early frosts, these securities will receive still more attention.
It is still a market in which intelligent buying should be well
rewarded.





IT is very much to be hoped that the coming investigation of
the life insurance companies will be conducted in a dignified
manner,  and  in a fair and disinterested spirit.    The object of
the investigation should not  be any more •'revelations"  merely
sensational exposure.    The public knows pretty well the kind of
management   to   which   the   Equitable   was   formerly   subjected.
Wliat the Legislative committee should investigate is the whoio
busines,B of life  insurance as  conducted under  the  laws of the
State of New York.    An impression which was or may not be
well founded, has been spread throughout the country that there
is  something wrong about  the methods  which  the large  com¬
panies  pursue  in  seeking  business;   about  the kind  of  policies
■which  they  prefer to write,  and  about the investments whicli
th'fey   are   allowed   to  make.     It  is   coming  to   be   believed,   foi
instance, that the interests of existing policy holders are sacri¬
ficed to tlie pressure of expensive competition among the large
companies  for new business,   and  that  the direction which  re¬
turn   should   take   is   smaller   expense   and   safer   investments.
How far  this criticism is justified is a technical matter which
camiot he fully understood without a very thorough investiga¬
tion;   and the first duty  of the committee will be to bring out
the facts which will  enable people  to judge  how far this and
other criticisms are true.    Moreover, it is not merely the  New
York   life   insurance   companies   which   are   under   lire   at   the
present time.    What people are demanding just as forcibly is
an investigalion of the New Tork State laws under which the
life insurance   business is regulated.     It  is  becoming tolerably
certain that unless these laws and their enforcement are made
more stringent, that an increasing demand will make itself felt-
looking  in   the   direction   of  federal   regulation   and  inspection.
Hence, it will be seen that a great many very important issues
are hanging upon the results of this investigation; and we sin¬
cerely hope that nothing will prevent the committee from mak¬
ing   its  investigation   thorough   and   from   recommending  with¬
out   fear   or   favor   the   necessary   remedial   legislation.     There
should be no suspicion allowed to linger in the minds of western
policy holders that the life insurance companies are bigger than
the State of New Tork.





Page
xviii
viil
XX ill
xxvi

X

xxii





A PROMINENT broker recently declared in an interview
published in the Record and Guide that in his opinion
there would be no room for real estate speculation during the
coming year similar to that of the season of 19i>4-1905. There
is probably some sense in this anticipation. Assuredly there is
no corresponding opportunity for speculation in vacant land as
there was in the fall of 1904. The speculation which has already
occurred on Washington Heights and beyond and in the Eronx
went as far and even farther in raising prices than was justified
by the building opportunity in those vicinities, In many sec¬
tions the holders of vacant land will have to carry their prop¬
erty at high prices for a number of years before they can dis¬
pose of it to builders; and the cost of such operations is very
considerable. Neither does there seem to be very much chance
for large operations in the central business sections on Man¬
hattan Island. W^e shall doubtless see a continuation of lhe
current movement in the new wholesale and in the Fiflh Avenue
districts; but it may be doubted whether the activity will be
either anything unusual or will mean many further advances
In prices. On the other hand, while there is not likely to be as
much speculation in vacant land and in land with old buildings,
there is every prospect that the increasing population and
business of Manhattan Island will continue to demand a large
amount of new construction, and that the financing of these
projects will keep brokers and building loan operators suf¬
ficiently busy. The outlook that is excellent for legitimate build¬
ing enterprises and for the real estate transactions which neces¬
sarily accompany them; but it is not so good for the kind of
speculation, of which we have seen so much of late. Indeed,
it will be Interesting to observe what direction speculative en¬
ergy will take. There are so many people in New York who
have nothing fo do but to trade in real estate that there is a
certain danger in a situation which does not provide sufficient
opportunities for their activity and capital. They may, that
is, be tempted to make opportunities which do not whole¬
somely exist.





IT is stated that nominations for the Board of Aldermen are
going begging this fall, and that the prominent members
of the existing Board are agreed upon the worthlessness of the
aldermanic office, now that the Board of Estimate controls the
franchises. No one need be surprised that such is the case.
The Aldermen have no functions remaining which could not be
as well bestowed upon the Borough President, and there is no
reason why they should not be entirely abolished. They have
become a useless expense. Of course, it is better to have the
city pay high for the worthless services of a number of alder¬
men than to have it pay high for aldermanic services which
were both worthless and baleful; but why pay at all? The
Aldermen have even ceased to value their own services. They
have outlived their power of doing evil, and there seems to be
no place for them hereafter in the system of New Tork local
government. Any important powers gi-anted to them merely
constitute an unnecessary check upon the powers of the Board
of Estimate. That is the governing board of the city, and its
responsibility should not be divided. It is to be hoped that
no further attempt will be made to revive the Board of Alder¬
men. Such an attempt was the one egregious mistake of the
revised charter, and it would be a good thing to make its com¬
mission more difficult a second time by abolishing the Board
entirely. It is only a superstition of local government which
keeps it alive.





MR, THOMAS W. LAWSON, in attempting to persuade tha
people of tbe United States to embark on a gigantic
stock speculation for the purpose of destroying the System,
"has set himself a task which" is too much even for his con¬
siderable powers. He has undoubtedly been very successful in
the past in influeucing public opinion; but the means to that
tnd at his disposal are no more sufficient for the job he has
undertaken than an army -corps of 25,000 men would be suffi¬
cient to invade the United States. People will not be persuaded
into selling good securities because certain prominent finan¬
ciers have used their opportunities for the purpose of making
money out of the public, any more than the policy-holders of
the Equitable Life will allow their policies to lapse, because
the former management of that company conducted its affairs
somewhat extravagantly. Business-men, no matter how much
they may suspect the existence of financial graft, know that
American industrial and railway securities are based upon
sound value, and that they themselves would be the chief suf¬
ferers from a general selling movement. Of course, It is un¬
necessary to elaborate any proof of this contention, which must
be obvious to everybody; and the effort which Mr. Lawson is
making to persuade security-holders to sell their stocks at a
sacrifice in the expeotation of buying them back cheap, indi¬
cates that his judgment is failing him, and that would be a pity,
because Mr. Lawson is an extremely interesting and sympa¬
thetic figure, even if never an entirely trustworthy financial
adviser.    He seems to be absolutely sincere, thoroughly well-