January 27, 1906





RECOKD   AND   GUIDE





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Telephone, Cortlandt 3157





"Entered al tlie Pfist O.^ce at Ketc Yorl; Ii''. Y.. as second-class mailer."





Vol,  LXXVir.





JANUARY 27.  190G.





No.  1976





INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS,
Advertising Section.

Page.                                                     Page.

Cement......................xxiii   Law............................x

Clay  Products.................xxii  Lumber    ...................xxviii

Consulting    Engineers.........vii   Machinery    .....................iv

Contractors   and   Builders......vi   Metal   Work   ..................xix

Eleetrical   Interests...........viii   Quick Job  Directory.........xxvii

Fireproofing....................ii   Real   Estate...................xii

Granite   .....................xxiv  Roofers & Roofing Materials,xxvi

Heating   .......................xx   Stone   ......................xxiv

Iron   and   steel...............xviii   Wood  Products...............xxix

EVERY morning during the past weelc the reports in the
daily newspapers have described the stock market of
the day before as irregtihir; and it is very important for every¬
body interested as a holder of securities to discover just what
this irregularity means. Is the bull campaign merely taking
breath before making further progress? Or does the uncer¬
tain movement of prices signify the beginning of a process uf
liciuidatioii? On the whole it looks as if the flrst of these ex¬
planations was the nearer correct. Since January 1 heavy
advances have taken place in many prominent railroad and in¬
dustrial stocks, and there has been a certain improvement
all along the line. It was not to be supposed that such ad¬
vances could be continued indefinitely without periodic re¬
actions; and at different times during the week a number of
different stocks have been subjected to the pressure of very
heavy selling which resulted in quick aud large declines in
prices, rt was noticeable, however, that while the quotations
for these prominent stocks were shrinking, those of many
other stocks, whose previous movements had been only mod¬
erate, were advancing, and it was noticeable also that t-he
stocks which suffered most from the pressure were the stocks,
whose prices had been most rapidly and dangerously ad¬
vanced. In short there has been at no time any general sell¬
ing movement, and the stocks which were offered were for
the most part readily absorbed by the market. Every re¬
action was succeeded by a rally, and the speculative situation
seems still to remain substantially sound. There are a num¬
ber of good stocks on the list which can be advanced further
w^.aout becoming excessively high in price, and it does not
look as if it were time as yet for a bull speculator to get rid
of his stocks. That time may not be very remote, for it is Im¬
probable that such an excited speculation cannot continue
without becoming after a while top-heavy, and incurring a
reaction which will have much the same effect ou the market
as the reaction which took place last IWay. But current con¬
ditions are all that a man who believes in higher prices can
ask for. Very prudent men may, perhaps, think that It is time to
quit, and such a course would undoubtedly have much to
recommend it; but the risk which a speculator most take who
is carrying an average line of stocks does not just at present
seem to be excessive.





THE only centre of active speculation in the real estate
market continues to be the neighborhood in the vicinity
of the Pennsylvania terminal, and the trading in this vicinity
is occupied more with properties on the side streets than
witn those on the avenues. This is doubtless because the old
buildings on the side streets have not advanced so much in
price that they fail to carry themselves, whereas prices on
both Sixth and to a smaller extent on Seventh avenues have
reached a level, which makes tlie income from existing build¬
ings insufficient in many instances to do much more than
pay the necessary expenses. Hence speculators prefer to deal
in property on the side streets, where the prices asked by
owners bear a closer relation to current income. Moreover,
while the future of this district seems to be assured, there Is
still so much doubt about the form which the improvements
will take that speculators are cautions about bidding up prices





on the avenue too high. The district needs, unfortunately,
not merely improvement, but reformation, and the process
of reforming it into a clean and prosperous business neighbor¬
hood will necessarily occupy a good many years. It is In¬
teresting to note, however, that an operator who has made a
great deal of money by leasing old buildings on Porty-second
street and improving them has begun to operate in this neigh¬
borhood.' A great deal of money has been made of late years
in this class of operation, which does not need very large
capital, and which offers great opportunities of profit with¬
out any corresponding risk. The rest of the trading during the
week has been concerned more with vacant lots and tene¬
ments than anything else. There are no indications of any
diminution in the rate at which new teuement house con¬
struction is being planned, and the filings at the Building De¬
partment for the current year are running ahead of the large
totals of 1905. There can be no doubt that the amount of
this new tenement house construction runs far beyond the
actual needs of the city, and that Manhattan and the Brons
are beginning a period of several years in which the tenant
will have the better of the landlord. Nothing, however, will
avail to diminish the amount of new tenement house con¬
struction except a reduction in rents, and it is probable that
in the newer districts such a reduction will take place before
long. The older districts, among which the better part of
the West Side and Harlem must now be classed, will not feel
these adverse conditions as keenly as will the Bronx or Wash¬
ington Heights, but it will be dangerous Io build in those
neighborhoods during the near future on a narrow margin.





'T^HERE is no better way of making a cause hopeless than
■■■ by acting on such a belief. The Mail and Express be¬
lieves that the idea of repealing the mortgage tax law is wholly
visionary, and it counsels real estate owners and brokers, con¬
sequently, to spend their time in advocating some remedial
legislation which there is some chance of passing. But how
does the Mail know that there Is no chance of repeal? Any¬
body can see that the chance is not very bright, because of the
attitude of Governor Higgins; but there is no reason to sup¬
pose that, if sufficient pressure is brought to bear upon him,
he may not be induced to change his mind. At all events
the only way to find out what can or cannot be accomplished
is to make the attempt. Bad taxes remain on the statute
books only because the protest against them is not vigorous
aud insistent enough. The agitation against the mortgage tax
may not succeed this year or next year, but if it is as bad a
tax as its opponents claim, they will either succeed in repealing
it in the end or else they will deserve to fail. No man or body
of men ever got either what they wanted or what they be¬
lieved to he right by sitting in their chairs and declaring
that their cause was hopeless. Lack of hope is merely an ex¬
pression of lack of will. The fact is that the agitation against re¬
peal is gaining in strength, and its leaders are adopting the only
course of action that can possibly be effective. The matter
rests with the Reppblican members of the Legislature from this
city. They have agreed to stand together in agitating for
repeal, and if they persist both in their agitation and thsir
agreement, they may gain their point. New York has for
years been victimized by the rural legislators, because Its repre¬
sentatives were whipped by their party leaders into a.bandou-
ing tbe interests of their constituents, but party discipline is
relaxed in the present Legislature, and a fine opportunity is
presented by an aggressive and insistent minority to make its
righteous claims heard. Even, however, if the Governor re¬
fuses to be convinced, a repeal bill should be passed. If pos¬
sible, by a combination of the Democrats and the protesting
Republicans, and the responsibility of preventing repeal should
be placed squarely upon Mr. Higgins' shoulders. The only
good way to protest is to protest with all your might, and to
carrj' the action demanded thereby as far as possible. You
may still fail, but you are thereby placing the responsibility
for failure where it belongs, and you are preparing tor success
hereafter.





TWO bills will be submitted to the Legislature embodying
the results of the investigation of Mayor McClellan's
Advisory Commission on Taxation and Finance. This com¬
mission was requested first to consider the serious question
of the city's uncollectible arrears of personal taxes. These
uncollectible personal taxes amount to something over $30,-
000,000, and the deficiency is increasing at the rate of several
million dollars a year. Up to the present time this deficiency
has been met by the simple expedient of Issuing larger amounts
of revenue bonds; but it is authoritatively stated that this
method  cannot   be  continued   wittiQUt  seriously  embarrassing