September 17,  1910





RECORD   AND  GUIDE





443









MS.





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Copyrigiited.   19:o,   hy




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Record   &




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Co,















Vol.




LXXXVl.




SEPTEMBER




17




,   1910














N




0. 221s





THE decision of Studebaker Brothers to move from their
present location Just north of Long Acre Square is
extremely interesting. Only about eight years ago
they leased their present site aod huilt a modeni huilding.
Since that time conditions have changed so radically that
the site is no longer available for their purpose. Pre¬
sumably they will select a new location somewhere along
the line of Broadway from ten to twenty bloclis farther
north, A certain change in the character of their own
business is doubtless partly responsible for their removal.
Eight years ago they were engaged almost exclusively in
the business of manufacturing carriages and carriage sup¬
plies. In the meantime not only has the carriage business
become of relatively smaller importance owing to motor¬
car competition, but the Studebakers themselves have become
largely interested in the manufacture and sale of automo¬
biles. Their present building was not planned as a storage
house and salesroom for motor cars, and the new form their
business has assumed probably demands a new kind of build-
i'Ug. The future of the structure which they now occupy
also has an interesting aspect. it is to be converted into
a restaurant and hotel, and will be occupied by a lirni now
situated at Sixth avenue and -10 th street. The tendency
for a certain class of restaurant business to concentrate in
and about Lo^ng Acre Square seems to be irresistible. Three
or four new buildings, to be us,ed as restaurants and hotels
are now being built in this vicinity, and a project for con¬
verting the old Brewster factory site into a large hotel is
also being seriously considered. It ■would be better for
the future of Long Acre Square, in case its business develop¬
ment was uot bei'Ug so highly specialized, but apparently
the land is more valuable for theatres, restaurants and
hotels than it is for any other purpose. Retail trade has
never made any particular headway in the neighborhood,
and it remains to be seen whelher tlie office buildings now
under construction or soon to be co'nstructed will be rented
to a permanent and profitable class of tenants. Many
business firms do not like to have their offices in-a location,
so largely given over to theatres and restaurants, and there
is every reason to believe that the center of business uptown
will  be  Greeley rather than  Long  Acre  Square.





THE rapid transit system owned by the. Interborough
company is certainly proving to be one of the finest
railroad properties in the United States, At a time when
almost all transportation companies are finding their in¬
creases in gross earnings raore than swallowed up by in¬
creases in operating expenses, the Interborough Company
can convert a gross increase of over nine per cent, into an
increase of net operating revenue of over 13 per cent. The
larger share of the increase in gross was earned by the
Subway, which, carried 30,000,000 more passengers than
it did during the previous year; but the old elevated roads
made an extraordinarily good showing and succeeded in
adding almost a million to the earnings of the company.
The ability of this already congested system to become still
more congested without breaking down is most remarkable;
and whatever faults the public may find with the service
its operating department is undoubtedly very efficient. To
carry 562,000,000 passengers in one year, and to earn
almost $29,000,000, with an accident expeiise of less than
$100,000, is certainly an unprecedented aud praiseworthy
showing.       There  can  be  no   doubt  that  if  this   company





had not made its disastrous merger with the Metropolitan
Street Railway Company its stock would now be selling
somewhere between 300 and 400. Last year, after paying
9 per cent, dividends on its old stock its surplus amounted
to almost $3,000,000, which is equivalent almost to 9 per
cent. mpre. Its earnings would enable it to pay almost six
per cent, dividends upon the outstanding Interborough-Met-
ropolitan preferred stock. Improvements now being made
will increase the carrying capacity of the Subway by almost
a quarter, and there can be little doubt that within the
next few years, it will be earning about twenty-five per cent,
on its original stock. In other words, if the city were
sharing in the profits of the existing Subway system on the
terms which Mr. Shonts proposes for the future, its share
would amount within a few years to several million dollars
a year. The interest of these figures consists, however,
chiefly in the strong position, in whicii the?' place the
Interborough Company, in relation to future capital expendi-
Uires. A system which shows such a superb present and
future earning capacity should be in a position to finance
extensions on excellent terms, and it should not be obliged
toidepend upon the city for the help of the municipal credit.





THB most interesting part of the annual report of the
Citizens' Union is its criticism of the attempt of the
Legislature at its last session to make a charter for New
York City. The Legislature rejected the carefully drawn
instrument prepared by the Ivins Commission, and hastily
prepared a series of bills which contained the outlines of
a new Charter. These bills were introduced about a month
before the end of the session, and were full of serious
errors. Nevertheless, they would have been passed with¬
out any serious discussion had it not been for the protests
of the Citizens' Union and other similar organizations. As
it is, the joint commission of the two legislative bodies has
been continued in existence; and it looks as if during the
coming session these bills would be passed. In many re¬
spects these bills adopt without change certain sections of
the Ivins charter, but in their net result the changet
proposed would convert that excellent instrument into a
meaningless hodge-podge. The Board of Aldermen remains
as it is instead of being converted into a small unpaid body.
The several Bureaus, which were constituted by the Ivins
charter for the purpose of enabling the Board of Estimate
to redeem its essential financial responsibility, have been
abandoned, and a weak compromise adopted in their place.
In short, all the vigor and coherence have been taken out
of the document; and it will be better to let the charter
remain substantially as it is rather than to accejit the muti¬
lated substitute. In certain respects the substitute pro¬
posed by the legislative committee is undoubtedly better
than the existing charter, but it is not enough better to
make any essential difference. The next charter framed
for New York should be thoroughly good—good enough to
put an end to charter tinkering for a generation; and some¬
time within a few years it should be possible to have a
really good charter prepared and forced through the Legis¬
lature, All over the country—cities are trying various ex¬
periments in municipal organization, and the results of these
experiments should be so illuminating that a really scientific
and adequate administrative system can be soon prepared
for New York.





IN spite of the fact that the reformers in Boston failed to
elect their candidate for Mayor last fall, the new B st.on
charter seems to be working well—even when administered
by a machine politician. One of the results which it was
proposed to accomplish by this charter was the appointment
of really fit men to office; and the means adopted to this end
was the grant of power to the State Civil Service Commission
to approve or disapprove of all the mayor's appointments.
Since he assumed office Mayor Fitzgerald has sent to the
Commission over a score of nominations. Some have been
conflrmed and some rejected. The Commission has inter¬
preted the words of the charter (the words that the nominee
must "be qualified by training or experience" for his post)
in their proper sense and has exacted in each case that actual
qualification through prior training and experience be shown
as a condition of its approval. In the case of some posts,
no extensive qualifications have been insisted upon because
the duties of the oflice were of an elementary nature. In
other cases it has insisted ou a very high standard of ante¬
cedent fitness. In one instance it refused to confirm for
the post of city collector a man who had been confirmed by
the United States Senate as Postmaster of Boston, and who