Marcii IS, 1886





The Record and  Guid





e.





311





THE   RECORD   AND   GUIDE,

Published every Saturday.

191 Broad^wav, 3Sr. "!^.

Ottr Telepbone Call is.....JOMN 370.





TERMS:

ONE YEAR, in adyance, SIX DOLLARS.

Communications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.





Vol. XXXVII.





MARCH 13, 1886.





No. 939.





The real estate markefc continues active and the building move¬
ment gives no signs of abatement. The labor strikes duriag the
week have naturally caused a great deal of alarm among the
employing classes, and the price of stocks in Wall street has been
affected by fears of possible disturbances in all departments of
business. There has, however, been an undertone of strength, and
should the Reading reorganization be an assured success it looks as
though there might be an advance in stock values. The heavy pur¬
chases of bonds shows that investors have faith in'the future of our
railway system. Apart from the labor disturbances there is a good
feeling in business circles, so far as our domestic trade is concerned.
Tlie weak spot is, as usual, in our foreign trade, which languishes;
for Europe uses less of our cotton andjgrain, because of the poverty
of the working classes, and declines to purchase unless" at prices
below the cost of production on this side of the ocean. There, is
every prospecfc of a fair business until midsummer, and if the crops
then prove good the prosperous times will continue for the rest of
the year.





Why do not the greafc trunk lines anticipate the demands for
higher wages and voluntarily advance the pay of .such of their
employes as have reason to complain. The railroad companies
were forced to cut down expenses in 1883, 1884 and the early part
of 1885. Their employes were forced to submit; but the conditions
have changed. The railroads are now doing a profitable business.
It would be an argument in favor of sustaining rates which the
business comrhunifcy would appreciate if the corporations could sliow
that their running expenses were necessarily higher. Then it
would have a good effect upon the business of the country if the
advance in wages was voluntarily. If the roads waifc for a strike
which is almost sure to come if they do not anticipate it, a bad
effecfc is produced in business and stock circles. Ifc would save
them money eventually were the railroad companies to take the
initiative iu iucreasiog the compensation of their employes.





What a different state of things would exisfc in every depart¬
ment of business were all railway employes made a parfc of the
police force of the nation—that is, were they subjecfc to govern¬
ment regulation as to service, wages and discipline. There would
be no more strikes on the transportation systems of the country,
and such a thing as au interruption to trade between different parfcs
of the country would not be possible. Then the conductors, brake-
men, switchmen and Ihe vast army of railway employes would be
an invaluable aid to the government should riots prevail or a local
insurrection break oufc. A mob in our large cifcies would be robbed
of much of its power for mischief were there fifteen or twenty
thousand employes of the car companies under the orders of tbe
police. The railroad riots of 1877 and the strikes which are taking
place to-day should call the attention of the public and Congress to
this suggestion.





All the papers, everybody in fact, favors the annulment of the
Broadway charter by the Legislature; but if ifc were done there
would probably be a quick revulsion of public sentiment. Corpo¬
rations with vesfced rights would become alarmed, as the Albany
lobby would go for them at once. Then the facfc would be noted
that only one side of the Broadway business has been heard. The
aldermen have been ready to testify, but are not called upon, Mr.
Roscoe Conkling's tactics being to discredit them before they are
heard. The innocent stock and bondholders, for there are such,
do not know as yet who got the money; whether it was Jake
Sharp or the aldei-men. But with only ex parte testimony so far,
public opinion has been organized and legislative action called for
with the object of punishing everybody connected with the Broad¬
way railroad. There can be no defense of Jake Sharp's doinga so
far as known; but if the proceedings against him are illegal or one¬
sided they may give him a case with the public before the matter
is concluded.





underlying this bill is in the teeth of all the traditions of the Demo¬
cratic party. For this reason it will probably be vetoed by Presi¬
dent Cleveland, who belongs to the old and narrow school of Demo¬
cratic politicians. But, sometime or other, a similar bill will become
a law. This will be in response to a general feeling of dissatisfac¬
tion that the United States should lag behind other nations in the
education of its people. From 17 to 21 per cent, of our population
are illiterate. In Germany less than 2 per cent, of the population
cannot read or write. France and Great Britain, once far behind,
will surpass us in a few years unless the central government takes
the matter in hand. Of course we will make a better showing as
the ex-slave population dies out. But ifc seems to be impossible to
induce some of the State governments to make proper provision for
educating the new generation which is coming up; hence the
demand for Federal interference. This is one of the symptoms
■which goes to show the increasing power of the central govern¬
ment.





In the Legislature, on Thursday of the past week, Senator CuUen
introduced a bill to repeal the act of last year which restricted the
height of dwellings, hotels, apartment houses and other buildings
which are to be used for the residence of any person or persons.
Mr. Fryer, Mr. O. B. Potter and Mr. Cornelius O'Reilly are working
together in an earnest effort to secure the repeal of the law, believ¬
ing that to refuse to let the city enjoy and make use of the prog¬
ress in the arts of building is to deal a fatal blow to her greatness
and to her belaboring and mechanical population.





The large majority by which the Blair education bill passed the
Senate seems to insure ifcs adoption by the House.   The principle





Hopeful Side of the Labor Troubles.

The patrons of The Record and Guide belong almost exclusively
to the classes which employ labor. Bankers, real estate owners,
builders, dealers in material of all kinds, contractors and the like,
do not, as a general thing, feel it to be their interest to advance
wages, shorten the hours of labor, or submit to the dictation of
trades unions. There is no need, therefore, for us to present the
stereotyped arguments against the demands made by the working
people. Our readers know them by heart. A more profitable
employment of our time would be to point out what possible advan¬
tages may finally result from the labor agitation which is now
going on all over the country, and which is destined to seriously
embarrass all who are engaged in supplyiag capital for productive
enterprises.

In the first place, ifc is clear that the demand for shorter hours and
higher wages is an evidence that the times are better, aud the great
business interests of the country are on a paying basis. The very
general success which has so far attended the efforts of the laboring
classes shows that prices are rising and production profitable. The
workpeople have found ifc impossible to advance the general aver¬
age of wages whea the times were bad. The depressed industrial
situation which followed the panic of 1873 completely disintegrated
the trades union organizations. They wenfc all to pieces in the
fierce struggle for employment which followed thafc blow afc the
industries of the country.

As we have frequently pointed out in these columns, a general
and large addition tO the wages of labor, provided the state of trade
warranted ifc, would advantage every material interest in the
nation. The working class is the spending class. Nofc one
in a hundred of the wage receivers save any portion of their
inconae. Ifc follows that an advance in wages means larger
expenditures and a heavier consumption of food and goods.
There are say 10,000,000 people who work for wages. An addi¬
tion of $2 per week would involve the throwing of $20,000,000
per week or over $1,000,000 per annum into the channels of retail
trade. This is a prodigious sum, and its disbursement would
stimulate every industry in the country. Hence, while it is the
interest of every individual employer to get his work done at the
minimum rate of wages, ifc is to the advantage of the greafc body of
the business community that the working people should be in
receipt of a liberal compensation. The objection to the Chinaman
as a laborer is that he spends nothing. He saves his money to
taki) back with him to his own country, and hence nofc only the
working people whom he underbids but the manufacturers of con¬
sumable goods are opposed to the presence of the heathen Chinee
among us. Trades union interference is a serious annoyance to
all employers of labor. It is exasperating for an outside committee
to tell a " boss," who has his capital engaged in a business, what
wages he should pay and under whafc rules his men shall work for
him. But, setting this aside, the uniformity in wages and hours
which results is a decided advantage to the best class of
employers. Under the old system, when there was no restraint upon
the selfishness of the "boss," the meanest, most unscrupulous,
had the liberal and high-minded employers at their mercy. By
cutting down wages, by long hours, by employing apprentices, the
•' snide " builder and the dishonest boss was enabled to demoralize
the whole trade. Not so when all labor has been organized. The^fair
and high-minded employer gets his work done at the same price as
his more unscrupulous rival in business.   It is, indeed, a positive