June 12, 1886





The   Record   and  Guide.





765





THE   RECORD   AND   GUIDE,

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Vol. XXXVII.





JUNE 12, 1886.





No. 952.





ber, and hence there is little to fear from the cranks who are dis¬
posed to run a muck, Malay fashion, in the crowded streets of our
great cities. In view of the widespread character of the labor
disturbances and the passions provoked by the contests there hu,
after all, been very little violence or bloodshed.





The business outlook is decidedly improving. The labor troubles
are substantially at an end. The workingmen are very generally
employed at good wages, and the consumptive demand of the
country was never greater, while there are no surplus stocks of
goods in sight. The crops promise well, for complaint of droughts
and insects are no longer heard in view of the rains in the region
which most needed moisture. A better state of feeling is reflected
in our stock market, which has been notably strong, although the
dealings have not been large, nor are the general public buying
securities. Those who loaded up last summer and fall seem con¬
tent to stand by their holdings. Real estate is quiet, but building
is actively being prosecuted, and the new plans for additional
structures exceed those of last year for a corresponding period.





The Democratic House of Representatives is guilty of many sins
of omission as well as commission, though more of the former than
the latter. If there was any way of testing public sentiment the
House would be censured by a large majority of the American peo¬
ple. But bad as is the outlook for the Democrats in the several
States, it is stiil worse for the Republicans. In Rhode Island there
has been a revolt against the Republican machine, which has been
proved to be hopelessly corrupt. The action of the Prohibitionists
in New Jersey condemns the Republican party of that State to a
minority for some years to come. Here in New York matters look,
if possible, still worse for the Republicans. They have alienated
the temperance people, while the local machine here in this city is
composed of the most vicious gang of plundering politicians known
to our local history. Then Oregon, a Republican State, has just
elected a Democratic governor. Unless matters mend within the
coming two years the Republicans will lose in the Presidential contest
of 1888 by afar more decisive vote than that which elected Grover
Cleveland. The one hope of the Republicans is that the Democrats
may be guilty of some astounding piece of political folly, and it
must be confessed that that party ca,n generally be depended upon
to accomplish that feat.





Even if the River and Harbor bill should pass the Senate and
House there are nine chances to ten that President Cleveland will
veto it; although in doing so work underway will be damaged and
the money heretofore expended upon it wasted. Our country is a
large one with vast coast lines, both ocean and lake, with mighty
livers draining thousands of miles of fertile' territory. To meet
the growing wants of our external and interaal commerce we
ought to spend fifty to sixty miUion of dollars per anuum in har¬
bor and waterway improvements. But our Congressmen represent
districts and not the nation. The Southwest wants the Mississippi
improved, but object to a Hennepin Canal which would unite the
waters of the Mississippi and the lakes. The Northwest again
opposes improvements on the seacoast, while our Atlantic coast
newspapers vehemently denounce all appropriations for improve¬
ments elsewhere as corrupt jobs. This opposition to improved
waterways is doubtless in the interests of great railway corpora¬
tions, which naturally wish to have a monopoly of the freight bus¬
iness of the country. Our public bodies, such as the Chamber of
Commerce and the leading exchanges, should, however, move in
this matter, and urge Congress and the Executive, not only to im¬
prove the approaches to New York Harbor, but to give generous
aid to every work which will advance the 'commerce of all sections
of the Union. This howl against river and harbor improvements
is simply despicable.

--------•--------

Among the amendments to the River and Harbor bill now pend¬
ing in the Senate is $1,000,000 to improve New York Harbor. It
is proposed to construct a stone dike, S.S.E. from Coney Island,
four miles in length, so as to help the work of dredging a thirty-
foot channel in deep water near Sandy Hook to deep water below
the Narrows. Should this be accomplished it will be a signal
advantage to the commerce of this port, for ocean going steamers of
the heaviest draught can then navigate the channel at any tide or
at any hour of the day. Such an improvement will be a distinct
advantage to every maritime interest at this port. There is, how¬
ever, danger that the River and Harbor bill may fail, due in great
part to the petty provincial attitude of the New York press. Our
newspapers oppose improvements by the government in any part
of the country, and our representatives in Congress are forced to
speak with bated breath in urging the expenditure of government
money for necessary outlays hereabouts. Should the appropria¬
tion pass, the work will be under charge of General Newtou, whose
skillful engineering work at Hell Gate has never been properly
appreciated by our citizens.





Although the general tie-up of the horse-cars in New York and
Brooklyn came to a speedy end, the unpleasant fact was developed
that it is in the power of the leaders of the working people to dis¬
arrange the local traffic of a great city like New York. This adds
force to the recommendation frequently made in these columns
that it would be desirable to make the city railway employes a
part of our municipal police force. Were the conductors, car-
drivers and stablemen to be subject to regulations and pay made
by the police commissioners, that would end forever all dangers of
a strike or interruption to city local travel, while it would diminish
the probability of there ever being a successful or prolonged riot in
New York. Then the conductors, brakemen and engineers on the
great railway systems should form a part of the police force of the
nation, and be under the control of the central government. If
this should ever be done it would never again be in the power of
the Knights of Labor, the Amalgamated Engineers, or any labor
organization to interrupt the transportation system of the country.
Government employes are never highly paid, as witness the
soldiers and sailors, department clerks, letter carriers, and others
who serve the nation in minor capacities, nor do they ever strike.





The Chicago Grand Jury did the public a good service in point¬
ing out the fact that there were probably not more than forty
Anarchists of the bomb-throwing type in that city. Our daily
newspapers are published to make money, aud there is competition
between the editors to serve the most highly-spiced and sensational
articles to their readers. Hence, in times when public feeling runs
high, they are all disposed to exaggerate. This Grand Jury affirms
that the number of murderously-inclined working people are very
few, and this is undoubtedly the fact. The public should be on its
guard against accepting wild newspaper statements as to the num¬
ber and intentions of those who are disposed to make war on society.
People who hold extreme or eccentric views, which separate them
from the mass of their fellow zaen, are necessarily limited in num





The apparent pecuniary success of the New York Elevated road
has led to the starting of projects in other leading cities to build
similar systems. It does not follow because the Manhattan com¬
pany is successful that elevated roads will be profitable in other
large centres of population. Our people being hemmed in on a
narrow island between two rivers, some kind of a steam road waa
a necessity to connect the business with the residence quarters of
the city. The elevated road partially filled the bill by enabling
people to get up and down town in less time than it took in the
horse-cars. But the Manhattan road came perilously near bank¬
ruptcy ; and it is well understood that the Brooklyn Elevated has
had a hard road to travel so far as income is concerned. The
present Brooklyn company profited by the ruin of a previous com¬
pany, yet it is doubtful whether it will pay its running expenses
and interest charges. Cities that can spread towards all points of
the compass, such as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis and
Baltimore, do not offer promising fields for builders of elevated
roads. They cannot compete in cheapness with the horae-cars, and
the traffic is not heavy enough at all hours of the day to pay divi¬
dends with fares at five and ten cents. If there was some way of
utilizing elevated roads for doing an intermural freight business
the case might be dififerent, but so long as they are confined to the
carriage of passengers we doubt if they will be permanently profit¬
able outside of New York city, the situation of which is peculiar.





The Times and Evening Post discredit themselves in their com¬
ments upon the Massachusetts legislative investigation into the
circumstances connected with the N. Y. So N. E. Co.'s sale of bonds
to the Higginson syndicate. That transaction was not susceptible of
any explanation that was not dishonoring to Governor Robinson
and his council. It was a direct exploitation of the State Treasury
for the benefit of a syndicate of unscrupulous capitaUsts. But the
two papers mentioned give an erroneous impression of this business
because their editors personally dislike Mr, Cyrus W. Field. The
Republican party of the Old Bay State is equally unwise in trying
to shield Governor Robinson from the consequences of his action in