October 8,1893





Record   and   Guîde.





487







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VoL. L.





OCTOBER 8,  1893.





No. 1,282





We publish with this ■nwniber of The Record and Guide a
stvmt'y-two-page illustrated Chicago Supplement, in colored
covers. Besides nwmerous iUustratiwis from photographs of the
prominent architectural features of the World''s Fair City, Ihe
suppleTn&it eo'ntains a " íĩ'istor!/ of Real Estate in Chicago,^' and,
a sketch of the big inland city and its marveĩous growth. Our sub-
scribers shouĩd see that the Ghicago Supplement is delivered to
them with each copy of fhe regular issue of The Record and
Gdide.

IT is easy to see that the strength of the stock market is the
result of manipulation and it is almost possible to aame the
hands that are manipuiating it, The work is beiagadmirably doue,
if it were not so it would be impoesible to keep New England as
high and as strong aa it has beeii for more than a week oq a buuch
of old stories, or on a mystery which wiH uot esplode. Tiie con-
nection of Reading and New England in those stories has tiad a
humorous aud appropriate resiilt: the former has beeu wpak while
the latter has been strong, from which it may be iiiferred that the
very proper opinion of the piiblic is that the result of cloee union
between the' two could only benefit New England, While the
manipulation of prices is so appareut the question arises
ivhether the maũipulators, deaignedly or not does not
matter, have not chosen an uîuisualiy good time for
their operations, Ifc is true that leports fiom railroad centres
indicate a good deal of competition and cutting of rates, as vvell as
other adverse features; but there are also signs that negoliations
are on foot for the formation of new rate protecting organizations
to take place of the old ones, and earniiigs continue to be large
with, of com-se, the inevitable exceptions, There is also a promise
of better things in some other industries which are said, and no
doubt truly, to make a fair gauge of generai business conditions.
The olosing down of some of the îron furnaces last sumraer has at
last been following by more encom-aging signs in that tiade, The
change, too, that is seen in the cotton trade is not without
influence, and, pevhaps more than all, the actual arrival of the
beginning of the series of Coliimbian celebrations is making
acbivity in trade the influence of which must be very pervasive.





OBSBRVERS of the poiitical situation in Eiuope are disquieted
over the consideiable addition conteuiplated by the German
government to its army. It is proposed, according to semi-olîicial
reports, toreduce the period of actual service to two years, though
■without reducing the legal liability to a longcr period, and it is
therefore intended to keep 75,000 move men actually in barracks.
The artillery, moreover, is to be enlarged, and some other reforms
introduced, the object of ali being to raise the íorces at the instant
disposal of the Kaiser more uearly to a level with the forces which
might in certain contiugencies invade Germauy, These chauges
wiU involve, it is stated, au increased expenditure of l'rom $17,000-
OOO to $30,000,000 per annum, Tliese statements are accompanied
by rumors not so weli supported that the Austriau Parliament
alBo will be asked to sanctionalarge increase in the military expeud-
iture. The gravity of these reported l'acts arises from thc circiun-
stance that both Emperors, if about to ask for increased approiiria-
tions, will do so unwillingly, They musfc know that France and
Russia are straining every nerve for superiority Ín armanients, and
that to abstain from equaling theio or even to delay in equaling
them would be culpable imprudence. On no other ground, it is
thought, would the two best-informed persons in Europe on this
subjecfc prepare to convince unwiljing parliaments byfacts.and
figures that the insecm-ity is great onough tn jusfcify or
indeed to compel f urther heavy sacrificea, Millions of pounds are
considered serious things on the continent, and neither aovereign
deaireB to borrow freely or lo iand his treatury in the position of a





permanent deficit. The dangers indicated by this line of argument
are, however, rather for the future than for the present. lí they
exisfc the speculators and bankers have not perceived them, for the
money-centres remain undisturbed by political menacee. Probably
the course of events most carefully to be watched in the immediate
future will be the progress of tbe Austrian currency reform. Tlie
time isnow approaching for the fiuance operationa provided by Ihe
new laws. In order to avoid making too onerous an appeal to
the money market all at once, it is commonly expected
that the Austrian Finiince Minister wiU postpone his scheme
for converting his 5 per cent bonds, and confine his operatious just
now to a gold loan of 100,000.000 florins £or minting purposes.
■Wĩthin the past few weeks the Austro-Hiingarian Bank has
received 30,000,000 florins, mostly in American eagles, which wiH
help the governmGnt out. In the meantime the Hungarian Finauce
Minister will abstain from a gold loan, He has already hoarded
about .50,000,000 florins in gold, and has the advantage of a surplus
of 30,000,000 florins on the fiscal year just closed, so that he iafully
provided with gold for the Hungarian mint.





THE defeat of the trolley system is practically acknowledged by
tbe ofîicers of the Metropolitan Traetĩon Co. Frora many
points of view this is a matter to be glad about; but it will not be
certain that the besfc iuterests of the city have been served Ihereby
uutil it is clearly seen whafc bearing the defeat has upon
our existing facilities. Will it leave us possessed for some years
to come of a number of malodorous unsanitary spots where
car-Iine stablesare'í These " stench blocks" are an unmitigated
nuisauce in a crowded city like New York. They are ofí'ensiveto
passers-by and are a blight upon property if not a peril to residents.
To get rid of fchese nuisances is surely something to be wished for.
We belĩeve tbat the city would be willing to pay handsomely for
relief from these offences; and if any one is inclined to make light
of them, we wish he could be compelled to live for a short time
opposite or even in prosimity to a stable block, August would be
a good month for his tuition. It should also be borne iii niind tbat
wĩth tbe removal of the stables would go several hundred horses,
and thej^dirt with which fchey ftll the street—and. in windy
weather, the nostrils of people, We believe that meu of clean
habits would have counted this a gain of some importance, But
beyond this, will the deffat uf the trolley leave us with tlie present
incommodious, slow and inadequate siu'face service, the dingy,
badly lib, erovvded cars, drawn by painfully overtiixed animalsV
WÍII the Metropolitan Traction Co, give us the large, well-ligbted
cars and the more rapid service which we should have got with the
trolley, or shali we bave to wait for some years until the company
think they are warrauted by the amouiit ot' travel in
adopting the cable system over all their lines, or unlil the
storage battery has been improved inlo commerciai practicability ?
Now if New York were amply provided with facilities for tiaus-
portation, if everybody could move about tlie city speedily and
cimfortably, we could afford to be very critical and insist upon
getting exacfcly whafc we vvaiit in thc matters of addifcions or
improvements to our bransit lines. The city,fchen, would nob really
suffer îf we should sit down and waifc until the Meíropolitan Trac-
tion Company, or some other concern, humored every vvhim and
desire we had. Our circumstances, hovvever, are not of this easy,
comfortabie kind. We are in an aciite stage of congestion. Our
facilities for transportation are inadequafce beyond exaggeratiou.
and they arc viie. The way people have to packintocrowded cars,
elevatedandsurface, in a raanner thattheSociety for tlie Prevcntion
of Cruelty to Animals would iirohibit if vve were pigs, bodies to bodies,
one person breathiug the breath of iiis vis-a-vis, is disgraceful
beyond measure. It is contrary to decency, cleanliness, good
manners. Add to tiiis the fact tliat the nuauciiil interesls uf tbe
city are sufl'ering; its growth is checked; the poor are bcing prcssed
into eloser andcluser quarters. expansioii is iinpossible, the ciby is
not  building up as ifc should, and  the reader Iias  the situatioa

before hím,

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THE iievvspapers iiave been raisiug ĸuch a hu'laballoo over the
iutroduclion oí' tlie trolley into thiscity tliat they have failed
to call attention to other intcresting aspects connected with the
sale of theso franchisea, Tlie action of the Board of Aidermen,
lĩrovided the Mayor otíicially îndorsed ĩt, meant only tliat they
would be put up at auction iinder the provisions of the Cantor Act.
Offering tiiciii in tliis vvay at auctiou pre-supposes, of course, Ihat
there woiild lie a coiuiietition, and that it is to the interest of tlie city
that fciiere should be a competition. Yet, these two assuiiiptions,
which arc reipiired to gĩve auy lucaniiig to a public sale of this
charactcr, arc Ijoth probably false. It is nob likeiy that there would
be any competition. Sorae of the connections vvould be utterly
useless fco any eompany that did not own tlie lincs with which
tbe connoctions ware to be made. Other.s might be of some smali
value lo aii indcpcndent corporation, but they vvo.-ld be of infin-
itely greater valueto the Metropolitan Traction Company. Notice
the consequence of these facts, There is no rra! conipetition for
these franchises.   I£ any other coinpany started to bid against the