November 36,1898





Record   and   Guide.





681







lif#í'fe







^^            A            ESTABUSHEU'^MARpHílíí'^ieStt.;^

Jto&ÍED To ^í EsTWE. BuiLoif/c AjîciíiTEcrnjRí .HovsDlou) DreoBAnai
PRI€E,*PER TEAR IK ADTANCE, SIX DOLLARS.

Published eeery Saturday.

TBLKPHONBT       ....       COBTLANDT 1370.

CommunicationB Bhould be addressed to

C. W. SWEET,  14 & 16 Vesey St.

J. 1. LINDSEY, Business Maimger.

"Eíntered at tfie Poat-offlcc at Neio York, N. Y., aa aeeond-class matter.'"





VOL. L.





NOVEMBER 36,  1892.





No. 1,289





IF the stock marbet were an active one, and prices saggedas they
have beeũ doÍDg for the past two or three weeks, it would be
easy to see that ît tcust develop iũto a regular bear luarket. But
with busiaess in the comtaission houses as dull as it is, it is not safe
to predict any great fall in prices. Tbat tlie profesaional element
is bearish and by attacks here and there brÍQg prices generalJy
down somewhat, does not matter much, because if the public
should decide that stocks aie cheap, ĩt would soon take the wbole
market away from the traders, as it has so often done just prior to a
bigadvance; but it is not lilsely to take hold as long as there ífi
danger of further gold shipments. While the public is indifFerent
aud the tradershave the market to themselves, it may be expected
thaL tbey wiU continue their present operations, under the belief
that prices must come down, To assist the hoped for resuit it is
asserted tliat when the new administration takes hold Ít will dis-
organize business by radical changes of the tariff, and that eucb
changes willcompelthegovernmenttogointotbemarket withanew
loan in order to meet the demands now exĩstingou the national
income, Sensible people or scrupuloue people would prefer that the
admînistrationitself shouldaonouDceitspolícy, andtheyknow that
it is very dilîficult if uot impossible to predict what will be the exact
result of tlie adoption of a particular policy or measure. TheSiIver
Act oE 18911 ought to be a sufficient example of this. When that
Act waa paesed where was the prophet to foretell that to-day silver
wbuld be selling at nearly its lowest price? But on the stock market
any story goes. It îs singular, too, that those with the least founda-
tion have the most influence. The fact that the Spanish govern-
ment was again in bad straits for money and had ai^ain to go to
Paris for help had very little influence, though sucb a fact niight
have a very serious influence on the European financial world and
by sympathy on this. There is an idea afloat, too, that the raih-oads
have reached a bad periotl between two good ones; the consequences
of the largecropof lastyearhavÍDg exhausted themselves, and those
o£ the World's Fair not having had time to be felt. If that
were true it would not be agood reason íor anticîpating abear mar-
ket; it would be very siugular if prices could not fairly sustain
thenseĩves over such an interval. ĩf tbe good time had gone and
left nothing further to rely upon it would be another thing, but
with tbe railroads put into good shape by tlio large earnings of the
past year or more, and witb more good busĩbess comiũg in a few
nionths, as certain as any one can reasonably ask it to be, it would
be slrango if their securíties seriously declined in value. Another
fact that is influencing the market considerably and legitimately is
the knowledge that several parties which have been trying to market
induslriaĩ stocks bave been unable to flnd buyers for them, and
have them still on their hande, only at advauced quotations. The
putting of tliese at prices at whicb the people, who arenow bearing
the burden, could find relief would, of course, disorganize
the market temporarily, and the fear of Ihis h^s its effect.
The stand-up figbt in cordage is still goiug on, its opponents refus-
ingalloíîers of settlement, continuingto sell short as tbe price is
advanced; its friends meantime have to carry most of the stock
because outsiders having fought shy of it for a long time, and
never having had much more than a speculative interest in it.





the country.    The history, the moral and materĩal  coodition and
progrese of the United States are inextricably bound up with immi'
gration, and any steps in the direction of restriction should be made
with the utmost caution and upon only the  mostpositive grounda,
An experimentai " do-something" course would be the height of
lolly and it would be equally foolish to act in the inlereets of any
limited class, or for small reasons, however valid they might be in
themselves.    Labor, that very indeflnite part of tbe community, is
Bupposed to favor restrictive measnres in its own interests,  aod if
F,ny pressure shoidd be felt by tbe Chandlfr Committee it will come
from Labor.    But, it is very doubtful whether immigration bas as
great an effect one way or the other upon organized Labor,  as ia
stipposed at times.    The presaure of imraĩgration is  not greatest
upon the ekilled trades.    A  very large proportion of the immi-
grants arriving on our shores are mere bewersof wood and drawers
of water.    The women and children,  too,  do not crowd into the
skilled tradea.    Of the remainder there are relatively few  whom
any manufacturer would be willing toemploy,evenat loworwages,
in    preference     to    a    native-born    workman;    and    of   these,
how    many     are    they     that    could     take     their     places    at
once, for instance,    on   a   buildiug   in   the course   of erectîon,
or   at   a   loom,    or   in    foundry or   factory ?   Even    tbe most
skilled need sonie years of apprenticesbip to American metbods
and practices.    The Contract Law bears testimony t> the unskilled
character of immigration; for if highly skilled laborf rs were coming
to this couutry by  tbousands annually, why not engage their ser-
vicea at Caatle Garden, instead of in Europe ?   But what emplojer
of skiUed labor ever seeks Castlc Garden for help ?   The fact ie our
immigrants are not maiuly or even in any considerable  numbers,
weavera or spinners, or engineers, or iron  puddlere or dyers, but
chieHy the better part of the multitude of the unskilled  or  the
relatively   uuskilled   which   the  rigorous   competition   oE   older
countries   has, rejected,     Theee   are the people   upon   whom we
have    depended    from   the    beginning [of    our  history  for   the
rough,   hard    work    of    building    up     the   country.      It    is
very     doubtful      whether      we    are     yet     in     a     posifcion
to say that we have had enough of them.    Amid these  thousands
and tlie other hundreds more ekilled than they, there are no doubt
a certain number of undesirable cuetomers.   Itwould, it goes with-
out saying, be a good thing if we could shut out "the proportion of
evil" in immigratiou as Íu our other affairs, but itia a very diflficult
tbing to gather any barvest of any sort without having to take the
undesirable proportion  witb  it.    Senator Chandler will  not,  we
think, deviae a plan to accomplish that,    Of coiirae, we can  pur-
chase almost anything—at a cost.





ALL legal requirements appear to be fulflUed in reference to the
new bridge of the East River Bridge Company. A short time
since the Board of Federal Engineers approved the plans of the com-
pany to erect a bridge just as bigh above the water as is the preeent
bridge. Now the New York Board of Aldermeu havegrantedto the
company the right to eonstruct, operate and maiutain the New York
approaches to the two bridges which it proposes to build over the
East River. This action was tobe expected, considering the large
aniount of political intiiieoce bebind the corapany, Tammany and
tbe Kings Couuty Democracy are very " harmonious " just now,
Tbe result of it all is that the company îs free to go ahead and do
some work which can be taken as tangible evidence of its íntention
to erect immediately at leaat one of the two structures proposed.
Such action ought to be taken as soon as possible, if onlytoquiet
tbe attacks of tliose enemies of the corapany who claim that it is
the same sort of a corporation as the New York & New Jersey
Bridge Company. Furtherraore there is no time to be lost, Brook-
lyn needs the bridge at this very moment.





IT is not easy to determine how much real interest the publictake
in the '■ imrnigration queation." It is Just the eort of subject
whicli demagogy deligbts to dealwith; it offers so many oppor-
tuuities for a blatant interest in everybody'a welfare; and, besides,
it ia one uf those ratber involved problems like Bimetalliam and the
Tariff, wbich are beset with a great number of pitfalls for the
'■average intelhgence." Wise action in the matter depends upon
a very nice consideration and balancing of a nmltitude of diverse
facts, SenatorChandler'sCommitteeof Inquiry wÍU probably begin
their labors in this city on Mondaj, and if they make an impartial,
thor^uffh investieation tlieir service will be of immense value to
\      _____________________.                                  ___





IN the matter of the passenger rates to the World's Fair Ihere is
an unmistakable discord between the interests of the railroads
and thuse of the public, It is manifestly most deeirable, from the
public point of view, that the fares should be reducrd as much as
possible. Such a reduction would enable a great many people to
take the trip who otherwise would be prevented from 90 doing, and
it is very much to be wished, for the sake of the Faĩr and for the
sakeof the people, tliat tbeattendauce should be as large as pos-
sible. In case Lhe government secured the railroads, a fair caae
would apparently be established for the traneportation of
the passengers at cost. The American people are not
likely to have another opportunity of similar importance
formany years lo come. At tírat blush it wonld seem as if the
interests oE the railroads lay very rauch in Ihe same dii-ection,
That is, it is apparently to their interest to establish a rate which
would attract to tht-ir cars as many passengers as they could carry
at a proût. The araountof travel offeriog is always an iraportant
consideration (o them In determíning a schedule, and when by
lowering tbe schedule they can largely add to their business they
are genetally willing to make a special late. Thus, members of the
Grand Army of the Republic obtained special farea to Washiugton
from all over the country.    The circumstaacen oí liie present