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Jnly 20,1895
Record and Guid
mSi^
It S>1^* IflGS.
ESTABUSHEd"^ (^01121^^ 1868,
Dev&teQ 10 Rea,l Estate.SuiLDif/c AficrfrTECTURE'}{i3USE3(oicDMffl{jiicrf,
Biisn/Ess Affo Themes ofGEflER^l Iffttfif*!,^
PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.
Published every Saturday.
TELBIHONE,......COKTLANBT 1370
ODumiunlcatlODB should be addressed to
C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
J. 1. LINDSEY. Business Manager.
Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Washington Street,
Opp. Post Office.
" Entered al the Posl-offlce at New York. X. T., as second-elass ynatter."
Vol. LVI.
JULY 20, 1895.
No. 1,427
AN IMI-OJtTJNT ANNOUNCEMENT.
The Rkcord axd Guin-& xeill furnish youwithdail^ detailed reports
of all building operations, compiled to suit â– i'OOR business specifically, for
14 cents a day. You are thus kept informed of the entire market for yonr
goods. A'o guess work. Erery .fact verified. Abandant capital and ihc
thirty years' experience of Tiui Record axd Guide guarantee Ihe com¬
pleteness and authenticity of this service. Send to 1-1 and 10 Vesey street
for information.
(^ OLD has come to the front again in a way that is likely to
^ carry â– with it iinpleagaiitnesses. Just iiow it is apparently
a dispute between the merchants who have balances to settle on
the other side aud Ihe bond syndicate as lo who shalllose the
triflingdiflerenco between 1he cost of shipping gold and Uie rate
of exchange as fixed by the latter. The merchants are being
told that their jiosition is pavsimonions and tini^atriotic, but it is '
hard to see why they should make the sacrifice, ii! any is to be
made. The mistaken idea has been made much too prevalent
that the bond operation of: last February was a quasi-philan¬
thropic one, instead of beiug the entirely mercenary—though
not mercenary iu any hni'.sli sense—oue it ^yas. The restiKs to
the .syndicate cannot have beeu otherwise than satisfactory, the
profits have beeu ao very larg:e that it can well aflbrd to spend
some of them iu observing the obligations toward the business
community Ihat the privilege of ntidertakiug the sale ot the
bouds carded with it. Moreover, owing to the foolishness of
the Trea.sury Department tiie syndicate lias been relieved of the
most onerous of these obligations, the imporlalion of gold, and
it does uot become it to be quarreling'Vi'ith shipper.s over trifling
fractious ou exchange, aud ifc should abate somewhat its petty
desire to get every cent it possibly cau out of an uufortuuate
situation. The public will not forget that it would not be pos¬
sible for gokl fo be going out uow it the syndicate contract had
been strictly euforced. If gold shipments continue they must
affect the Treasury balance, aud every one knows what that will
mean. Of eouise, it pays belter to mend some things that have
gone to pieces than to l;eep them "whole, and we are apt to
forgive a cobbler for preferring the weather that is hardest ou
shoes, but is it a fact that we are all coUblers ''.
r I iIlK lu^afOT we approach the Presidential election, flie uar-
-*- rower become the divergencies between parties. This is
coutrary to political optics, but tliat such is the case mnst be
apparent to all. Indeed, if the process of approximation be car¬
ried mucli furlhet, it will be difticult to see wliat the figlit ol' tlie
next caiiipaigii will be about. Clearly, Ihe force of circum¬
stances is fast driving lieptiblicaus and Democrats alike to
occupy the same ground ; or, if not that, it is eliminatiug from
their disputes the solid "practical" substance about whicli alone
tbo everyday man cares to bother himself. To explain: A few
mouths ago there was at least a superficial possibility that the
two great parties might drift to opposite poles ou the silver
question. Perhaps to-day both are not (iuite "in line" on the
matter; but Ihe opinion may s.ifely be hazarded that the na¬
tional conveutious will put both ou the same "sound mouey'i
plauk. Of courae "sound mouey" is an ambiguous phrase, but
ambiguity is the language ot politicians in dealing with real
issues. Republican and Democrat, however, will each alike
mean tlie same thing by the phrase—viz., the maiutetiauce of a
currency conforming in the maiu to the commercial require¬
ments of the great ti'ading nations of the world. Then, again,
as io that perennial source of diftercuee between the two parties
—the tariff'. Not long ago, with hard times pressing on every¬
body, profits nil, wages low, tlie outlook black, it would have
been easy to give the old dispute au intensely ]iracfieal and
immediate interest fhafc would have made the contiover.^y a
very earnest one. But, business is improving steadily, wages
are advancing, the entire industrial machinery of the laud is
getting into motion again, and the commercial outlook is prom-
isiug, Uuder these conditions, surely it will be difficult tomake
discussion .about the value of this or that tariff more than an
academic or ttieoretieal dispute for the bulk of people. Expe¬
rience, indeed, is forcing many to see that Protection and Free
Trade (as so far carried out in the United States) are uot niat-
'ters to get rabid over; that the country somehow is greater than
either, and if only given peace gels along fairly well under
McKinley tariffs aud uuder Wilson tariffs. Uudoubtedly, this
ancient dispute has moved somewhsit out of aud away from t!ie
slxops aud the couniitig-houses, and iu the open air it is worth
les.s than formerly as a red rag in "politics." For the rest, at
jn-esent there are only minor affairs for party difference, aud it
would be a good thiugfor the country if for a period party lines
in national politics were to become merely nominal boundaries,
so that the emphasis of our |)olilieal activity could be eoncen-
trated on local aud State matters. Good governmeut every¬
where throughout the land has suffered enormously because iu
Ihe minds of most people national iiolitics have predominated.
It is this condition that is mainly responsible for Ihe wretched
.administration of our municipalities and for the farce wliich
goes by the name of Stale government throughout the length
and breadth of the laud.
IN view of the return of a Conservative majority to the IJritisIi
Parliament, speculation uow centers upon what the influ¬
ence ot! the policy of tho new government wiil be on business.
At home it can do really nothing to chiinge the face of affairs;
happily for the country, its iiuanciat and commercial jiolicy is
too well lix(;d to be alt'ectcd in any material way by the transfer
of the reins ot power from one party to the other. Abroad it
maybe different, though, as we pointed out before, it is not
likely that Lord Salisbury wiil fiy to do more than keep'Euglaiul
at peace, \rhile pushing her eotnmercial advantage in every
direction, just as Mr. Gladstone aud Lord Ro.seberry did. A
different face may be put upon tliis policy, but behind tho Tory
mask tlie features will be the same as before. The emergencies
of the moment may call for some greater show of vigor tliati it
Tias been necessary for the Liberal giiverument to make ; oue of
these is likely to be created by tho altitude of Russia toward
Japan. The minder o£ M. Stambidolif creates considerable
anxiety out:ride of Bulgaria. He had beeu out .of power for
some time without seeing the PflliOfcJ^f inaugurated for his
country chaugcd lo any appreciable ^.extent, a fact that-
did not satisfy bis eueuiies at home or ^broad. 'J'be European
business situation cau still be summed np in an excess of money
and a disinclination fo use ib except in gilt-edged investments.
Vienna has had another flurry, in which mouey for a weelt's use
'"Was between.9 and 11 percent. The financial Journals see .in
tlie situation here the po,ssibilify of threatening conditions for
the Treasury, and asaeonsequenoe purchases of American secur-
ities arc very gingerly made.______,____________________________
iVEN in France, â– where "le sport "is .as alien in its deriva¬
tion as the word that designates it, the triumph of the
bicycle is complete aud universal. The "mass" is get ti tig onto
wheels with unexpected rcstdts. The latest cry of resentment
for the " craze " is raised, they say, by PaiLsian publishers and
booksellers. Thonsands who formerly had lime for reading
aud cash to spare for the purchaseof books, have lately diverted
the ouc and the other to the wheel. Wo are curious to know
whether like results have followed in this conutry from tlic
absoi'pcion of tlie multitude in the new pursuit. The universal
adoption of a new, demiietatie means of locotiiotiou mnst, indeed,
have effects beyond Ihose registei'ed in booksellers' i'eceipf.s.^
We know, for instance, that it ha.s affected tbe horse-market
and, of course, concurreully all trades and vocations
Ihat depen<l upon equine locomotion. Moi'cover, we see that
Ibe bicycle is affecl ing the national idea of what couatit.utes a
good road. Tlie old nolion is already nndin-going radical
revision. As the jiopularity of tlie wheel is undoiibfe(!ly only
at its beginning, we may safely expect extreme eliaiige.s in our
county highways of mud and ruts wliich liave liitlierfo been
queer.auomalies in a land where, in even Icssimporlant matters,
"improvements" are so readily sottght after. In New Jersey,
the good-road experiments have beeu so abuudandy justified
financially that it cannot be long before the entire Slate is grid-
ironed with macadam, Aud here we touch real estate. Good
roads have already greatly increased values, and tbeir
extension will bring a great deal of pi'operty into the
market which the wheel in a way will make avail-
.able f(u- residences. Tn this manner the bicycle will
tend to increase the radius of suburban towns. Hitherto it has
been very hard to push the building limit beyond tliree-quarfers
of a mile from the local railroad station. Further than tl),!it
people \*'ill not walk. If building operations are earned beyond
that poiut tlic aid of the liu'se-car or trolley has been iieeessary,
and these means of locoiuofion are not easily obtained by every
little town. The bicycle, however, will gi-eatly increase tlie
ordinary individual's radius of action, Witli good roads he can
*