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Vol. LX.





NOVEMBER 13, 1897.





No. 1,548





WARNIN6

We are inforined that soine unauthorisedperson or îyersO'ns uii-
knoivn to the Eecord and Guide have endeavoreã to eolleot accounts
ãue to thispaper. Our customers are ivarneã not topaij aiiy 'moiiei/
to other thcmi our authorised agents a/nd upon presentatio'ii of a
propei-ly certified statement.               BECOED AND GUIDE.





ONB of the best Bigus o£ an ímproved îndustrial conditiou,
and consequently of renewed commercial activity, is found
in recently published reports of organizations for ttie âistribu-
tîon of charity, T^wo of these organizations, which more par-
ticularly relieve the destitution of the deserving poor only, have
■within a fe-w -weeks reported that the number of appeals to them
for aid are growing fewer, and are expected to still further de-
cline. The cause of this can only he that, work being more
plentiful and easier to be had, many of tbe poor people, who had
previously invoked the benevolence of these societies, come no
more because they are now able to support themselves, If íhîs
is true of the industrial poor of this city, it is also true of tiiose
of other cities. It now only remains for Congress to show that
it has no desire or intention to destroy the bettered business sit-
uation that has been so earefully built up during the past three
years, in order thã.t further progress may be gained. The prob-
abilities for action by Congress in various direciions is being
generally discussed. Of course, the matter most feared is the
Cuban question, and nothing but the meeting of Congress can
confirm or dispel the anxieties it occasions. Outside of that,
Congress can do little harm, and may do a great deal of good.
If it ean be persuaded, as many believe wili be the case, to pass
a bill legalizîng pooling by the railroads, the beneflciai eHects
on railroad ĩnvestments, with maintenance of peace assured,
would be instantaneous and great. It is the one thing needed to
make the railroad situation satisfáctory. Railroad building
Has been reduced to the minimum, and the shrinkage of capital
under liquidation has been of enormous proportions. What
these have been is indicated by a remark contained in the re-
port of the Commissioner of Railroads for the year ended Sep-
tember 30th last; " The low water mark was reached in rail-
way construction, and during the year thirty-four roads, with
5,441 miles of road, passed into the hands of the courts, and
fifty-eight others, wbich had previously been placed in receivers'
hands, were sold at foreclosure." With the trade of the country
growing, and a limited mileage doing business at paying rates,
the resulting proflts to the reduced capitalization cannot fail to
be good. Another way in which Congress can confer an ever-
lasting beneflt to the country is by tbe enactment of legislation
that wilĩ prevent currency panies, If they only find a way to
prevent the drain o£ the treasury gold reserves, without deplet-
ing the currency available, they will have made a long step in
the right direction and have done, probably, as much as can be
expected o£ them in one session. Meantime, however, prices will
be subjected to the influence of the fears and hopes of Con-
gréssional action.





LORD SALISBURY may be taken to have spoken at the
Guildhall banquet not only for hls own government, but
also £or those of the other great European powers. Judged
by the brief cabled summary, his remarks were by no means op-
timlstic, but they revealed a wholesome fear of consequences of
an infraction of the peace that may, perhaps, be taken as more
assurlng than a declaration of reliance on military strength
could possibly be. His referenee to the exhaustion of British
Indulgence In Afrlca will not be received wĩth dissatisfaction on
this side of the Atlantic, because, while we lĩke to have John
Buil bend hĩs back to ourselves, we are by no means averse to
seeing hlm stlffen In the presence o£ others. The speech was
taken ss gooã reason for puttlng up prlcea on the Exchange,





and, while thls will only be a temporary movement, the results
to general trade and commerce will be more extensive and per-
manent. Money becomes no cheaper, nor is it to be expected
that ít should be. It may be said to have reached a new basis
on which it wíll work for a considerable time to come, witb the
tendency, except in brief intervals of plenteousness, toward
higher rather than lower rates. This foHows logieally from the
increase in commercial activity in almost every part of tbe
woi-ld since 1893, and the more general confldence thereby cre-
ated in the minds of capitalists. It is too well-known that
money is cheapest when trade is poorest to make it necessary to
spend time in supportíng this view by lengthy arguments. The
racial troubles in Austria. that are accentuated at the moment,
might give occasion for alarm if it was not known that they are
always present in large or small degree. There is no more
reason now for fearing a disruption of the empire than there
has been at many other times. If the line of division was a
straight one, setting apart two great parties, each powerful
enough to insist upon its positíon, there might be more occasion
for apprehension; but tbere appear to be endless parties-
German, Hungarian, Slav, Czech, Italian, each again divided into
contending uncohesive factions. This being the case, although
tnat celebrated seer of European politics, M. de blowitz, of the
London " Times," has fixed the date of the great European war
at the time when tbe reigning emperor of Austria shall expire,
business men need not be over-timid about immediate or near-
distant conflagration in the polyglot empire.





NEW   YEAR   CHANGES   IN   THE    BUILDING    DEPARTMENT.

^^IN the last day of next month the tenure of offlce of every
^^ city officĩal within the territory of Greater New York comes
to an end. New heads of departments are to be appointed by
Mayor Vau Wyck on tbe first day of January, and they will as-
sume theiroíHcialdutiesimmedíatelyupDn takingtheusual oathof
office. The Department of Buildings is to be headed by a board
consisting of three commissioners, each of whom must be an
architect or builder. One of the commissioners îs to be presi-
dent of the board, and shall be so designated by the Mayor. in
appointing these commissioners the Mayor must specify the
borough or boroughs in which they are respectively to bave ad-
ministrative jurisdiction, namely: one in the boroughs of Man-
hattan and The Bronx (New York), one in the borough of
Erooklyn, and one in the boroughs of Queens and Richmond
(Long Island City and Staten Isĩand). The principal office of
the Department of Buildings is to be in the borough of Man-
hattan; there is to be a branch olflce ín the borough of Brook-
lyn, and branch offiees may be established in the other boroughs.
The salary of the commissioner in the boroughs of Manbattan
and The Bronx, and the salary of the commissioner for the bor-
ough of Brooklyn, is to be in each case seven thousand dollars
a year; and the salary for the commissioner in the boroughs o£
Queens and Richmond is to be three thousand flve hundred dol-
lars a year. The salary of the commissioner in the boroughs of
Manhattan and The Bronx is increased five bundred and twenty
doilars a year by reason of his beîng a member of the Board of
Examiners. Thus the salaries for the three commissioners
range respectively, $7,520, ?7,000 and ?3,500.

The Board of Buiiding Commissioners are to have the power
to establish rules and regulatious for the admínistration of the
department, and may amend or appeal the same from time to
time. As far as practicable, such rules and regulations must be
unîform in all the boroughs.

The existing New York building law is to continue în full
force and effect in the boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx;
the existing Brooklyn building law is simílarly to contlnue in
the borougb of Brooklyn; and the ordinances relating to buiid-
ings in Long Island City and on Staten Island are to continue
in force in the boroughs of Queens and Richmond; all are to
continue until the Municipal Assembly establisbes a code of
ordinances, to be known as the " Building Code," which is to
provide for all matters concerning, affecting or relating to the
construction, alteration or removal of bulĩdings în the greater
city. For the purpose of preparing such code, the Municipai
Assembly may employ a commission of experts. Upon the es-
tablishment of a building code the existing building laws and
ordinances become thereby repealed.

Each commissioner is to have administratlve jurisdiction
within the borough or boroughs to which he may be appointed,
and wîthin the Hmits of his appropriation, is to have power to
appoint and at pleasure to remove subordinate officers, such as
superintendents, inspectors, engineers, clerks, messengers and
assistants.

Appeals may be made from an adverse decision of any one
commissioner in any case where the amount involved by such
decislon exceeds the sum of one thousand doHars.    In the bor-