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The Record and guide: v. 37, no. 950: May 29, 1886

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May 29, 1886 The Record and Guide. 703 THE RECORD AND GUIDE, Published every Saturday. 191 BroacL^weiv, :iT. Our Teleplione Call is ... . ^^. JOHN 370. TERMS: ONE YEAR, in advance, SIX DOLLARS. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. ning of an enterprise the completion of which would so greatly advantage the metropolis and all who own real estate therein. Vol. XXXVII. MAY 29, 1886. No. 950. This is generally rather a slack season in ordinary business years, but some of the markets have shown unwonted activity during the past week. The new impulse was first felt in our stock mar¬ ket, which was taken hold of by the bulls here and in the West, and quotations were very smartly advanced. There is a feeling that, for the present at least, the strikes as a disturbing factor is over. Then we are shipping grain and cotton; there is an excel¬ lent consumptive demand for goods, the stocks of which in first hands are not large. Money is easy, confidence has returned, and the only really disquieting feature of the situation is the renewal of the exports^of gold. This is due to the fact that although our exports are better than they were our imports are unusually large. The Wall street movement is a natural one. Stocks have been depressed during the early part of this year by some very threatening factors. With these out of the way there is a rebound iu the market such as was to have been expected. But this flurry may not last long. Real estate business is quieter, as was to be expected on the approach of summer. --------•-------- It is a suggestive fact that Chicago operators have for some time past been the leaders in stock speculation on our New York Exchange. Indeed, for some years past Chicago has supplied the boldest operators on all our Exchanges, and they have often got the cream out of the bull or bear campaigns before the New Yorkers " caught on." The mortality among New York stock operators for the past six months has been something remarkable—Vanderbilt, Morgan, Heath, the Osborhes and Woerishoffer are dead, while Jay Gould has retired and hosts of other so-called leaders have stepped down and out. True, there is left Deacon White, Newcombe, Cammack and a few others ; but the street as well as the public does not expect to see the old vim in Wall street until some new and young blood dominates the market. Chicago can really felicitate itself, not only for keeping control of the grain and provision market, but also for being at times the leader in the current speculation in Wall street. The work of reconstructing New York city keeps right on, for in addition to the new houses in every street of any size can be seen the tearing away of old landmarks, to be replaced in time by struct¬ ures more worthy the city. But should not something be done to prevent the interruption to city travel by reason of new construc¬ tion in business streets ? There ought to be an ordinance prevent¬ ing the tearing down or building of houses during business hours. Night has been abolished, so far as building is concerned, by the new illuminants, especially the electric light, and there is no rea¬ son why new construction should not be conflned to the hours between sunset and sunrise. Of course this would not be necessary in streets where there is little business transacted, but great avenues like Broadway should not be the scene of interruption during busi¬ ness hours. The Democrats will try to push through the Morrison revised tariff bill, but there does not seem much likelihood of an indorse¬ ment by Congress of any measure reducing the imposts on foreign products. Despite our present tariff, importations are now so large as to threaten to drain us of gold, unless'we can] get better prices for our agricultural products. But the gold unit injures us in every way. It marks down the price of our cotton, grain, provisions and petroleum, and it has so cheapened foreign goods °as to enable European manufacturers to undersell American goods in their home markets; hence there will be bitter opposition to any scheme reduc¬ ing impost charges. Congress ought, however, to enlarge the free- list, cut down some exorbitant duties, relieve our tariff laws of ambiguity, and correct our Custom House methods, so as to prevent litigation. But reducing duties in a wholesale way at this time would not be tolerated by the country. How absurd is all this vaporing about the fishery disputes with Canada. As a nation we are handicapped, as we are without a navy and our coasts are defenseless. Secretary Bayard must speak with bated breath, for he knows that England can afford to be insolent, and that as a nation we are at her mercy, because of the stolid stupidity of the majority in Congress who mistake poten¬ tial for actual military and naval power. Canada can well afford to seize our fishing vessels and plunder our seamen. We must pocket all such humiliations because of our impotence as a naval power. It would take us five years to get into a state of reasonable security, provided we commenced right away, for we have neither ships, guns, or a system of fortifications. The Holmans and Randalls in Congress will not allow us to commence the necessary work. Nothing short of a national calamity wiU rouse the Ameri¬ can people from the fools' paradise they are now living in. There is reason to belive that work on the Hudson River tunnel, will soon be recommenced. According to a very credible rumor, the New York Central, the Pennsylvania Central and other roads who bring freight and passengers to the New Jersey river front have joined hands to help forward this enterprise. Io is said land has been bought commanding the approaches to the tunnel on the Jersey shore. Were this great work completed it would rank next to the Broadway Arcade in helping to build up the metropolis. Naturally a great deal of the business now carried on on the Jersey shore will be transferred to this island, for all the companies com¬ ing from the West could not afford to depend on ferries if rival corporations could haul their freight and passengers right into the heart of this island. Of course the present terminals on the Jersey shore would probably remain where they are, from which could be shipped much of the heavy freight that come from the West, but passenger and lighter freight would of necessity be brought to this city by way of this tunnel. In response to requests from many subscribers we publish else¬ where the text of the supplemental act amending the charter of the Broadway Underground road and now known as the Arcade. A perusal of its provisions, as passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, may serve to remove certain impressions touching the exact powers of the company under the charter. Some very respectable gentlemen, property-holders on Broadway aud Madison avenue, have issued a call for a meeting on Monday next to raise a fund to, if possible, nullify this charter in the courts. The Record AND Guide, while it respects these gentlemen, does not sympathize with the object they have in view. We have always believed that the creation of another street eighteen feet below the present surface of Broadway would be a benefit not only to the city but to the property-holders. It will add, we believe, very largely to the value of their holdings. This matter has been before the com¬ munity for several years and the project is very generally approved. It is to be hoped that the property-holders who object will not throw away their money by using the courts to postpone the.begin- '' Sir Oracle " seems to think that the police of our large cities are over-zealous in their efforts to crush out the Anarchists and murderous cranks to whom so much, attention has been directed lately by the press in connection with the labor strikes. If public meetings are to be suppressed, he thinks ought to be done by due process of law, and that it is unsafe to lodge the power to disperse peaceable meetings because the orators wag their tongues so loosely as to become objects of popular dislike. If we wish to imitate the methods of foreign governments in forcibly stopping the expres¬ sion of revolutionary opinions let it be done, he sa>s, by the enact¬ ment of properly framed laws. Our police captains are hardly the kind of persons to fill, satisfactorily, the position of censors, with the right to break skulls as well as disperse meetings at their own sweet will. This is a view of the case which has the merit of novelty at least, but the public feeling is so justly incensed against the Anarchists that " Sir Oracle's" protests against what he seems to think the oflaciousness of the police is not likely to be much heeded. The oflBcers of the American Jockey Club will probably agree with "Sir Oracle "that the police are exceptionally zealous in enforcing the anti-betting laws at their race courses. Judge Munson and others complain bitterly of the remissness of the police captains in not providing a sufficient force to guard the entrances and to suppress disorder, while at the same time swarms of police¬ men in citizens clothes were employed as detectives to arrest persons who svere caught surreptitiously betting on the races. In this connection ex-Governor Dorsheimer, in the Star, makes the following striking remarks : The police are busy enforcing the odious law against betting on race courses. It is usual to say that all laws should be enforced. But there are many laws passed in ignorance, or in the spirit of intolerance, which have been permitted to fall into disuse. This particular law is one of the worst now remaining on om: statute books. It is a senseless and impertinent interference with individual conduct. It was passed for the purpose of