Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

The Record and guide: v. 38, no. 978: December 11, 1886

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>ecetnberll, 1886 The Record and Guide. 1515 THE RECORD AND GUIDE, Published every Saturday. 191 Broad^Ty^a-v, N". 'ST. Onr Teleplione Call Is.....JOMN 370. TERMS: YEAR, in adTance, Sll DOLLARS. Oommunications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LDTOSET, Business Manager. Vol. XXXVIII. DECEMBER 11, 1886. No. 978. A volume ivhich should be in the hands of every builder, con¬ tractor, architect, and owner and dealer in real estate, is now ready and can be procured at the offlce of The Record and Guide. It is a new edition of the law relating to buildings in the City of New York, with added matter, marginal notes and colored engravings to illustrate the subject. It contains the law limiting the height of dwelling-houses, also the existing Mechanics' Lien Law. This loork is edited by 'William J. Fryer, Jr., whose original and well-thought-out comments give it a special value. The volume tvill also contain a complete directoi'y of architects in New YorJc, Brooklyn, Jersey Gity, Neivark and Yonkers. The book is handsomely bound in cloth, and is sold at the low price of seventy-five cents, by mail eighty-five cents. There seems to be a halt in the speculative markets such as all sound business men have expected towards the close of the year. There has been a break in petroleum and stocks are depressed. Speculation may pause for a few weeks, but it will break oufc afresh in all probability early in the coming year. The silver inflation is yet to be heard from. The new ones, twos, fives and tens of the silver certificates are yet to make their appearance in all the channels of trade. When they do ifc will stimulate transactions in every possible way and will give a " fillip" to prices of all kinds. We are on the eve of a gigantic speculation in everything, and the sitting Congress will add fuel to the flames by large appropriations and fiscal legislation in the interest of those who wish to profifc by higher prices. —^-------a---------- The national banks see very clearly that neither Congress nor the country is willing that they should have a monopoly of the paper money of the country. None of the plans so far offered furnishing a new basis for national bank issues will be indorsed by Congress. But there is, we understand, a scheme on foot which is in the nature of a compromise between the national banks and the silver men. Certain representatives of the former in this city have a bill prepared pledging the banks to recognize the silver currency, admitting it to the Clearing House and issuing their own obligations on the deposit of silver in their vaults. There is a hint of this plan in Secretary Manning's reporfc, in which he says very truly that no more perfect currency can be conceived than a paper note or certificate repre¬ senting a fall gold or silver dollar. Ifc is hardly likely, however, that the silver representatives in Congress will make any alliance with the national banks which does not recognize the full legal tender quality of silver as of gold. As the Financial Chronicle of this city well puts it: Any reasonable person looking at fchis nsw frenzy in the London bullion markefc cannot fail fco accept ifc as simply anofcher very forcible illusfcrafcion of whafc a mere football silver has become. Ifc has no real value and can have none until the commercial nations oE fche world reinstate ifc as currency. They have arbitrarily taken away ifcs uses, and there is no more reason why it should sfcand afc 47d. than afc 37d., except in prospecfc of some resfcorafcive acfcion on fche parfc of the Royal Commission so recenfcly appoinfced in Greafc Britain. If that source of relief fails, silver has no future other than for mtinafacfcuring purposes. It is said fchat fche late rise in the quotation and the signs o£ recovery in business in Europe have lessened the chance of a favorable issue of the Commission's work, having encouraged the feeling thafc drifting may be fche besfc policy after all. Hence any scheme to make more use of silver will nofc do ; the whifce mefcal muafc be joined with gold in measuring values. The Record and Guide, while earnestly in favor of interna¬ tional bimetallism, is utterly opposed to the policy of substituting paper for the precious metals in the retail trade of the country. We believe the policy of the government should have been to gradually withdraw the ones, twos, fives and tens of all paper issues, replacing them by gold and silver coins, of which there is an abundance in the country. This would place us on a par with Great Britain, France, Germany and all the first-class nations of the world, in all of which paper notes of low denominations are dis¬ countenanced. The United States is the great gold and silver pro¬ ducing nation of the world, and it ought to encourage its own productions by using them. Storing up our gold and silver in treasury and bank vaults is an extremely foolish proceeding, and the issuing ot paper in their place is provocative of the wild specu¬ lation which in all probability will soon be upon us. Let us stick to gold and silver; we cannot have too much of the precious metals. But an exclusive paper currency means fiat money even¬ tually, and that involves, finally, a terrible coUapse in our finances and a long and tedious recovery therefrom. " Why not pay the greenback debt?" asks Secretary Manning. It amounts to $346,000,000 and is a floating obligation of the gov¬ ernment contracted in war times twenty-five years ago. Whatever way you look at it, it is an anomalous obligation. No other country on earth has anything like it. It would have been disposed of long since were it nofc that it involved a contraction which would have been ruinous to the trade of the nation. The banks and the Eastern newspapers have made a violent outcry against silver as currency because its intrinsic value was not equal to gold. But during all these years nothing was said against the greenback as currency, although it was absolutely without any intrinsic value. Secrefcary Manning's plan is to use the surplus aud to give a gold or silver dollar for fche greenbacks as fchey are redeemed. This, he declares, would nofc be contraction, and we could probably gefc rid of this illegitimate obligation in five or six years. But Congress, of course, will not ace upon this suggestion, yefc certainly the greenback is a questionable kind of currency and ought in some way to be retired. The only constitutional curreacy is gold and silver and paper money represenfcing and converfcible into the precious metals. Some of the auctioneers in the Real Estate Exchange are said to be opposed to any very stringent rules interfering with the devices of properfcy owners which are intended fco mislead bona ^de bidders; yet it is very clear that the auction business could be easily doubled if the purchasing public could have the same faith in all sales as they do in those ordered by a courfc or by executors. There is no need of any tricks of fche fcrade to inspire bidders when prop* erty is ordered to be sold by a court. There is then always a large attendance, and the best figures are secured when the purchasers are certain that the property is to be knocked down to the party offering the most money for ifc. Legal sales—that is, where prop¬ erty is sold under a foreclosure—are too often n?anaged in the interest of the money lenders. Ambiguous statements are made by receivers and lawyers, and everything is done to scare away those who are wUling to pay a fair price. This whole matter should be rectified, and the Real Estate Exchange should have its lawyers draw a bill putting the legal sales on a more satisfactory basis. Of coarse the auctioneers are not afc all to blame for these abuses. They have come down to us from the pasfc, and were in existence before the presenfc race of auctioneers entered business. Undoubt¬ edly they would all heartily sanction any measure or measures which would make every sale as attractive to purchasers as are those ordered by the courfc or by executors. The Real Estate Exchange owes its existence as much to The Record and Guide as to any other one agency. Every depart¬ menfc of the Liberfcy street institution was firsfc suggested in these columns, and we have done our best to add to the efficiency and usefulness of the Exchange. No one did more than we to help the brokers' meetings. Our back files show thafc we published arfcicle after article favoring them, giving diagrams showing the various parts of the floor that should be assigned to real estate trading. The Information Bureau was first suggested by us, and the head of that department, Mr. Hugh F. Dolan, was for a long time connected with The Record and Guide. The Legislative Committee which has done such a good work was also firsfc suggested in these columns. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------•-------------------------------------------------------------■— But the new year must see a development of the Exchange in other directions. There ought to be a call in the auction room of miscellaneous securities, such as fire insurance and gas stocks, the shares of apartment houses; indeed, some railroad bonds might be included, as they represent real estate. Horse-car and cable stock might also be quoted and traded in. Then has not the time come when the price of knockdowns should be revised. Under the system which has obtained the purchaser of a f 100 lot pays the same price as the one who buys a $200,000 house. The selling of lots ..should be encouraged by lower rates, and the people who buy $100,000 houses would nofc object to a $30. fee for a knockdown. The revenues of the Exchange might be largely increased from this source, while trading would be encouraged. - In our " Business World " will be found an article from the Even-' inflr Posf, describing the new "progressive" or " graduated " tax now being enforced in Switzerland. A great deal has been said by the journals representing the working classes as to the desirability