Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

The Record and guide: v. 39, no. 983: January 15, 1887

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January 15, 1887 The Record and Guide. 61 THE RECORD AND GUIDE, Published every Saturday. 191 Broad.A?vay, IST. Our Teleplione Call is » - - - JTOHN 370. TERMS: OIVE YEAR, in advance, SIX DOLLARS. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. VOL. XXXIX. JANUARY 15, 1887. No. 983 been committed. Governor Hill wants a Jaw passed by which murderers shall have only two trials; that is, there shall be only one appeal to the highest court of the State. But, in truth, our whole criminal practice should be reformed. The object to be attained is swift trial and immediate punishment. The aim of the present system is to enable lawyers to pile up charges, and it seems to be impossible to get any Legislature, composed almost wholly of lawyers, to amend our criminal practice in this regard. Hence Judge Lynch is so active in so many parts of the country—not very far from New York either. A large extra edition of The Record and Guide is published this uieek, and loill be sent to thousands of business firms and individuals who have never seen it before. All who receive sample copies should study this paper carefxdly and they will see that no active business man in any department of trade can afford to be without it. We not only publish the official transfers of real estate and the mort¬ gages, but a world of other matters affecting ihe interests of busi¬ ness men. All who sell goods of any kind are interested in the judgments and chattel mortgages which are on file. All that the Common Council does affecting real estate, with everything relating to assessments, the doings of the Exchange, lists of new buildings, the reports of auction sales, what is doing in the brokers' offices, are all to be found in The Record and Guide more completely than in any other publication. Not only real estate owners, dealers and auctioneers shoidd have this paper; it is equally indispensable to lawyers, merchants, banks and money lenders, for it gives thefidlest information as to the financial standing of all people who buy or seek credit. Our patrons tooidd do ivell to look over our advertising columns to-day. It ivill be noticed how important and varied are the interests they represent. There is no existing paper that appeals to the business community so completely as does The Record and Guide. AU the newspapers admit that Henry George was the most pop¬ ular speaker at the free trade meeting on Wednesday evening last. He was cheered to the echo, though he is anything but an attractive orator. This large personal following will make him a power in the politics of the country ; yet it may be doubted if he will ever poll so large a vote as he did last November for Mayor. Tens of thousands of ballots were cast for him by persons who were opposed to the theories he has set forth. But his candida¬ ture was used to emphasize a protest against the party machines of this city. The subsequent labor vote in Boston shows that the working people are not yet ready to leave the old parties. But if Mayor Hewitt's administration aims to keep the machine politi¬ cians in power then there is danger of Henry George or some person like him coming to the front with votes enough to elect him chief magistrate of this now ill-governed city. "With this week's issue we have given a great deal of room to the publication of our usual annual review of the markets for build¬ ing material. The comparison with 1885 is generally of an excel¬ lent character, prices, as a rule, averaging somewhat higher; nearly every leading article of a standard character reaching a larger movement, and leaving no accumulation on hand in excess of that shown January 1st last, affording ample evidence of the growth of building operations. Indeed, had not the labor agitation during the early portion of the season led to the abandonment of considerable contemplated work, it is the opinion of prominent operators that 1886 would have developed the largest consupiption for material of any year on record. Some differences of opinion prevail respecting the prospects for the approaching season, but, as a rule, the optimist view predominates, and the impression holds that, unless some idiosyncrasy of labor crops out to create trouble, business will prove liberal and satisfactory throughout. The newspapers which oppose the creation of a Cabinet depart¬ ment of agriculture and labor are blind to the tendency of things in all modern governments. There is not a nation on earth but what keeps adding to its bureaus and departments as the popula¬ tion and business of the country increases. In primitive govern¬ ments the one monarch or ruler attended to every thing, but, finally, the necessity arises for Secretaries of State, Ministers of Finance, War, Justice and the like. Ia all highly-civilized governments the seats of authority bristles with bureaus. As Hfrbert Spencer phrases it, "the evolution is from homogeniety to hetrogeniety." Compare, for instance, the complex British Cabinet with that of a barbarous African ruler. In the House of Representatives there were only twenty-six votes against the creation of this new depart¬ ment, which expresses the sentiments of the people far better tnan the hide-bound opinions put forth by our city newspaper writers. Valuation of City Realty for 1887. The assessed valuation of real estate for 1887, as compared with 1886 and previous year, is shown in the following table: Jay Gould vehemently denounced the Interstate Commerce bill here at the East; but when he got West he thought better of the measure, and said to an interviewer that if one provision of the bill was not so ambiguous it would be all right. Nevertheless, all the rail¬ way managers and manipulators are opposed to the creation of a comraission which might interfere with their plans. Once estab¬ lished, the national commission would point out abuses which it would require additional powers to correct. Unquestionably the methods now employed to increase the capitalization of roads and add to the private fortunes of persons in control of the corpora¬ tions would be seriously interfered with. An Interstate railway law is inevitable, and when enacted it would be for the benefit, not only of the public, but the holders of railway securities. But the Jay Goulds, the Stanfields, Huntingtons, and the other rp-il- way magnates who have grown rich under the existing system, will very naturally oppose a reformatory measure of this kind. Wards. First ........... Second.......... Third....... . Fourth......... Fifth............ i'ixth............ 'Seventh......... Eighth......... Ninth........... Tenth........... i- leventh ....... Twelfth........ Thirteenth..... Fouteen h..... Fi'teenth....... Sixteenth..... Seventeenth___ Eighteenth .... Nineteen'h..... Twentieth...... Twenty-first___ Twenty-econd. Twenty-third .. Twenty-fourth. Assessed Valu¬ ation, 188<. $r9,636,Hl* 31,-.iii2,140 38,v94.iMiO 13 i.ii.srg 45,5 9,6^8 23,97 ,441 16. 34.e.')9 3l,45-i.209 2«,(»:-i9,'66 1T.437.''85 16,577.370 121,905.680 10.18r.W5 24,312 215 5.%l89 2i6 37,033,5 4 33.584.5*31 77,690,378 198.296,968 44.9.54.495 88,341.311 9.5,178 8>-9 I8,f>.'i9.< 59 10,272,115 Assessed Valu¬ ation, 188H. $7-(.~9i»,763 34 :i66,378 38,:<85.429 13 210.848 4=i.S)97.412 24.y52.693 16.9o.%446 39,037 «17 29.246,090 ]7.!«'0.365 16.791,lyg 134,0:11,832 10,366.41ft 24.679,727 6.'i,P38,--i4t 37 857,127 33,88 ,094 78.1.=; 3,344 204 91«,4S5 45.641,676 89,'iH4.423 103.72S.440 19,616,976 11,194,090 Ass".''sed Valu¬ Increase ation, 1887 sincf i886. $80,61 l.40 6,893,7, 5 46..='52,070 910,394 f9,817,4 9 733,1 M 6 113,-94.537 10,< 66.097 21,0.56.317 1,43'.341 11,791,460 597,370 $1,257,275,903 $53,334,838 The newspapers are demanding the speedy trial and prompt punishment of Rourke, the drunken policeman who murdered his iDenefactor, a fellow officer. But why speedy justice in his case more than in others? Our whole system of punishing criminals is a scandal to our civilization. Our laws are designed merely to add to the emoluments of lawyers and not to punish those who are guilty of grave crimes against society. A criminal now has a right to have several trials, and, if he has naoney, the " laws delay" enables bim to live a couple of years _at least after the offence.has [ i^g. Total..............$1,168,413,13!' $1.20.3,941,065 The above table is interesting as showing the quarters of the city in which there is the greatest increase of values. The First Ward, which has been called the toe of Manhattan Island, exhibits an increase of nearly $3,00l\000 in the valuation of its property. The Twelfth Ward, which embraces all the upper end of the island, shows an addition of $24,500,000. In the Nineteenth Ward there is nearly $7,000,000 increase, and in the Twenty-second Ward over $10,000,000 increase. The older portions of the city do not vary much from the valuations of last year. What is surprising is the relatively small increase in the region north of the Harlem—that is^ the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards. From the nature of things the activity in this region and the consequent enhancement of values must increase very largely from this time forth. Large as is the valuation of the Twelfth Ward it will be surpassed before 1900 in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards, unless, indeed, these large sections of territory should be cut up into additional political divisions. Of course, it is understood that the above val¬ uation for 1887 is subject to amendment by property-holders, who have a right to appear before the Commissioners and get their assessments reduced if the assessors have done them injustice. But the total given above will not change very much after the corrections are completed. But these figures show how the metropolis is grow- It is very clear that the assessments of next jear will largely