Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 41, no. 1049: April 21, 1888

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April 21, 1888 Record and Guide. 487 ■"^ 'V ESTABLISHED^MARCH2l'-^^l858. De/oTED to HEJ^L Es we . SuiLOlf/c AR.cKlTEeTvJ[\E ,HOUSEUOLD DEGOf^ATlOlJ. Bi/sir/ESS Atio Themes of Gej^eraI Ij>JT£n.EST PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. TELEPHONE, - - - JOHN 370. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T, LINDSEY, Business Manager, Vol. XLI. APRIL 31, 1888. No. 1,049 The death oi the Emperor of Germany would not make anyimme- diate difference in international politics; nor is it likely to cause auy marked depression on the borurses of Eiu-ope. The present Crown Prince is known to be in sympathy witb Prince Bismarck, aud the latter is knowTi to desire peace for the present. Em-ope has been investing a great deal of money in American secm:jties and is ready to take many more siiould any biiyiug movement be developed on this side of the ocean; hence it may follow tbat notwithstandiug some very imfavorable trade conditions we may have an active aud advancing stock market, unless the unexpected should happeu. It looks for the last few days as if there was new life in the stock market due to the determination of tbe government to keep on purchasing bonds and releasing the money in the treasury. The resumption of bond buying by the government seems to have given new life to speculation in "Wall street. President Cleveland has given private assurances to capitalists in New York tliat tbe administration wiU keeji on buying bonds until the surplus is so far reduced as to cayse no uneasiness until Congi'ess meets again. The Secretary of the Treasury will not be deterred from pursuing this policy, even if the holders of tlie bonds should put theu- price up considerably above wbat their value would be were the Treasury not in the market bidding for them. This policy will make a better feehng in Wall sti-eet and in general trade, but although we wiU be almost alone we protest against it as unwise. There is no sense in paying debts before they are due. It puts tbe nation at the mercy of the great bondholders, for these purchasers make a corner in tbe nation's securities. These being the standard it results in the lower¬ ing of tbe rate of interest, and feeds tbe fires of speculation by enhancing the values of aU securities unnaturally. In tbe six years extending from 1879 to 1885 the interest bearing debt was reduced by $571,079,850. Tliis large amount was made available for the pm-chase of new raUroad bonds and stocks, and it accounts in great part for tbe years of speculative activity we have gone through, the overbuilding of railroads and the lowering the rate of interest from 7 to less tiian 4 per cent. The moment bond purchasing stopped last July there was a crash in prices and an increase in the rates for money in the open market. Renewed bond buying will advantage Wall street and be a direct bonus to the rich bondholders and corporations wbo own government securities. of holding their power by the will of the sovereign. In other words, the German Emperor would conform in a measure to the Parliamentary system which obtains in Great Britain. Tbe federal republic may come in the distant future, sliould the Emperor soon die and hia son prove incompetent to govern tbat now mighty power. Should he inherit, however, the ability of the HohenzoUems, or have tbe wisdom or luck to secure another Bismarck as minister, the repubhc would not come in his lifetime. But the Germans are a very intelligent and educated people and fully competent to gov- ei-n themselves. They will not be disposed to tolerate a weak or unwise ruler after Bismarck bas passed away. But the Boulanger furore is very significant. There is nothing In the man or his antecedents to justify his apparent popularity. The suppcrfc be is receiving merely means that the French are sick of Parliamentary government. Tliey want a leader of some kind who will govern them according to theii- own ideas. The vote just taken does not mean that Fi-ance wants either a king or an emperor, but a dictator, or a protector like OMver Cromwell, would be very acceptable, Fi-ance was never of much account in the Councils of Europe except when controlled by some great ruler or minister such as Charlemagne, Louis XL, Louis XIV., Richelieu or Napoleon. But when under legislative rule, as in tbe Revolution, and for the last seventeen years, Fi-ance is torn by faction. Her finances fall into disorder and her national prestige suffers. It seems to be im¬ possible for a republic to form a staple ministry, one that will com¬ mand respect at home or abroad. The absence of great controlling parties is one vital defect in Fi-ench politics. Instead of two great political organizations, hberal and conservative, the French Cham¬ ber is spht up into twenty or more warring groups, each ready to foi'm new combinations every month or two, Tbe lesson of the present crisis is that tbe French Constitution must be radically reconstructed. Power must be taken from the legislative body and lodged in a capable executive head. But it is a diversion of tbe money of the community into rich men's and speculators' pockets to the permanent injury of our great industries. The surplus in the Treasury ought to have been spent productively—that is, for river and harbor improvements, for new^ public buildings, for sea coast defenses and for rehabilitating our foreign commerce. In this way the money of tbe people would have been turned into the clianuels of general trade and would bave given employment to the hundreds of thousands of work people who are now losing their situations. But no, all the fool editors of the daily press are uttering idiotic outcries against the $20,000,000 river and harbor bill when the internal and extei-nal commerce of the country calls for an outlay of over $100,000,000. It would repay ua fiftyfold if our harbors were improved and our waterways dredged and sti-aightened so as to facilitate cheap transportation. For years om- own foreign commerce at this port has demanded an expenditure of fully $3,000,000 to deepen the channel in oui- lower bay, but the river and harbor bill appropriates a bttle over $300,000, a ridiculously inadequate sum, because of the demagoguery about jobbery by the editors of our city press. '* Sir Oracle," some months ago, said the outlook in Europe pointed to a dictatorsiiip in France and the formation of something like a federal republic in Germany. The latter event does not seem very likely, but it is very certain that if the German Emperor was in good health the strongly centralized government of Prince B^- marck would give place to a Parliamentary system in which the ministers would be responsible to the chief legislative body, instead What harm haa om* silver coinage done that an Eastern newspa¬ per should clamor agamst tbe Beck amendment to tbe Funding Bill, directing the Ti-easury Department to coin dollars so as to replace national bank bills as they are withdrawn? Since 1873 there has been a contraction of $180,000,000 of national bank notes, and it is kuown tbat there is also a steady diminution of tha volume of greenbacks, due to wear, waste and loss. Ti-ue the silver coinage has probably made good the loss in paper cm'rency, but the country keeps on gi-owing in population and business, and requires large annual additions to its currency. We have only about $96 per capita of gold, silver and paper money. France bas $52 per capita. Indeed we have less active currency than any of the leading nations of Europe. Tliis forces us to depend on bank accommodations and credits which are a constant peril to business, leading to violent fluctuations, constantly recurring panics and semi-panics, France never has panics, because her abundant currency of gold and silver enables her people to conduct business on a cash basis. This silver coinage has for some years now saved us from the panics in prices which we were subject to every spring and fall when our sole reliance was national bank currency. The managers of these institutions always managed to get up a flurry in money, so as to get exorbitant rates for current funds twice a year, if not oftener. They cannot of course control silver certificates, as they used to do bank issues. Hence tbe propo¬ sition to issue silver certificates as bank notes are withdrawn is in the interest of the general trade of the country. Our Treasury might have rendered such action unnecessary had it increased the silver coinage without waiting for this action of Congi-ess, for the law fixes the minimum at $3,000,000 per month, and the maximum at $4,000,000. The Treasury Department, under the unwise influence of WaU. atreet, has nevei- exceeded the $3,000,000 hmit. It seems, wheu the new aqueduct is completed, that our water supply will not be materiaUy increased. The existing reservon- wiU hold only nine bilUon gallons. Any surplus water now escapes over the dam and is carried away. A proper supply for the t-wo aqueducts, the old aud the new one, will require reservoirs with the storage capacity of tlm-ty-eight bUlion gaUona. This we cannot have until the Quaker Bridge dam is constructed, and tbe plans for that are not yet agreed upou. It would take f uUy four years to con¬ struct tliis reservoir, and it may be a year before we can decide to go to the expense that would be requhed. Next year some time the new aqueduct wiU be finished. It will cost a great deal of money, and should we have a di-ought this summer or next we would not be much better off than we were in the summer of 1881. Indeed, it would be the part of prudence to prevent the waste of water which is now reducing our supply. Water iu thia city ia always scarce, and in a very dry season we wiU be forced to go through the horrors of a water famine. ----------m------— Sir Lyon Playfair has written an elaborate article, whicb baa been widely copied, though not in thi.s counti-y, in which he tries to •