Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 41, no. 1057: June 16, 1888

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Jane 16, ISHS Record and Guide. 765 4?IL^ ISfifl e>- - ESTXBLlSHED-^MARCHSliJ^iasa. DEV^Tn) TO HE*,1- EsTME . BUILOIJ/C Afi.crilTECTUI^£ .HoUSElJOLD DEGORATIorJ. BUsit^ESs pMd Themes of Ge^eraL i;jT£i\EST PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published ever~y Saturday. TELEPHONE, . . . JOHN 370. fiommimications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. /. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XLI. JUNE 16, 1888. No. 1,057 The death of the Emperor Frederick will cause general regret throughout the civilized world, and there will be a feeling of appre¬ hension in the Cabinets of EurojDe until it is seen wbat course the new Emperor will pursue. Had the reign of the deceased Freder¬ ick been prolonged we would imdoubtedly bave seen an attempt made to naturalize parhamentary government in the German Em¬ ph-e, The Empress Victoria seemed to have a gi-eat deal of infiu¬ ence with her husband, and they both regarded with admiration the system of government which obtains in Great Britain. Yet it may be doubted whether in tbe long run the German, any more than the French people, would bave taken kindly to political meth¬ ods which would have lodged the power of the realm in the Na¬ tional Legislature, rather than in the hands of a monarch, or a min¬ ister responsible to him instead of to the Reichstag. The French are restless under the rule of Cabinets that cannot command a long lease of power. Germany has been habituated to a rule in which the reigning sovereign took the initiative, and it is barely possible that a government by parliamentary leaders would not suit Teutons trained in an entirely different school. Indeed, as a matter of fact, parliamentary government cannot be said to bave succeeded out¬ side of Great Britain, the United States and other English speakiug peoples. The Latin races are now testing it; but it does not seem as though the Germans would have any opportunit-\- under the Hohenzollern family now ruling the destiny of the Em[)ire. The coming week wiU be an exciting one, politically. The Repub¬ Ucan National Convention meets in Cliicago on Tuesday next, and may remain in session until the following Saturday. Sherman may lead on the first ballot; but New York, Indiana, New Jersey and Connecticut, all considered doubtful States, will have the naming of the candidate. It will be some one who is likely to carry two or three of tbese fom- States. He must be a protectionist, as a matter of course. He must not be objectionable to the Irish, uor can he afford to antagonize the powerful financial interests which centre around Wall street. Indeed, a great deal of money wQl be required by the Republican candidates, for in the absence of the Australian system of voting the " boys" who run the machines will make the most monstrous demands upon them, and they must be satisfied. We still think it looks hke Harrison, Alger or Sherman for the first place on the ticket, and Levi P. Morton of New York, or William Walter Phelps of New Jersey for Vice-President, stfil it may be a dark horse from this State, Wfifiam M. Evarts' name bas not been mentioned, but he would make a very respectable candidate. Baltimore has added 40,800 to the number of her citizens recently by taking in outlying suburbs.. ' Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, indeed nearly aU the large cities of the world, are steadfiy extend¬ ing their boundaries by simfiar means. In the meanwhile New York only grows by the additions to her population on this island and in thc two wards beyond the Harlem. Yet tbe increasing popu¬ lation of Brooklyn and of Jersey, aa far west as New Brunswick and north to Morristown, reaUy is due to the commerce of tliis port. The great city that has grown up about New York Bay nmnbers over 3,000,000 of people, but they are unnaturally divided into a dozen or more distinct municipahties. It -would be easy to show that New York would in every way be better governed if all the meti'opolis was uuder one set of municipal officers. We ought to have a permanent association to keep up an agitation to bring this result about. During the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, our annual Pension bifi amounted to about $30,000,000 per annum. Probably half of that great sum represented pure waste, but President Cleve¬ land has just signed au annual pension bill, which gets rid of $80,- 000,000 per annum. Of course tens of thousands of the beneficiaries under the Hayes administi-ation must have died, and yet the pension bfil has swofien from $30,000,000 to $80,000,000. Wbfie undoubtedly most of the veterans left deserve well of tiieir country, yet among the beneficiaries of the pension fist are all malingerers, skulkers, shirks and bounty jumpers. Of the $80,000,000 we do not believe that $30,000,000 finds its way into the pockets of really deserving soldiers or theh- widows, but is spent on people that never were in the army or were a diegrace^to it and the country. President Cleveland, of course, knows this is the case, and were he not a candidate for re-election he would have vetoed this infamous bill and have told the truth about it as well. He will, however, probably spend bis virtuous wrath upon the petty individual pension bifis, which Con¬ gress is daily passing by the score. He will also doubtless refuse to sanction the River and Harbor bifi which is so sorely needed in every part of the country. It will appropriate something like $30,000,000, while it ought to be at least $100,000,000. The press says nothing condemnatory of the Pension bill, but a perfect chorus of delighted shrieks will go up from Printing House square if he vetoed this bill, although it contained appropriations for this harbor that are almost indispensable though not one-half large enough. In public works we are far beliind other civihzed nations, whfie we are spending more in fraudulent pensions than it costs other countries to keep vast armies in the field. And then there is that monstrous ai-rears of pension bill ready to be voted for which will get rid of $400,000,000 more in addition to the neai-ly $900,000,000 that has been ah-eady paid out for pensions. But what a misfortune it is to have demogogues in Congress who tlunk they dare not dis¬ please the soldier vote, a cowardly press which is afraid to tell the truth, and a President who knowingly countenances a gigantic swindle because he is a candidate for re-election. As a correspondent pointed out last week the Mugwumps havi? not displayed any political sagacity during the present canvass. Had they shown real independence they might have been a most powerful factor in the current politics of the nation. But as it ia they are of no more account than the Labor party which voluntarily committed suicide. The latter with its 68,000 votes for Henry George in the city of New York and its 70,000 votes last faU in the State of New York was in a positiou to dictate terms, as it practi¬ cally held the balance of power in a pivotal State this faU, but its self-efac em ent is one of the most exti-aoi-dinary occu-rrences in our pofitical Ifistory. There does not seem to be what the French call " solidarity " among the working class nor pofitical sense on the part of their leaders. But some intelfigence was expected from the Mugwumps. Their leaders were old amateur pohticians, and their organs were edited by trained jom-nafists. The cue for them was to have to become Independents again when President Grover Cleveland sti-uck Ms Civfi Service flag to the politicians of his own party. They ought to iiave revolted when the White House letter apiieared, indorsing tiie candidacy of Colonel John R. Fellows. No one believes that George Wilfiam Curtis, George Jones, Horace White or E. L. Godkin with their friends are under any per¬ sonal obligation to Grover Cleveland, yet their coiu-se in condoning his backshding and committing themselves to his fortunes in advance is tnexpficable on any public grounds. How can they support the candidate of a party which in this State is opposed, not only to Civil Service Reform, but to Mgh license and the Australian election system, afi of which measm-es they profess to have so much at heart. Had they even wished to help Mr. Cleveland personally how mucb wiser it would have been to have assumed an independ¬ ent attitude and have demanded the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt, ex-Mayor Seth Low, or even of Judge Gresham, on a reform platform. They would have appealed to the young blood of the country as wefi as the reform sentiment. Then, if defeated, tbey could have rendered Mr. Cleveland an immense service by aceeptmg him as a choice of evils. But thev have shown no more practical capacity than Henry George, Father McGlynn, or the other maladroit leaders of the Labor party. The veto of the Election Reform bill by Gov. Hifi was no surprise to anyone who knew the powerful political influences brought to bear on that official. The Democrats in the last Legislature opposed the reform, although it was favored by the organized bodies of workmgmen who are uow prevented from having candidates in the fleld by the heavy cost of election expenses. Were it not a Presi¬ dential year their action on this matter and the Liquor License bill ought to lose the Democrats this Slate, but their excellent nomina¬ tions for President and Vice-President wifi doubtless induce thou¬ sands of independent and reform voters to overlook Democratic shortcomings "just once," There is, however, one real dfiliculty about the proposed new luothnd of voting. We have too many names on our tickets. In Australia, New Zealand and EnKlaud, where the reform method was first tried, there are but few names voted for, generally members ol Parliament, but the difficulty with our elections is the vast number of candidates for office for whom the voter ia asked to give his jjreference; but the scheme vetoed by the Governor will be revived and eventually enacted. In the mean¬ time its practicabifity will be tested by Massachusetts. In the coming election a great deal of money wfil be used in afi the doubtful States, but more especially in New York and Indiana. If the Democrats lose the election through the wholesale bribing of voters they may