Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 42, no. 1070: September 15, 1888

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September 15, 1888 Record and Guide. 1107 "'^/^ ^ ESTABLlSHED'^VftFtpHSl'-^ ------- DZV&TO) TO f^EJ^L ESTME , BuiLDlf/G Af^crilTECTUI^E ,HoiJSEHOLD DeGOHATIOII. Bi/sif/Ess aiJd Themes of Ce^eiviI- Ij^Jtci^est PRICE, PER VEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Fidylished every Saturdaij. TELEPHONE, - . . JOHN 370. Commumcations should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. 7. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XLII. SEPTEMBER 15, 1888. No. 1,070 Congress ought to adjourn. The members will naturally want to take some part in the political canvass, at least so far as their own seats are concerned. An announcement that Congress had decided to take a recess until December would be received with great pleas¬ ure by the whole of the business community. The great bulk of the appropriation bills Iiave been passed, and the rest are well under way. It is admitted that the appropriations already made will seriously diminish the surplus. Our national Legislature can afford to be hberal. We ougiit not to object to spending money for desir¬ able objects. "Why not pay tlie French spoliation claims ? Presi¬ dent Andrew Jackson bullied France out of the money to settle these claims, but the effort of Congress ever since has been to keep tbe money away from those to whom it belongs. Of course the original claimants are all dead, but the money is due theJr heirs. If it is not paid to them it should be returned to the French govern¬ ment. It certainly does not belong to the United States. There are other legitimate ways of getting rid of the surplus. Passing the Blah- Education bill would be one of them. But in any event Congress should vote to adjourn over until December. Neither party in Congress shows to much advantage in dealing with any question likely to affect votes. The hot haste with -which the Chinese Exclusion bill was passed is calculated to make every self-respecting American citizen heartily ashamed of his counti-y. However objectionable Chinamen may be as residents of the United States, there is every human reason why we should deal justly and temperately with the Chinese government. That power has done us no harm and it should have been treated courteously. Even regarding the matter from the low plane of self interest, we should have respected the susceptibilities of the Chinese people and govern¬ ment. Tlie trade of that empire is very valuable to us aud it is capable of indefinite esteusion. We have heretofore stood well with thia great Asiatic power, as we have not bulhed or made war upon it as did Great Britain and France. The passing of the Chi¬ nese Exclusion bill before w^e knew what the Emperor and his counsellors had done with the treaty was legislation dictated by demagogery, not statesmanship. The Republican Senate will act unwisely if it presents to the country a tariff bill of its own. No matter how adroitly it is drawn it win affect powerful interests adversely, and will hurt the party in the Presidential canvass. The Fisheries Ti-eaty rejection and the quarrel early in the session with the President over appointments shows that the Republicans are not wisely led. Senator Edmunds stands high with his party, and has been thought well of by the country, but he has shown neither tact, sense nor judgment as a pai-ty leader. The Fishery Treaty could have gone over until the December session, but the Vermont Senator insisted on its rejection, thus enabling President Cleveland to play a trump card in the Presidential contest. It would be a stUl greater blunder if the Republicans put forth a revised tariff of their own. The recent elections show that they liave a fair chance for success in the November election, but they cannot afford to miss any points in the Presidential game. The passing of the dividend on St. Paul common and the reduc¬ tion of the dividend on the preferred was a blow to prices in Wall street. The real weakness of our railway system is, and has been, in the West, where there has been undue extensions in the way of railway construction and resulting in rate wars because of inter¬ ference with one another's territory by the several great corpora¬ tions. St. Paul, Burlington & Quincy, Atchison & Sante Fe have all been selling too Irigh %v;ien one considers their great mileage and the lack of business in the regions where the railroad building was most active. But it does uot seem likely that the stock market will long continue weak, as the general factors at work favor the '" buUs," Tlie business of the country is on a sound and prosperous 'basis; the price of iron and all the metals is hardening, due to a large and increasing demand. But the best feature of all is our magnificent crops of cotton, small grain, and more particularly corn, which is now practically out of danger; true, our wheat crop is short, but then the price we will get for that and aR oiur other agricultural products will add largely to our national wealth and enable our farmers to consume more manufactm-ed goods than they have done'for many years. The general outlook for business is excellent, and will make itself felt in our real estate market, if not this fall, certainly next spring. --------•-------- The Mugwumps are in open revolt against the candidacy of David Bennett Hill for Governor. The daily Times and Evening Post, while still standing earnestly for Cleveland, urge their readers to vote for Warner Miller as against Hill. Henry George and Father McGlynn, although separated in other matters, agree on calling upon the laboring people to oppose Hill. Yet, with all this opposition, the active Democratic leaders firmly believe and loudly iiroclaim that Hill's vote will be larger than Cleveland's, and that the Governor will be re-elected in any event. The situation is certainly a curious one, and if Hill finally ti-iumphs he wiU rank with the foremost leaders of the Democratic party. Anyone who can carry this gi-eat State against so much opposition becomes an inevitable candidate for the Presidency. The Republicans generaUy seem to tliink that this nomination of Hill gives them a better chance to carry this State for Harrison and Morton. The canvass so far show that Governor Hill is a man of exceptional ability and one of the most adroit politicians that has ever taken his place as d Democratic leader in tlus State. The Two Letters of Acceptance. The documents put forth by Messrs, Cleveland and Harrison, accepting the nominations for the Presidency, may fairly be said to represent the best opinion of the respective party leaders on the questions of the day. Indeed, these two letters may be called revised editions of the platforms adopted at St. Louis and Chicago by the Democratic and Repubhcan conventions. President Cleve¬ land, in all probabfiity, consulted his advisers as to what he should say, while Candidate Harrison's utterances undoubtedly reflect the sober second thought of the Republican leaders. "What strikes the reader in both documents is the abandonment of any advanced position by either candidate. Mr. Cleveland, instead of being a Free Trader, practically avows himself a Protectionist of a conservative type, while Mr. Harrison abandons the ground of proiiibitory duties which was taken in the Chicago platform, and indeed favors a reform, nor does he indorse the proposition to reduce the tax on whiskey. Indeed, so far as a declaration of affirmative principles goes, even on the tariff, there is little to choose between the two candidates. But, of course, the cardinal issue remains that the Democrats favor a liberalizing of the duties, while the Repubhcans insist that the first consideration should be protection to American industry. The real conflict will take place over this particular issue, which, by the way, is world wide. For the past forty years the leading commercial nations—that is, France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Spain—have been levying duties on British manufactures so as to encoui-age home industries. The United States has had the same object in view, and so indeed have the two dependencies of Great Britain — Australia and Canada. Should the Democrats win in the pending contest it will be regarded as a new departure by at least one great nation. It will mean that for a time at least we will try to frame oui- impost duties on a more liberal basis. Are the American people prepared to make this experiment? That is the question to be settled by the vote on the 6th day of November next. The other commitments of the candidates are not of much account. They both agree in denouncing Trusts because they think it is the popular thing to do. Then they both profess to be heartily in favor of the monstrous pension swindles. It is very evident from his minor vetoes that President Cleveland understands thoroughly the atrocious character of our whole pension legislation, but poli¬ tical considerations force him to take the wrong side. Candidate HaiTison is still more emphatic in favoring a continuance and ex¬ tension of this wasteful and reprehensible legislation. Both candi¬ dates favor civil service reform on paper, but no matter which is elected it will be found that party services will be repaid by appointments to office. On one point Mr. Harrison's letter is a disappointment. In his speeches to the delegations which have called upon him he has favored the using of our treasury surplus to rehabilitating our foreign commerce and to improve our rivers and harbors. There is nothing of this tn his letter of acceptance, but he indorses the pohcy of President Cleveland, -wliich is to get rid of the surjilus by buying unmatured national bonds. We have never taken stock in tliisway of doing business. "We cannot see why the government should col¬ lect money from the euthe people and make a present of it to the few milUonaires and corporations who own the evidences of what remains of our national debt. Money ia worth fiom four to six per cent, in the channels of trade, but government bonds ftt preaem; prices wiU return barely twp per cent. This is because there is a 1