Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 43, no. 1095: March 9, 1889

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Msfch 9,1886 Record and Guide. 307 ■^y ^^ ESTMUSHED-^WARPHSI"^ 1868. De/ojeO to fW- Estate . BuiLoif/c Ap.ctf itectv1R.e .KousEilou) DEGOfV.TlorJ. BUsh/essaiJd Themes orGEiJERALI|JT£i\EST PRICE, PER TEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. TELEPHONE, . - . JOHN 370. (cmmunlcations sbould be addressed to C.W, SWEET, 191 Broadway, /. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XLIII. MARCH 9, 1889. No. 1,095 The stock market is not a very cheerful place nowadays. The public seems indisposed eitlier to speculate orjinvest in bonds, and good dividend-paj-ing stocks bring prices which do not yield 5 per cent. The coal stocks are no longer attractive in view of the stop¬ page of work in the mines and the diminished demand for coal; the grangers and the Soutliwesteru roads continue to be a drag in the market. Although rates are maintained much of the new mileage is thi-ough uninhabited regions; the population of the West will have to grow up to the present railroad facilities, and that will take some years. General business is not good. It seems as if Europe was still buying our securities, for though the balance of trade is steadily against us there is no outflow of gold. As a business boomer the new Republican administration is not a success ; there is, however, one hopeful sign—to wit: the renewal of building activity in the large cities, especially in New York and Brooklyn. Merchants and all connected with the shipping and naval interests of the country ought to unite tc give a dinner to the Hon. Wm. C, Whitney. He has the distinction of leaving office with more honor than any of his Cabinet associates; he has giveu the country, if not a navy, at least the nucleus of one; he has not been afraid to spend money, if by doing so a service was rendered the country, while es-President Cleveland and the rest of his Cabinet, nearly every Democi-at in the Senate and House and nearly all Democratic papers, were a unit against expenditures—they preferred to give away the funds to the rich individuals and corporations who held evidences of the national debt. The credit won by Secretary Whitney ought to furnish an example to President fiarrlson, to the members of his Cabinet and to the leaders of the administrative party. By all means let Secretary Whitney be honored by the maritime interests of the country. An expression of oinhion might on thatoccasion be made, which might or should reverse the " do- nothing policy " of the governmnnt. We ave rich and can afford to spend a good deal of money for public improvements, sea-coast defenses, and for rehabilitating our merchant marine. We are sure of four prosperous years if this policy is pursued by the adminis¬ tration. The Manhattan Company is not in favor with the public. Not because it has not been a benefit to the city, but on account of the questionable management by Gould, Sage and Field. But the movement it is making against a certain class of legal practitioners will be viewed with approbation by the bulk of the husiness com¬ munity. The blackmailing of corporations by politicians, lawyers and even bankers is one of the crying evils of the time, the magni¬ tude of which is not generally recognized. Tbe fact is it has become impossible to name any public improvement or remedy without at the same time calling into light gi-oups of individuals' intent upon making money out of it. The list of shyster lawyers who watch the records of the police and other courts and follow up trivial accidents and mishaps for the purpose of inciting litigation or being " bought off" by the pestered individual, has become dan¬ gerously long. Builders have always been serious sufferers from this class of legal harpies, who strike at them through statutes framed for the just protection of working people. Cases are "worked up" against them by these lawyers merely on con¬ sideration of '■ contingent fees." Our readers may recall the staud taken by a prominent builder some time ago, the facts of which were given in these columns. It has come to such a pass now that if a person falls and bruises his shin in going by a house a lawyer ■will at once he on hand to suggest a suit against the landlord on whose property the accident took place. As we said at the outset, it is a pity the action commenced against this class of lawyers by the Manhattan Company was not undertaken by a company which could enter the courts with more of the sympathy of the community. Of course, the Manhattan Company has seriously damaged some very valuable prjperty and will be forced to make good any real losses, but advantage was taken of this state of things by speculative lawyers to induce hundreds of property-holders to bring suits for damagea whose property was really benefited by the I-unning of the elevated trains. Doctors who should run around and tell people they were sick on account of the elevated road T\ ould soon be fired out of the profession, and lawyers who make it a business to induce people to bring action against the "L" people do so against the best traditions of tbe Bar. The interlocutors in "Our Prophetic Department," last week, were lucky in their guesses as to the principal features of President Harrison's policy, wh'ch was to be outlined in his inaugural addi-ess. He favors legislation that will protect the blacks of the South in theii- political rights; he avows himself a strong protec¬ tionist and an opponent of the spoils system; he talks moderately, but takes high ground on the Panama Canal question; he favors reform in our emigi-ation law, and where the States are delinquent in the matter of education he would have the general government interfere to diminish illiteracy; he favors additions to our navy, and inferentially coast defenses for our principal sea-girt cities. His most questionable recommendation is that in favor of additional pensions to men who served in the Federal army, but did not get hurt. The last annual appropriation for pensions was eighty-four million; in 1880 it was fifty-six million. Ifc is safe to say tbat fifteen million per annum would be au extravagant appropriation for our surviving soldiers; yet, before the close of President Harri¬ son's term of office, it may reach a hundred miUion per annum. Our newspapers know what a gigantic swindle this pension business is, but they are too cowardly to stigmatize it as it deserves. But President Harrison's attitude on one or two important matters radically differs from that of ex-President Cleveland and the Demo¬ cratic party. He specifically recommends that encouragement be given to shipbuilders to construct vessels that will carry our flag to distant ports; be favors coaling stations and harbors of refuge in distant seas, evidently having in view the creation of a great mer¬ chant marine. All thi^ is very cheering. The i>arty which has just stepped out of power regarded "Uncle Sam" as a wretched old bankrupt who must save every cent of money and not spend anything, even for the most essential objects. But President Har¬ rison says in effect: "We are a prosperous nation; we should-Spend money to make money." He believes in a full Treasury so that we will not have to impose new taxes or borrow in emergency. Here¬ after the United States government may be regarded as an active factor in stimulating the business of the country. If there is more money in the Treasury than suffices for our immediate needs he would buy bonds. This ought to be a bull argument in WaU street'; nevertheless we do not approve of the policy of giving the money of tbe community as a bonus to the bondholders. I I 1 The composition of President Harrison's Cabinet, and the strong but cautious tone of his inaugural address, warrants the expectation that we are entering upon an era during which the country's affair.=( will be well administered, Mr. Blaine has excited a good deal of personal and political animosity, but he is confessedly one of the most brilliant men of the country.. Mr. Windom has been trained iu public affairs. As Senator he favored internal improvements, and when Secretary of Treasury under a former administration he performed the notable feat of converting 6 per cent, gov¬ ernment bonds into 3 and S^ per cent, bonds. Mr. Wanamaker ought to prove a very capable Postmaster-General, as he has built up and personally conducted one o? the largest stores in the world, He must be a man of great organizing ability, and possessed of the general intelligence as well as the power to co-ordiuate a vast mass of details. Messrs. Miller and Noble are personal friends of the Presi¬ dent, and his judgment of their merits will have to be tested by theii- subsequent careers. The country knows nothing of the capa¬ bilities of the Secretary of War or of the Secretary of Agriculture. Still, there is something in the Cabinet we do not like. There are too many lawyers to begin with. In a country filled with first- class business men, these last ought to have a larger representatiou in the executive part of the government. General Tracy, for Secre¬ tary of the Navy, is objectionable in every possible way. True, he is a clever lawyer and a good speaker; but we doubt if he could tell the larboard from the starboard side of a vessel, though he might discriminate between an anchor and a smoke-stack. It is a jjity tbat the practice of our government did not permit the continuance in office of ex-Secretai-y Whitney, who has done so much to give us an efficient navy. It will take General Tracy two years to acquire the right kind of knowledge to caiTy on Mr. Whitney's work. Indeed, one is prone to suspect that he was appointed more in view of the patronage of the Brooklyn Navy Yard tban because of any ability he may be likely to sbow in recon- stinicting our navy.______________ The exasperating part of this business is that President Han-ison had excellent business material to choose from. Cornelius N, Bliss, John F. Plummer, Warner Miller, Thomas C. Piatt, all of whom have been spoken of for this important office, would have made i