Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 46, no. 1189: December 27, 1890

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■|iiHpH«-«MH»iMii«Mii December 27,1890 Record and Guide. 865 i. i 'i. k^ '^\\ w ^ "^ _ \ ESn«JSHn)^IWPH«»i^l868.; BifsniEss Ai(D Themes or GeHei^ IjnciiEsi PRICE, PER TEAR IN ADTANCE, SIX DOLLARS. PubUshed every Saturday, Tbuphoni, ... CobtIaAITdt 1370. CoaununicatioDS dioald be addresBed to CW. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Buaineas Manager. Vol. XLVI. DECEMBER 27, 1890. Na 1,189 THE stock market has been dull and irregular throughout the past week. Both business and speculation are waiting for the b^g^ning of the new year, and waiting with no very confident feeling. It is not an easy matter for business men to recover from the effects of such a shaking-down as the one which recently occurred. The very strong cac, of course, take advantage of a market like the present; but those who have been weakened by losses or discouraged by the lack of immediate recovery take ime to regain confldence. There does not seem at the present time to be any very threatening clouds on the financial sky. Money ought to begin to return from the West; and the rate situation, whatever tbe croakers may say, never looked brighter. There may be some significance in the fact, also, tbat the past season has not been a good one for retail shops. Expensive lines of goods, which were laid in to meet the Christmas demand, have frequently proved to be almost unsalable. Another circumstance which indicates a lack of ready money, is the disastrous theatrical season. More than a hundred combinations which started out on the road this fall have been obliged to break up, owing to poor receipts. Such facts do not speak well for the ability of the people to spend much surplus money. The rise in prices under the McKinley tariff may partiaUy explain the matter. FREQUENT references have been made in these columns to the tlu^atening condition of the relations between labor and capital in Great Britain. During the past week a strike has been started which, if it spreads, may have the same disastrous con¬ sequences as tbat of the dock laborers. About nine thousand men employed by the various railroads in Scotland have quitted work, and the trade of that country has already been unfavorably affected. The cabled reports have so far been too meagre to 'judge of the full extent of the disagreement, the amount of bitterness manifested on both sides, and the possibility of the strike spreading; but coming as the strike does immediately after a most unfortunate contest between the Scotch ironmasters and their employes, the result may be worse than is at present anticipated. In 1889 the strikes in Great Britain were twice as numerotis as during the previous year, 1,145 having been recorded. Of these 476 were successful, 368 i»rtially successful, 207 unsuccess¬ ful, and 94 of unknown result. Such facts as these must tend to give employes confidence in their ability to f'^rcc their employers into acquiescence with their demands. The stock market in Lon¬ don, although affected by the strike, has been like that of this city- dull, but firm. Argentines still remain the principle instruments of speculation, and their price varies with the prospects of an agree¬ ment among the various classes of security-holders. In Paris, also, the market has been dull. M. Rouvier, after considerable conces¬ sions to the Chambers, has managed to make the two ends of his Btidg^et meet. The French wine interests have been more prosper¬ ous in 1890 than in 1889, the production having risen from 28,288,572 hectolitres of twenty-two gallons each, to 27,416,827. Tbe latter, however, is still below the average of the five years past, which was 29,677,095 hectoPtres. In Berlin and Vienna the condition of afUrs has not varied much. Speculation is moderate the world over, and the tendency of prices rather upward than downward. Everywhere, however, the future is regarded with distrust rather than with hope. "p^ VEN the bitterest opponents of Tammany have not been able -*-^ to find fault with Mayor Grant's new Rapid Transit CommiS' sion. Ordinarily our chief magistrate, in contemplating his appointees, is oUiged to rest satisfied with Touchstone's observation respecting his Ipdy Jove, "an ilHavored thing, but mine own." It i^ enoonragiog to notice, however, that both tbe Mayor and his oi^nents are pomipg to the conclusion that the tini^for trifling ia over, Tamn^any pr<^bably apprefsifttes the fs^t that a well* devised jcitpid transit system will he an exe§l}en|t record wbere^ with to 00 |» Ithe feopl9 in 18^, and .■^ R^blicftni must fee tlifit Aei919 idor? 1911 tlHW gain wpuniiii^g j^ pQl^j 9l ft^^ opposition. The new commission, which, presiunably, is the one which have the carrying out of the provisions of any bill which is passed, possess all the requirements insisted on by Senator Fassett in his interview with a reporter of this paper. This bill, according to the latest information, is not simply a copy of the Mayor's bill of last session, but will contain the best features of the Fassett trill. Furthermore, the Mayor is said to have received the assurance of earnest support from many Republican Senators and Assemblymen to tbe measure, as outlined. Ifc would thus seem as if the promised land was fairly within sight. Our experience in this matter does not tend to make us hopeful; but this much can be said—^that never were the prospects fairer. Senator Fassett, it is true, may differ with the commissioners as to which are the " best features" of his bill which the Mayor's bill will retain. He will be right in insisting upon a provision for the ultimate reversion of any system to the city. There can be but little doubt that the city ought to own, if not to operate, any new lines of transit; but if that is impossible, the next best thing is the establishment of a sinking fund, which in time will return to the public a franchise which a private company will use without risk. Senator Fassett will also be right if not popular in stipulating that provision should be made for an immediate extension of the Manhattan system. The need for increased facilities is so urgent that real estate values in this city would be seriously hurt by the postponement of any relief until the new system is constructed and is in operation. We do not say that Senator Fassett would be justifled in prohibiting the passage of any bill which did not contain provisions bearing on these points, but he should make an earnest effort to have them incorporated. THE passage of a bill, however, as Geo. S. Lespinasse recently said in an interview with a reporter of the Evening Post, will not give us rapid transit. The new commissioners must be sufficiently skilled in financial matters to know that no company or set of capitalists would assume the present responsibilities of the Manhattan Company for the sake of its emoluments. If any part of the system is to be elevated, the question of damages to property must be settled in some equitable manner. This is one of the greatest difficulties still remaining to be overcome. The treatment which the Manhattan Company has received alike from private indi¬ viduals and public authorities has been outrageous. Already the cry is being raised that Jay Gould will use his money at Albeny to pre¬ vent the passage of any measure looking towards increased facili¬ ties, in face of the fact that it is obviously to his advantage not to oppose but to control the construction of any new system. We have faith that men like Frederic P. Olcott, Samuel Spencer and John H. Starin have too much sense to participate in the silly abuse which is being showered on the Manhattan Company. They must know what the real attitude of its managers is, how far it is necessary to assist Mr. Gtould in providing tbe immediate increase of facilities needed, and how far it is necessary to limit by public supervision his control of any future system-. The curse of this city is a parcel of silly news¬ papers and senseless officials who will not see how far they them¬ selves are responsible for the evils against which they so vehe¬ mently protest. Mark the following most wise utterance which appeared in the Tribune of December 26th: As the miserable victims of tbe present system are violently propelled by impatient crowds through passages so narrow that the walls almost bunt from the strain of compressed humanity—as they are shot ont by tbe force behind upon scanty platforms covered with struggling, writhing f