Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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October 8,1893 Record and Guîde. 487 #L___ ..... ^r \ ESTABLlSHED'^^WAR.CHi'l'J'^ieea. OpÍ>1EÎ) TO f^ ESIME . ØUlLOlfÍG Aw^rllTEt'T«Ji\r ,HousDfoiD DEecu^iiaKt BiftifÍESS MÍB Themes of CeHeivL 1/ítehesj PRICE, PER TEAR IS AMAN€E, SIX DOLLARS, Fublished every Saturday. TBLEPHOríB - . . . COBTLANDT 1370. Comnaunicationa sbould be addreased to C. W. SWEET, 14 & 16 Vesey St. J. 7. LINDSBY, Bttsiness Manager, "Entered at the Post-ofíice at Neiu York, JV. F,, as second-class niaííev." VoL. L. OCTOBER 8, 1893. No. 1,282 We publish with this ■nwniber of The Record and Guide a stvmt'y-two-page illustrated Chicago Supplement, in colored covers. Besides nwmerous iUustratiwis from photographs of the prominent architectural features of the World''s Fair City, Ihe suppleTn&it eo'ntains a " íĩ'istor!/ of Real Estate in Chicago,^' and, a sketch of the big inland city and its marveĩous growth. Our sub- scribers shouĩd see that the Ghicago Supplement is delivered to them with each copy of fhe regular issue of The Record and Gdide. IT is easy to see that the strength of the stock market is the result of manipulation and it is almost possible to aame the hands that are manipuiating it, The work is beiagadmirably doue, if it were not so it would be impoesible to keep New England as high and as strong aa it has beeii for more than a week oq a buuch of old stories, or on a mystery which wiH uot esplode. Tiie con- nection of Reading and New England in those stories has tiad a humorous aud appropriate resiilt: the former has beeu wpak while the latter has been strong, from which it may be iiiferred that the very proper opinion of the piiblic is that the result of cloee union between the' two could only benefit New England, While the manipulation of prices is so appareut the question arises ivhether the maũipulators, deaignedly or not does not matter, have not chosen an uîuisualiy good time for their operations, Ifc is true that leports fiom railroad centres indicate a good deal of competition and cutting of rates, as vvell as other adverse features; but there are also signs that negoliations are on foot for the formation of new rate protecting organizations to take place of the old ones, and earniiigs continue to be large with, of com-se, the inevitable exceptions, There is also a promise of better things in some other industries which are said, and no doubt truly, to make a fair gauge of generai business conditions. The olosing down of some of the îron furnaces last sumraer has at last been following by more encom-aging signs in that tiade, The change, too, that is seen in the cotton trade is not without influence, and, pevhaps more than all, the actual arrival of the beginning of the series of Coliimbian celebrations is making acbivity in trade the influence of which must be very pervasive. OBSBRVERS of the poiitical situation in Eiuope are disquieted over the consideiable addition conteuiplated by the German government to its army. It is proposed, according to semi-olîicial reports, toreduce the period of actual service to two years, though ■without reducing the legal liability to a longcr period, and it is therefore intended to keep 75,000 move men actually in barracks. The artillery, moreover, is to be enlarged, and some other reforms introduced, the object of ali being to raise the íorces at the instant disposal of the Kaiser more uearly to a level with the forces which might in certain contiugencies invade Germauy, These chauges wiU involve, it is stated, au increased expenditure of l'rom $17,000- OOO to $30,000,000 per annum, Tliese statements are accompanied by rumors not so weli supported that the Austriau Parliament alBo will be asked to sanctionalarge increase in the military expeud- iture. The gravity of these reported l'acts arises from thc circiun- stance that both Emperors, if about to ask for increased approiiria- tions, will do so unwillingly, They musfc know that France and Russia are straining every nerve for superiority Ín armanients, and that to abstain from equaling theio or even to delay in equaling them would be culpable imprudence. On no other ground, it is thought, would the two best-informed persons in Europe on this subjecfc prepare to convince unwiljing parliaments byfacts.and figures that the insecm-ity is great onough tn jusfcify or indeed to compel f urther heavy sacrificea, Millions of pounds are considered serious things on the continent, and neither aovereign deaireB to borrow freely or lo iand his treatury in the position of a permanent deficit. The dangers indicated by this line of argument are, however, rather for the future than for the present. lí they exisfc the speculators and bankers have not perceived them, for the money-centres remain undisturbed by political menacee. Probably the course of events most carefully to be watched in the immediate future will be the progress of tbe Austrian currency reform. Tlie time isnow approaching for the fiuance operationa provided by Ihe new laws. In order to avoid making too onerous an appeal to the money market all at once, it is commonly expected that the Austrian Finiince Minister wiU postpone his scheme for converting his 5 per cent bonds, and confine his operatious just now to a gold loan of 100,000.000 florins £or minting purposes. ■Wĩthin the past few weeks the Austro-Hiingarian Bank has received 30,000,000 florins, mostly in American eagles, which wiH help the governmGnt out. In the meantime the Hungarian Finauce Minister will abstain from a gold loan, He has already hoarded about .50,000,000 florins in gold, and has the advantage of a surplus of 30,000,000 florins on the fiscal year just closed, so that he iafully provided with gold for the Hungarian mint. THE defeat of the trolley system is practically acknowledged by tbe ofîicers of the Metropolitan Traetĩon Co. Frora many points of view this is a matter to be glad about; but it will not be certain that the besfc iuterests of the city have been served Ihereby uutil it is clearly seen whafc bearing the defeat has upon our existing facilities. Will it leave us possessed for some years to come of a number of malodorous unsanitary spots where car-Iine stablesare'í These " stench blocks" are an unmitigated nuisauce in a crowded city like New York. They are ofí'ensiveto passers-by and are a blight upon property if not a peril to residents. To get rid of fchese nuisances is surely something to be wished for. We belĩeve tbat the city would be willing to pay handsomely for relief from these offences; and if any one is inclined to make light of them, we wish he could be compelled to live for a short time opposite or even in prosimity to a stable block, August would be a good month for his tuition. It should also be borne iii niind tbat wĩth tbe removal of the stables would go several hundred horses, and thej^dirt with which fchey ftll the street—and. in windy weather, the nostrils of people, We believe that meu of clean habits would have counted this a gain of some importance, But beyond this, will the deffat uf the trolley leave us with tlie present incommodious, slow and inadequate siu'face service, the dingy, badly lib, erovvded cars, drawn by painfully overtiixed animalsV WÍII the Metropolitan Traction Co, give us the large, well-ligbted cars and the more rapid service which we should have got with the trolley, or shali we bave to wait for some years until the company think they are warrauted by the amouiit ot' travel in adopting the cable system over all their lines, or unlil the storage battery has been improved inlo commerciai practicability ? Now if New York were amply provided with facilities for tiaus- portation, if everybody could move about tlie city speedily and cimfortably, we could afford to be very critical and insist upon getting exacfcly whafc we vvaiit in thc matters of addifcions or improvements to our bransit lines. The city,fchen, would nob really suffer îf we should sit down and waifc until the Meíropolitan Trac- tion Company, or some other concern, humored every vvhim and desire we had. Our circumstances, hovvever, are not of this easy, comfortabie kind. We are in an aciite stage of congestion. Our facilities for transportation are inadequafce beyond exaggeratiou. and they arc viie. The way people have to packintocrowded cars, elevatedandsurface, in a raanner thattheSociety for tlie Prevcntion of Cruelty to Animals would iirohibit if vve were pigs, bodies to bodies, one person breathiug the breath of iiis vis-a-vis, is disgraceful beyond measure. It is contrary to decency, cleanliness, good manners. Add to tiiis the fact tliat the nuauciiil interesls uf tbe city are sufl'ering; its growth is checked; the poor are bcing prcssed into eloser andcluser quarters. expansioii is iinpossible, the ciby is not building up as ifc should, and the reader Iias the situatioa before hím, -----------m----------- THE iievvspapers iiave been raisiug ĸuch a hu'laballoo over the iutroduclion oí' tlie trolley into thiscity tliat they have failed to call attention to other intcresting aspects connected with the sale of theso franchisea, Tlie action of the Board of Aidermen, lĩrovided the Mayor otíicially îndorsed ĩt, meant only tliat they would be put up at auction iinder the provisions of the Cantor Act. Offering tiiciii in tliis vvay at auctiou pre-supposes, of course, Ihat there woiild lie a coiuiietition, and that it is to the interest of tlie city that fciiere should be a competition. Yet, these two assuiiiptions, which arc reipiired to gĩve auy lucaniiig to a public sale of this charactcr, arc Ijoth probably false. It is nob likeiy that there would be any competition. Sorae of the connections vvould be utterly useless fco any eompany that did not own tlie lincs with which tbe connoctions ware to be made. Other.s might be of some smali value lo aii indcpcndent corporation, but they vvo.-ld be of infin- itely greater valueto the Metropolitan Traction Company. Notice the consequence of these facts, There is no rra! conipetition for these franchises. I£ any other coinpany started to bid against the