Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 54, no. 1385: September 29, 1894

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Septembpir 23, 1895 Record and Guide. 421 1 ESTABUSHED-^iftARpH21w"*1868. DP^TED to R,EA,L EsWE . BuiLDI/JG ApCt^iTECTynE .KoUSEHOLD DEflClfifTlorf, Bi/sit/ESs Alb Themes of Gej^r&L 1Nib\esi. PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Telephone,......Cortlaftdt 1370 Commnnloatlons slionld he addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J. 1. LINDSEY. Business Manager. Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Wasiiixgtox St'reet, Opi". Post Office. " Entered al the Post-office al New Tork, N. T., as secondrclass matter," Vol. liv." SEPTEMBER 29, 1894. No. 1,3^5 For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Department immediately followina Aeio Jeraey records {paqe 447). ALL despondency about the commeroial fondition ot the t'ouiih-y is miphilo-sopliic, and mo.st of it unreasonable. That which charnt-terises the reports from the diftereut trade renters .iiist uow is of the huter kind. If a coujparisou i.s made with this time last year tho iuipioveiiieut is very great indeed, and so far none ha.^ been lost; the dullness that has characterized certain line.s in the past tew weeks eaunot be taken as n. .set-back. While inmiediate market reports indicate little doing, the larger view obtaiued through returns of rnilroad earnings is more cuconi'aging. From these it appears that the bettering of con¬ ditions whichbegan iu the Soutli is uow extending to theNorth- eastern Statei=, and the last Bnrlington and St. Paul statements disclose a much more encouragnig state of things in the Northwest than was thought could possibly be rhe case when so much alarm was created about the condition ofthe corn crop. The fact of the matter is that the great markets, where speculation is most rife, have too much influeuce iu forming the general ojiinion of t.he whole situation. AVhen the stock and grain markets become disorganized they are too often taken to represent the whole situation, when ihey very often only represent the mistakes of rash speenhitors. Even while it must be adniitted that the grain market continues in a very unsatis¬ factory condition, what is most apx)arent in tbe stock market is uot as important as it seems. The decline in sugar, cordage, Chicago gas and other industrials does not surprise any one who kuows how some are manipulated aud what others represent. A careful examination of the list dis¬ closes the fact that their movements do not affect securities that have any merit at all which the public is ]iermitted to see, and that prices ot these are very tirm, notwithstanding the break in others whose condition is bad or uncertain. Examined in their proper light these and other thiugs show that this is a time for the exercise of patience and courage and not for indulgence in despondency. .---------*---------_ WHILE mouey continues to pile up iu the vaults of the great depositories of Europe, and as a consequence dis¬ count rates are low, the repoits from the commercial and finan¬ cial centres are non, hut it doesn't manifest itself in the clear iudubitable manner which one may rightly ex¬ pect of an important reality. It vanishes under pressure, aud, like some political spook, is uot to be found when it is most carefully searched for. Perhaps our ijoliticiaiis are acting only as sen.sibbi men when they ignore it iu their calculations, trea.t it ae something quite incalculable—if existent. Whatever evidences there may be to-day of anv agitation on the part of this better element over Hill and Morton, there will.be none visible early in November. The uia;jor partof tho " element " with Democratic leanings, will by that time have asahred itself that party aud party principles are of greater moment than men. and, viewed froui this high standpoint, even Hill is a superior person to Platt'a man, Mortou. AVhereas, ou the other side, "decency" with strong Republican predilections, will quiet any sensations of touching unclean things by thoughts ofthe sacred- uess of Republicdn doctrines, and the suppiu't which these doc¬ trines will receive from a vote for Levi P. Morton, instead of for thall obnoxious demagogue, David B. Hill. It is an old story, aud one likely to be repealed for many a year yet to come. THE powers of the savings banks in this Stale ts> erect build¬ ings for their own use bave recently been the subject of discussion in several of the daily papers, which have volunteered reasons pro aod cou concerning the preferableness of larf^p or small buildings for headquarters, but without -stating the facts of the case exactly or explicitly. The law provides that a sav¬ ings bank shall not expend more than one-half of its surplus in a building for its own use. without the consent of the Superin¬ tendent of the Bank Deparfiment, whicJi there are reasons for believing would be refused in auy but a very exceptional case, and which, at any rate, has never been applied for. Witb this limitation a savings bank may build cither for its own use ex¬ clusively, as bas recently beeu done by the Bowery Savings Bank andthe Bank for Savings, or for its own use and revenue in ad¬ dition by providing for tenants, as has more remotely been doue by the Emigrants' Savings Bank, the Seamans' Saviugs Bank and others. This is entirely a matter of policy, to be decided by the triLstees. It can easily be understood that many con¬ siderations may enter into the formation of this policy. The question of locality and the probable cla..ss of tenants that could be obtained is a very important one, it being, of course, abs«- luteiy necessary that the tenants should be unquestionably good. The older banks, which have never admitted tenants into their buildiugs, and have a large surplus, can nffbrd to maintain that policy and keep their new quarte'rs for their own use, especially where the values ot sites are moderate and prospective tenaiUs n?)t all that would bejexitiiiwt '(^n the other hand.' whev« t.it% I