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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 84, no. 2161: August 14, 1909

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August 14, 1909 RECORD AND GUIDE 297 ESTABUSHED-^tfARPH2i'4^1868. tkA-JBS p RpA,LESTAII.SuiLDIffc %a4lTEe7JRE,KoiiSEyOLDDEfl!SiHK»l. Bl/SII^ESS AfbTHEHIES OF GE]tol&L WlERfSl.. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should be addressed to C. W, SWEET Published Every Saturday By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO. President. CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer. P, W. DODGE Vlce-Pres, & Genl, Mgr., H. W. DESMOND Secretary. P. T. MILLER Nos. 11 to 15 Eaat 24tli Street, New York City (Telephone, Madison Sciuara. 4130 to 4433,) "Entered at tlic Post Office at Nets York, N. Y., as second-class matter." Copyrighted, 1909, by The Record Sl Guide Co, Vol. LXXXIV. AUGUST 14, 1909. No. 2161 ACCORDING to every indication, business has now com¬ pletely recovered from the panic of 1907 and the de¬ pression whicii succeeded it. In the short space of less than two years the country has passed through one of tbe worst financial crises in its history, and an equally acute shrinly^- age in the volume of trade, and has recovered therefrom, whereas both in 1873 and in 1903 the period of recovery required some four or flve years of economy and business re-organizatiou. The whole episode has constituted an ex¬ traordinary instance of flnancial and industrial vitality; and yet there can be no doubt that we have not exaggerated the facts, and that the recovery is real and sufficiently stable- The prices of leading railway and industrial stocks have reached a level much higher than the highest one, which was reached in 1906; and they are being advanced still higher without any apparent strain of credit. Railroad earnings are in many cases going beyond those of 1907. The steel manufacturing industry cannot keep up with its orders. Labor is being better employed all over the country; and tbe usual cry'is being heard of tbe dearth of men to harvest tiie crops. The railroads are giving out large orders for new equipment in aiiticipation of an unprecedented volume of business. Tbe crops are all that the most enthusiastic farmer could desire, and they will be sold at high prices. The tariff bas been revised without bringing in its train any radical transformation of the situation confronting the average American manufacturer. There seems to be no Immediate fear of an acute revival of anti-corporation legislation; and tbe bills looking towards railway regulation, which the administration will urge upon Congress at its next session, will apparently ameliorate rather than injure the legal stand¬ ing of large railroad and industrial combinations. Just at present there does not seem to be a serious cloud in the sky; and the average American business man is indulging in glorious anticipations of expansion and prosperity. THE QUESTION which should be seriously considered by everyone who is capable of influencing the future of American flnance and industry is the course which should be steered in order to prevent this industrial and commercial expansion from (raveling too far and too fast. No business man in his senses wishes to repeat very quickly tbe experi¬ ences of 1906 and 1907; and it is into a condition of this kind which American buoyancy and optimism is always pushing tbe industries and the finances of tbe country. One difiieulty both in 1903 and 1907 was that the country was trying to do too many things at tbe same time. It was trying to contluct an enormous and expanding business, im¬ prove its manufacturing plant and its transportation facili¬ ties, put up the prices of stocks and bonds, digest enormous issues of new securities, augment the speculative value of rea! estate, and increase iu every part of tbe land the rate of wages and standard of living. It is desirable uow as it was in 1906 or in 1902 that all these objects should be accom¬ plished; but tbe amount of capital and laBor existing at any ane time even in the United States is limited, and it is not euough to carry on every kind of development all at once. A selection bas to be made or .else tbe prosperity of the country turns sour in the mouths of its supposed benefi¬ ciaries, antl tbe wholesomeness and comparative permanence of any period of business prosperity depends upon the fact of such selection and the intelligence which guides it. Un¬ less the current business expansion is to be soon checked or distorted, such a selection must soon be made; and there caa be little doubt as to the class of business development which should be temporarily sacriflced for the good of tbe whole movement. The period of speculative increase in stock values must cease for a while, and the credit of the country must'be used for other purposes. During the past eighteen months there bas been a more or less continuous bull mar¬ ket, w^bich has almost doubled the value of the great major¬ ity of stocks. This market bas been justified, and has not only anticipated the business revival of the country, but bas effectively contributed to that revival. It was absolutely essential that the credit of tbe large corporations should be restored before they could resume a policy of expansion. But the purpose of the upward movement in stocks bas now been accomplished, and in case the movement is continued much farther it will become a hindrance rather than a help to additional business expansion. Stocks cannot be continued to be put up without an increasing use of credit; and tbe credit of the country will be needed for otber pur¬ poses. It will be needed above all by tbe railroads for tbe purpose of making their facilities equal to the demands which business expansion will put upon them. During the past year they have been raising funds chiefly in order to liquidate expensive loans contracted a few years back; but hereafter tliey must resume their work of improvement, and will require several billions for the purpose. The credit of the country will, of course, also be needed by manufactur¬ ers and merchants for their own legitimate purposes. It is es¬ sential, consequently, that a period of rest should supervene in Wall Street, and that tbe attention of financiers should be directed not towards increasing the prices of old securi¬ ties, but towards tbe issue and digestion of tbe new stocks and bonds which must soon he issued. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER MALTBIE confirmed during the past week tbe recent intimation that tbe official plans of the Commission would include a lower West Side route. About a month ago it was announced that tbe contractors Interested in the Broadway-Lexington avenue route were prepared to bid on a West Side extension; and it is now definitely stated that tbe plans for such an exten¬ sion win be submitted to tbe Board of Estimate early in tbe Fall, The fact that the Broadway-Lexington route is to include such an addition very much diminishes tbe force of the objections previously made thereto; and tbe Manhat¬ tan resident and business man will have the comfortable assurance that in any event tbe contracts given out next year for tbe constructiou of new Subways will uot neglect such an important centre of business and traffic as the Penn¬ sylvania Terminal district. The acceptability of the proposed addition to tbe Broadway-Lexington Subway depends, bow- ever, to a considerable extent upon tbe route which it follows. The line originally suggested extended merely from Seventh avenue and Thirty-fourth street down Seventh ave¬ nue and Varick street to Cana! street. At Canal street it connected with the Broadway and Brooklyn lines, and at Thirty-fourth street it connected with Lexington avenue. Such a Subway would have its value; but its value would be much reduced by the lack of an upper West Side connec¬ tion. A much better route would be obtained in case the proposed Subway were extended along Seventh avenue to Pifty-ninth street and there connected with tbe Lexington avenne Subway. Tbe additional mile of tunnel to be con¬ structed would pay handsomely for its cost, and it would encrmous]y increase the value of the extension. It would give tbe Pennsylvania Terminal a much needed connection with Times Square and the theatre district. It would give the patrons of the Lexington avenue Subway a much needed connection not merely with the shopping district, but with the theatres and restaurants north of Thirty-fourth street. Finally an extension north to Fifty-ninth street could be ultimately continued westward across Fifty-ninth street and under Central Park West, and would serve that part of the West Side now most in need of express tracks. It is very much to be hoped, consequently, that the pro¬ posed extension will not terminate at Thirty-fourth street, but will be continued up to Central Park, THE INTERBOROUGH COMPANY certainly seems to be beaten in tbe competition for new subway routes. The only explanation of tbe attitude of the'Public Service Commission is that the Commission is trying to construct an independent system, which will compete with tbe existing Subway, and which will be leased to some powerful cor¬ poration, such as the New Haven Railroad Company. The attitude of tbe Commission .is inimical to the Interborough