Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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766 RECORD AND GUIDE June 2, 1917 COAL PRICE INCREASE. (Continued from Page 758.) dollars invested in these Oklahoma coal lands now would require a final return of 160 million dollars in royalties to bal¬ ance the account. ' The burden that seems evitablc un¬ der unre,gulated private ownership of a natural resource like coal is that, because the lands containing these national re¬ serves of heat and power are taxed and because the individual or corporation properly charges n; rates on this lar; sumer must pay a takes into account i' development. Evii royalty on the laiii tate may be found they seem if a centr est charges are fiu remains that the i' represents a much the cost of the miii luminous royalties. interest at current holding, the con- :'esourcc cost which e long period of un- the high rates of ^ of the Girard Es- less excessive than ly's taxes and inter- ired. Yet the fact yalty for anthracite hirger proportion of I d coal than any bi- Moreover, we be- Window Shades A new and thorough window shade service is available to managers of New York City buildings. This service guarantees that every window shade is honestly made to order and installed. All of our shades are custom made to window requirements and are planned to match window and interior appointments. Let us confer with you now and submit samples and estimates. You will find that our modern service will mean genuine economy and that our prices will be figured on the manufactur¬ ing costs of the largest custom shade factory in New York City. Ordinator Co. 101 PARK AVENUE (40th St.) Telephone, Vanderbilt 3250 New York City o Trust( 'wners, irusreesj Executors and Builders Last year %ve closed 1640 sales and leases, or over five each day, involving nearly $50,000,000 Our management organization is to be judged entirely by the results we have given so many owners who are using our service. We make one charge (or our services and give the owners of properties the benefit of all discounts and rebates of every kind. Pur¬ chasing in such large quantities for so many properties, we are able to get special prices from most dealers and contractors, and can also insure deliveries of such supplies when an individual owner would not be given consideration. We have developed a co-operative spirit in our organization, and through a club which we organized for the purpose, to which all of our superintendents and engineers are eligible, the personal element and friendship of these men has been encouraged, so that they are glad to help each other out in an emergency. Every building in our charge is under the careful supervision of a competent agent from our offices who visits the property constantly to see that the employees are at all times keeping the property in the best physical shape possible. It is only true economy when a property is maintained at the highest possible level. To effect such economy and to satisfy tenants, and at the same time secure the best net returns for the owner, requires skill and efficiency and experience of the highest order. The fact that our management department has just closed its best fiscal year with phenomenal increases suggests that we are in the front rank of those who are recognized to practice true and profitable economy. Pease & Elliman Real Estate and Insurance 55 Liberty St. 340 Madison Ave. 165 West 72nd St. (This advertisement is the third of a series demon¬ strating why WE should be made your representatives.) Daniel Birdsall & Co., Inc. REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE Uptown Office Main Office 425 Fifth Avenue, cor. 38th St. 317 Broadway, cor. Thomas St. Telephone, Vanderbilt 4281 Telephone, Worth 800 Established 1860 lieve the highest royalty prevailing in lhe anthracite region has far more in- Huence in fixing the selling price than the lower rates of the older leases. Aw-y study of costs in the coal indus¬ try finds its point in the question, not who but what fi.xcs the price of coal. Exact mining costs, however, cannot be determined until the operators have ac¬ complished their reforin of standardiza¬ tion accounting. Too often the opera¬ tor includes in his account only the two largest and most obvious items, labor and material. Thus, when the market for bituminous coal is dull, the com¬ pany whose land costs little or nothing is able to set a lower limit of price than the company whose coal must stand a charge of five to ten cents a ton or even more, be that charge called royalty, de¬ pletion or amortization. At such times the operator with the larger resource cost must sell at a real though not al¬ ways recognized loss, but, of course, with the hope of recouping himself later. Confessedly, this analysis of the cost elements that enter into the price o£ coal emphasizes our lack of specific facts, which can be supplied in the future only through "installation of uniform cost- keeping methods and uniform and im¬ proved accounting systems," to quote from the declaration of purposes of the Pittsburgh coal producers. With the re¬ sults of such bookkeeping in hand, more definite reply can be made to the pub¬ lic's appeal for relief from high prices. Yet even now it may be possible to sug¬ gest how that relief will eventually be obtamed. Study of present conditions in the coal mining districts fails to en¬ courage the idea of governmental op¬ eration of the seven thousand coal mines in this country. More in line with the trend of public sentiment in the last decade, however, is governmental con¬ trol in the interest of the consumer by regulation of prices, and to judge from the facts of experience in the regulation of transportation of other public utili¬ ties, the public coal commissions will be given sufficient discretionary powers to safeguard the interests of producer and consumer alike, and even mandatory requirements, either legislative or execu¬ tive, will be subject to judicial review. As coal is more an inter-state than Ultra-state commodity, any regulation of prices needs to be under Federal control and to benefit both consumer and pro¬ ducer such control cannot stop with transportation and mining costs, but must stand ready lo exercise full rights as a trustee of the people over the coal in the ground. The private owner of coal land, which derives its real value from society's needs, has no more sacred right to decide whether or not that coal shall be mined when it is needed by so¬ ciety or to fix an exorbitant price on this indispensable national resource than the coal operators have to combine for the purpose of exacting an excessive profit from the consumer, or the railroads to charge all that the traffic may bear. The proposal to bring landowner under the same rule as mine operator and coal carrier may seem radical, but where is the point at which coal becomes the re¬ source upon which industrial society de¬ pends for its very life? Damp-Proofing Walls. For insulating stone buildings so that they will not absorb dampness from the surrounding ground, a new process has been introduced in Europe which, it is claimed, has proved successful. The method consists in sawing a slot in ths foundation a few inches above the ground line and inserting in this lead plates coated with asphalt. To accom¬ plish this a machine has been construct¬ ed which cuts a kerf about an inch in depth in the stone. .'Vfter the plates are set in place temporary wooden forms are laid and liquid cement employed to close the crevices. This plan, it is said, pre¬ vents moisture from creeping up a wall, since it is unable to pass the insulation blocks. —If buildings in the United States were as fireproof as in Europe, the annual cost of fire losses and protection would be only $90,000,000.