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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 26, no. 647: August 7, 1880

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Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XXYI. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1880. No. 647 Published Weekly by Clje ^cal (JBstaU Eecorb J^ssoriation. TERMS. ONK YKAK, in advance___$10.00. Comnmnications should be addressed to C. W. SAV EET, No. Vi7 Broa IV a\ REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS BY COR¬ PORATIONS. A))()ut a year ago tlie New A'ovk Herald. with an eiiteri)rise peculiarly its own, laid be¬ fore tlie general public a statement, collated from the official records at Albany, showing up in detail tlie amount of bond and inort- luages held by the various life insurance com])anves in tliis city. That |)ublication had the effect of showing to those who were ])()sted in regard to realty values liow the va¬ rious com])anies were managed and the .judg¬ ment thev exercised in regard to the selection of properties on which tiiey loaned ca.sh money. As tlu' beginning of 1879 was, per- iiaps. the best opportunity to test the .judg¬ ment of the various insurance companies wiien doulit, fear and hojie alternately took possession of the real estate market, the ope¬ rations which tlien saw the light became a .sure test ol: the intelligence and business capacity that ])resided over institutions having charge and (-(mtrol oC milliims of the people's money. Tlie critical year, howciver, proved to be, as it iirogressed, a boon. witJi slight exceptions, to inost of the insurance companies. Proper¬ ties that liad been foreclosed some time pre¬ vious were sold liere and there advantage¬ ously at jirivate contract, and yet loans even on im])ro^-ed real estate were granted with more c'i]-cums]:)ection and caution than had been tlie case in the past. In view of tliese facts, and in the absence of any ell'orts on tiie part of the daily press to supply the general public this year with information in regard to the 1880 investments in real estate and bond and mortgages by the various msurance companies, The Real Es¬ tate Record, ever on the alert to supply in- formati(wi of importance to owners of realty, hei-eby congratulates property liolders gen¬ erally at the increased interest taken by these flourishing financial mstitutions in New York and suburban real estate, as shown by their sworn detailed statements filed in tlie insur¬ ance departments of the various states in which they transact business. The confi¬ dence entertained by tliese concerns in. the real estate of oui- own and other cities can best be arrived at by analyzing the items con¬ stituting their gross assets, as sworn to by them in detail since the beginning of this year, 1880. It wUl be conceded that the pos¬ session of real estate, estimated at market value, and the amount of money loaned at a fair margin of values on bond and inortgage, is a pretty good test of the estimation in which real estate is held by these various financial institutions. We have, therefore, selected nine of the leading life insurance companies in this State and Connecticut, and reproduce from their lengtliy detailed reports. as filed in the departments at Albany and Hartford, the various items, showing how far in this year, 1880, they are interested in real estate by actual possession or by cash loans on realty as security. It will there be seen that real estate and bond and mortgage continue to be, more so than in the past, the jirincipal items of their gross assets. Gross Real Bonds' and Company. assets. estate. mortgages. Equitable. . 37,0011,917 05 8.204.796 02 10.475,062 90 Germania... 8,5.^2,877 11 1,(I37,*16 .50 4.372,154 i6 Manhattan.. 10,049.156 52 1.2.50,418 69 3.83r),0r, of the Met¬ ropolitan road, is being done in a thoroughly scientific manner. Here is a property rep¬ resenting some .tniOOO.OOO, to the creation of whicli no one man contributed more than Mr. Field, who. liaving sold his share to a gulli- l)le public, whiclv hail faith in the dazzling figures presented by tliat (-eh'Iirated man who plays so well the game of "now you see it, and now you don't," liought from liini, on his recommeiulation, the self .same stock at prices ranging from 55 to 70, which he noAV declares to be worth only 20, and dear at that, and this in the face of the fact that travel has increased so wonderfully on these roads that the summer receipts are $2,000 per day greater than they were last year for the same months. If this financier Avas so grossly mistaken as to ever sup[)ose that Manhattan stock ('ould pay the 10 per cent, guaranteed (m New York and Metropolitan Elevated stocks. A\'hicli any good book-keeper could haA'e told, is he not again mistaken in his es¬ timate of the future when he states that they cannot do it? If, Avhen he created Manhat¬ tan stock, with all the facts and figures be¬ fore him, he knew that it was only a matter of time when a default would occur, then has he committed a crime wliich deserves a prompt reckoning. It seems but yesterday that this thimble rigger of elevated stocks proudly stood upon the deck of a European steamer, his jiockets stulfed full of New York Elevated Railway shares which he had carefully selected from among the myriads of investments in this country for his English friends, and he quoted them as being cheap at 200. Hfs rival, the great political manipulator, who, at this time was equally interested with him in blowing up the balloon, followed him in hot haste to the deck of the steamer, and cautiously drawing the great Field one side, whispered in his ear, • • don't sell mine for less than 200, it's worth 250." Eveiybody is familiar with the story of liow the political trickster beat the financial bragger at his own game—and spoiled the Eiu-opean mar¬ ket. Field, on his return, finding that he could do nothing witli his Etiropeanlfriends, immediately did the next best thing, which