Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 29, no. 724: January 28, 1882

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E.AL Estate Record AND BUILDERS^ GUIDK ToL. XXIX. NEW YOEK, SATUEDAY, JANUAEY 28. 1882. N-. 724 Published Weekly by The Real Estate Record Association TERBIS: ONE YEAR, in advance ----- $6.00 CoTcmimications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 137 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY'Business Manager. Mr. William P. Esterbrook, Inspector of Buildings, lias drawn up an act amending our building laws, which is to be presented to the Legislature. There are many altera¬ tions in the law, interesting, indeed of vital importance, to architects and builders, and all affected would do well to get a copy of the proposed act at Inspector Esterbrook's ofii®e. In view of the Grand street disaster and tlie Ring Theatre fire, the Legislature will be forced to do something to appease popular clamor. The danger is that the law will bp amended so as to make its provisions unnecessarily burdensome to builders and that there will be a waste of capital m con¬ sequence. Mr, Esterbrook has an excellent reputation as a builder, himself, and the -changes he recommends are enforced by the fact that he has a thoroughly technical knowledge of his profession. The Building Department ought to be an indrpendent bureau; the Five Commissioners should have nothing to do with it. The Inspectors should be appointed and removed by the Mayor; when that is done wa will know who to blame wlien any great building dis- -aster occurs. A New York real estate auctioneer, who •does a verj- large business, is under the impression lliat the long expected boom in real estate will take place this coming spring. He says there will be lieavy sales and high prices within the next few months. Every one in the trade will of course hope lie is light in his prognostications; but it is almost too soon to be very positive about what the market will be. There are a good many transactions under way, the Real Estate Ex¬ change is thronged daily, bidding is spirited and the prices for desirable property are good. As yet there are no evidences of any unusual excitement in real estate circles. The city is growing in numbers very rapidly, of that there is no doubt: this is shown by the increased business of the street cars and elevated roads and by the large number of children that cannot find room in our schools. But plans for new buildings do not as yet promise any great activity in the building- trade, and there is no unusual demand for vacant lots. Still, we are liable at any time to see the beginning of any sharp investment in real property ; it has got to come, aud it cannot be long delayed. Experienced dealers in the street say that the outlook in prices has a stormy look. They predict that prices will go up and down with great rapidity. Up to last July the bulls had matters pretty much their own way ; since then, the bears have had control of the market, but hereafter there will be blows to give as well as blows to take on both sides. The situation lias materially changed, so far as the leadei"s are concerned. Jay Gould, who had been trying to sustain prices up to the beginning of the j-ear, is now a pronounced bear : Avhile Vanderbilt, having practically settled the railway war, has thereby api^arently ranged himself on the bull side. Hereafter, the. war of rates will not be a disturbing element, and doubt¬ less an advance would have been attempted during the past week were it not for the panic- on the Paris Bourse, which affected prices on the London Stock Exchange and through it our money market. By many it is believed that a severe pinch in money would be a good thing, as it will break up the bull pools in Chicago. There are 120,000,000 bushels of grain Avhich must be marketed before the next crop, and when it begins to come forward it will give the trunk lines all they can do. But ilie contending influences on the Stock Exchange are both very strong, and like the "tug of Avar" among the athletes, prices will be pulled first one way and then another with great violence. It will be no market for the aver¬ age outsider. Only those who have courage or large means will be able to play the game with any degree of success. The general business of the country is not so active as it was, but this was to have been expected at this time of the year. FINANCIAL LEGISLATION, Of the many schemes before Congress, there are none which look towards a con¬ traction of the currency. The correspondent of a leading New York paper admits that a proposition to repeal the Legal Tender Act would scarcely be entertained in either House, which is not wonderful in view of the fact that it would render the future very uncertain. Any catastrophe in trade, in the absence of any legal tender provision, would inevitably bring about a fearful fall in prices, as the moment gold was at a pre¬ mium there would be a contraction to the extent of the gold and silver money afloat. Congress seems intent ujjon utilizing the silver products of the country. There will be no repeal of the Coinage Act unless xiro- vision is made that any one who brings bullion, either gold or silver, to the mint, can liave it coined at some. ratio to be fixed by the Government. A very popular scheme is to issue gold and silver notes based upon the actual deposit of bullion iu the Treasury, This would at once render available every ounce of silver and gold in the country, not used in the arts, for currency purposes. It will be a currency, too, which will be abso¬ lutely secure, for every dollar afloat would represent a real gold or silver dollar locked up in the Treasury and paj^able on demand. Another i)roposition is to issue Treasury notes in place of the greenbacks and bank notes now afloat, to redeem which a reserve of thirty per cent, in gold and silver is to be »kept in the Treasury. It is surprising that something is not done to get rid of the one and two dollar bills. Were they withdrawn, the silver dollar and our small gold coins would immediately become current in all the channels of the retail trade. Once established, a coin cur¬ rency would help retain buUio" in the coun¬ try- when exchanges go against us. The withdrawal of the small bills need not involve contraction, as the amount cancelled could be reissued in larger denominations. The Monetary Conference will reassemble in Paris in April. Should an agreement as to the ratio between the metals be estab¬ lished, it would have an immediate effect upon prices the world over. The acknowl¬ edgment that silver was a money metal side by side with gold, would not only enhance but steady ijrices. It would be a practical admission of the silver of the world to the coined circulation of the world; this, of course, would enhance prices everywhere. That the Conference will come to some understanding seems very ptobable, and the United States, of course, will back it up by all necessar,y legislation. There is not enough gold in the world to satisfy the requirements of modern commerce, and England and Germany have been especially embarrassed by the demands the United States and Italy have made on their gold reserves. The great trouble will be with the national banks. Should Congress attempt to inter¬ fere with their present privileges, it may lead to some such catastrophe as that which occurred last February, But, apart from that, the evident disposition of the members is to promote speculation and to make things pleasant for their constituents. We allude to this matter because the fiscal legislation of the country directly effects prices in real estate as well as in all other purchaseable articles. We see nothing to permanently depress values, while legislation will in every way be on the side of the speculative classes. Certain Brooklyn people who live in the Eastern District are anxious to have a park, but Mayor Low is of opinion that while a park would be desirable, it is better to wait till the Brooklyn Bridge be completed. Brooklyn has suffered so much from assess¬ ments for improvements, that no doubt the property owners will sympathize with the Mayor in his desire to save them from further taxation. A real public interest has been created in the reform of our law.-, relating to the transfers of real estate, Mr, Dwight H. Olmstead's lecture on that subject has been widelj- and eagerly read. It would, it seems to us, jiay to get up a syndicate of landowners and real estate dealers to press this matter upon the Legislature, When the transfer of land is as easy and cheap as the ptirchase and sale of stock cer¬ tificates, real estate will advance twenty per cent, in value. It is the tedious lega