Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

The Record and guide: v. 37, no. 939: March 13, 1886

Text version:

Marcii IS, 1886 The Record and Guid e. 311 THE RECORD AND GUIDE, Published every Saturday. 191 Broad^wav, 3Sr. "!^. Ottr Telepbone Call is.....JOMN 370. TERMS: ONE YEAR, in adyance, SIX DOLLARS. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XXXVII. MARCH 13, 1886. No. 939. The real estate markefc continues active and the building move¬ ment gives no signs of abatement. The labor strikes duriag the week have naturally caused a great deal of alarm among the employing classes, and the price of stocks in Wall street has been affected by fears of possible disturbances in all departments of business. There has, however, been an undertone of strength, and should the Reading reorganization be an assured success it looks as though there might be an advance in stock values. The heavy pur¬ chases of bonds shows that investors have faith in'the future of our railway system. Apart from the labor disturbances there is a good feeling in business circles, so far as our domestic trade is concerned. Tlie weak spot is, as usual, in our foreign trade, which languishes; for Europe uses less of our cotton andjgrain, because of the poverty of the working classes, and declines to purchase unless" at prices below the cost of production on this side of the ocean. There, is every prospecfc of a fair business until midsummer, and if the crops then prove good the prosperous times will continue for the rest of the year. Why do not the greafc trunk lines anticipate the demands for higher wages and voluntarily advance the pay of .such of their employes as have reason to complain. The railroad companies were forced to cut down expenses in 1883, 1884 and the early part of 1885. Their employes were forced to submit; but the conditions have changed. The railroads are now doing a profitable business. It would be an argument in favor of sustaining rates which the business comrhunifcy would appreciate if the corporations could sliow that their running expenses were necessarily higher. Then it would have a good effect upon the business of the country if the advance in wages was voluntarily. If the roads waifc for a strike which is almost sure to come if they do not anticipate it, a bad effecfc is produced in business and stock circles. Ifc would save them money eventually were the railroad companies to take the initiative iu iucreasiog the compensation of their employes. What a different state of things would exisfc in every depart¬ ment of business were all railway employes made a parfc of the police force of the nation—that is, were they subjecfc to govern¬ ment regulation as to service, wages and discipline. There would be no more strikes on the transportation systems of the country, and such a thing as au interruption to trade between different parfcs of the country would not be possible. Then the conductors, brake- men, switchmen and Ihe vast army of railway employes would be an invaluable aid to the government should riots prevail or a local insurrection break oufc. A mob in our large cifcies would be robbed of much of its power for mischief were there fifteen or twenty thousand employes of the car companies under the orders of tbe police. The railroad riots of 1877 and the strikes which are taking place to-day should call the attention of the public and Congress to this suggestion. All the papers, everybody in fact, favors the annulment of the Broadway charter by the Legislature; but if ifc were done there would probably be a quick revulsion of public sentiment. Corpo¬ rations with vesfced rights would become alarmed, as the Albany lobby would go for them at once. Then the facfc would be noted that only one side of the Broadway business has been heard. The aldermen have been ready to testify, but are not called upon, Mr. Roscoe Conkling's tactics being to discredit them before they are heard. The innocent stock and bondholders, for there are such, do not know as yet who got the money; whether it was Jake Sharp or the aldei-men. But with only ex parte testimony so far, public opinion has been organized and legislative action called for with the object of punishing everybody connected with the Broad¬ way railroad. There can be no defense of Jake Sharp's doinga so far as known; but if the proceedings against him are illegal or one¬ sided they may give him a case with the public before the matter is concluded. underlying this bill is in the teeth of all the traditions of the Demo¬ cratic party. For this reason it will probably be vetoed by Presi¬ dent Cleveland, who belongs to the old and narrow school of Demo¬ cratic politicians. But, sometime or other, a similar bill will become a law. This will be in response to a general feeling of dissatisfac¬ tion that the United States should lag behind other nations in the education of its people. From 17 to 21 per cent, of our population are illiterate. In Germany less than 2 per cent, of the population cannot read or write. France and Great Britain, once far behind, will surpass us in a few years unless the central government takes the matter in hand. Of course we will make a better showing as the ex-slave population dies out. But ifc seems to be impossible to induce some of the State governments to make proper provision for educating the new generation which is coming up; hence the demand for Federal interference. This is one of the symptoms ■which goes to show the increasing power of the central govern¬ ment. In the Legislature, on Thursday of the past week, Senator CuUen introduced a bill to repeal the act of last year which restricted the height of dwellings, hotels, apartment houses and other buildings which are to be used for the residence of any person or persons. Mr. Fryer, Mr. O. B. Potter and Mr. Cornelius O'Reilly are working together in an earnest effort to secure the repeal of the law, believ¬ ing that to refuse to let the city enjoy and make use of the prog¬ ress in the arts of building is to deal a fatal blow to her greatness and to her belaboring and mechanical population. The large majority by which the Blair education bill passed the Senate seems to insure ifcs adoption by the House. The principle Hopeful Side of the Labor Troubles. The patrons of The Record and Guide belong almost exclusively to the classes which employ labor. Bankers, real estate owners, builders, dealers in material of all kinds, contractors and the like, do not, as a general thing, feel it to be their interest to advance wages, shorten the hours of labor, or submit to the dictation of trades unions. There is no need, therefore, for us to present the stereotyped arguments against the demands made by the working people. Our readers know them by heart. A more profitable employment of our time would be to point out what possible advan¬ tages may finally result from the labor agitation which is now going on all over the country, and which is destined to seriously embarrass all who are engaged in supplyiag capital for productive enterprises. In the first place, ifc is clear that the demand for shorter hours and higher wages is an evidence that the times are better, aud the great business interests of the country are on a paying basis. The very general success which has so far attended the efforts of the laboring classes shows that prices are rising and production profitable. The workpeople have found ifc impossible to advance the general aver¬ age of wages whea the times were bad. The depressed industrial situation which followed the panic of 1873 completely disintegrated the trades union organizations. They wenfc all to pieces in the fierce struggle for employment which followed thafc blow afc the industries of the country. As we have frequently pointed out in these columns, a general and large addition tO the wages of labor, provided the state of trade warranted ifc, would advantage every material interest in the nation. The working class is the spending class. Nofc one in a hundred of the wage receivers save any portion of their inconae. Ifc follows that an advance in wages means larger expenditures and a heavier consumption of food and goods. There are say 10,000,000 people who work for wages. An addi¬ tion of $2 per week would involve the throwing of $20,000,000 per week or over $1,000,000 per annum into the channels of retail trade. This is a prodigious sum, and its disbursement would stimulate every industry in the country. Hence, while it is the interest of every individual employer to get his work done at the minimum rate of wages, ifc is to the advantage of the greafc body of the business community that the working people should be in receipt of a liberal compensation. The objection to the Chinaman as a laborer is that he spends nothing. He saves his money to taki) back with him to his own country, and hence nofc only the working people whom he underbids but the manufacturers of con¬ sumable goods are opposed to the presence of the heathen Chinee among us. Trades union interference is a serious annoyance to all employers of labor. It is exasperating for an outside committee to tell a " boss," who has his capital engaged in a business, what wages he should pay and under whafc rules his men shall work for him. But, setting this aside, the uniformity in wages and hours which results is a decided advantage to the best class of employers. Under the old system, when there was no restraint upon the selfishness of the "boss," the meanest, most unscrupulous, had the liberal and high-minded employers at their mercy. By cutting down wages, by long hours, by employing apprentices, the •' snide " builder and the dishonest boss was enabled to demoralize the whole trade. Not so when all labor has been organized. The^fair and high-minded employer gets his work done at the same price as his more unscrupulous rival in business. It is, indeed, a positive