Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 46, no. 1179: October 18, 1890

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October 18, 1890 Record and Guide. 499 I «ifc .1 I Ji_ ESTABLISHED^ MWPH a»i^ 186 1)ev6teD to I^ Estate . BuiLoiffc Aj^prfrrEtrrai^ .KouseHoid Deoo^twI. Bi/sikEss Alto Themes op GejIei^I IjiTcnEsi PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Telephone, ... CJobtlandt 1370. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XLVI. OCTOBER 18, 1890. No. 1,179 IMPORTANT NOTICE. Next week's issue of The Record and Guide will contain a hand¬ some Illustrated Supplement devoted to the new mercantile district now creating in the section bounded, roughly speaking, by Canal and 14th streets, Broadway and 6th avenue, and Carmine street. In addition to about forty pages of illustrations made from architects' drawings and photographs specially taken, it will contain a history of the district, of the " boom " in building now in progress there, and of real estate values, tcith a list of conveyances showing recent purchasers, with other articles and statistics. This supplement unll be circulated with every copy of The Record and Guide, and as it will reach with certainty all of the principal architects, builders, real estate owners, investors, bankers, and thousands of private indi¬ viduals interested in real estate, it affords an unrivalled opportu¬ nity not only for the advertisement of real property, building mate¬ rial, etc , but for any and all the articles in demand among the weU- to-do. " Copy" for advertisements for Supplement (only) must be sent to the office of publication. No. 191 Broadway, no!: later than Wednesday afternoon. This number wil be a very handsome one, and subscribers and others wishing to acquaint their friends outside of the city with the growth and progress of New York, cannot accomplish this better than by sending them copies of the supplement. As this edition will be a very large one to meet the demand, orders should be sent at once for the copies needed. Notwithstanding the costliness of this issue, no advance in price will lie made, and orders for ten copies or mor- will be mailed free, upon receipt of 15 cents per copy. THE SUPPLEMENT. This number of The Record and Guide contains a supplement of illustrations of the Berlin Elevated RaUroad. Subscribers and readers should see that it accompanies their copy, and any omissions should be reported to the office of publication. THE stock market, as vre anticipated, has been stronger through¬ out the past week ; and though not exceptionally active, it has been marked by a healthier tone. There has undoubtedly sprung up a more confident spirit among dealers; brokers say that there are more applications than for some time past from outside customers who wish to know what to buy, and consequently there seems to be some hope that prices may receive some outside sup¬ port. It i3 not likely, however, that this support will come from abroad. English securities have been suffering depreciation just as ours have, and apparently from about the same cause. Money is more or less scarce iu all the markets of Europe, and tbe conversion of various important loans, which were to have been attempted immediately, have been postponed until a more favorable opportunity presents itself. But the prices of stocks in this country have suffered heavier declines than those of England; they are cheap at the pres¬ ent prices and with present prospects. The general trade prospects continue to be almost unexceptionable. Our exports were never bo heavy as thqr were a week ago—amounting to more than $16,000,- 000 against an average of $8,000,000 for the six preceding weeks. A certain part of this large total—about $4,000,000—should have been scattered over the previous month, but even making allow- aiute for any circumstance of this kind the showing is most encour¬ aging. If this process ccmtinues it must result in bringing money to this country. There is no fault to be found with railroad eam- iugBf and the managers oi the various Western roads appear to be making determmed efforts satisfactorily to adjust tbe rate situa¬ tion. The preponderance of argument is undoubtedly on the buUifl^ffldo^ TBERE appear to be no new developments in the attitude of the European nations to tlie McKinley bill. The Xoitdon Econo¬ mist very properly rebukes continental journals and English papers like the Times for their fierce denunciation of tbe bill. " The policy which the United States are pursuing," says the Economist, " may be, and in our opinion is, a most mistaken policy. But the American people bave a right to regulate thf ir fiscal affairs in whatever manner they think best, and for us to resent as an insult the exercise of that freedom, because it clashes with our own interests, is foolish and absurd. Such a display of temper will only aggravate the evil. It will play into the hands of the protec¬ tionists, who will contend that the success of tbeir policy may be measured by the irritation it causes here." It has never been rec¬ ognized as a principle of legislation that the enacting power should scrupulously consult the interests of all othei- nations. The McKinley bill must be judged by its results to the trade of this country, not by its effect in the trade of other countries. In case the latter decided to retali¬ ate, we shall have as little right to enter an objection as they have at the present moment to grow hysterical over the bill's restrictive features. The price of securities abroad is hinging, as it does in this coimtry, on the condition of the money market. Alike in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna, the fiuancifrs are watching with anxious eyes the rate of discount. The dealers in all these cities are very cautious. In the London Stock Exchange there has recently been the same shrinkage of values as in New York. Consols have dropped as much as 4 per cent from their highest point touched this year. English railway stocks have fallen from 5 to 15 per cent; Southern American bonds have suffered heavy depreciation; .American railway securities have been equally unfortunate, and international bonds of the safest class hsive not been without their decline. These losses have been directly occasioned by the tightness of money. Furthermore, general business in England has apparently been quite as active and prosperous as in this coun¬ try. The index number of the Economist, representing the general range of prices at the end of September is 2,301, against 2,229 in 1889 and 2,130 in 1«88. The bankers' clearings show an increase of 5 per cent over the previous year ; the returns for railway traflSc are equally satisfactory, and the general trade of the country, while not exceptionally inflated, is " healthily active." THE gradual transformation of the character of the Peoples' Municipal League has been curious and significant. When the Rev. Mr. Newton and his friends first issued their call to the various exchanges to send representatives to a meeting to organize a reform movement, they evidently fully expected that a certain proportion, at all events, ojBhese exchanges, would be represented. As a matter of fact, none of the exchanges responded to this call. In the case of the Real Estate Exchange, for instance, the oflBcers felt that they had no right to commit the organization officially to any sort of action on a matter in which there was room for a wide difference of opinion among tho stockholders. It might be true that municipal government was business and not politics; but the officers of the exchange could not very well endorse such a statement or officially countenance a movement to put it into practice until the question had been submitted to tbe stock¬ holders. Doubtless the managers of the other exchanges held similar opinions. And the consequence was that individuals only, not organizations, were present at the meeting. We referred to this fact at the time, pointing out that there was no such unanimity in tho business community on the side of the League as its friends could wish. The trend of events subsequently has shown very clearly that whether the League candidate wins or does not win, the object of that association will not be accomplished this fall. Municipal government will still remain very much a matter of politics. The Republican organization has not committed itself to the principle of throwing the weight of its influence on tbe side of tbe best candidate; the ticket itself is based on a careful distribution of the offices among the various parties. We do not mention these patent facts in any spirit of captious criticism on the make-up of the ticket. The League Committee undoubtedly had no alternative but to act as it did. A ticket constituted in any other way would not have obtained the ratiflcation of the Republican and County Democratic organizations or the support of the labor people. But it is only fair to point out that this is not the way to get rid of parties in municipal affairs; on the contrary, it is a distinct sanction of the principle that party lines should be observed in the distribution of elective offices. And the League was forced into this position because it could obtain no general and forcible response to its appeal to business men as such to rally around an unpartisan flag. There is no escape from the concltision that our citizens in any civic mat¬ ter are partisans first and business men uecond. Two years from now we shall see a repetition of the same flght as we have already witnessed this year, with a strong probability, as it will be a Presi¬ dential year, ol a totally different ending. fXIQE result ef tbe police eensus enumeration in adding a round -J^ 200,000 names to our population is quite in the line of expM> tation; and it is difficult to see how Supmntendent Porter can refuse to order another count without incurring the gravest indigo nation. But although this result has been anticipated the sice of