Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 50, no. 1291: December 10, 1892

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Decsmber 10, 1893 Record and Guide. 757 ESTABUSHED''=^WWtHÍI'>ie6í». Oetíltû ]o R£a| EsrvE 9uiLui,r/G Aĩít.r^iTEajRf.,KousE:ifũ!DDí:'JCiwnai„ PRIOE, PER TEAR IIV AOrANOE, SIX l»OLLARS. Pttblisheã every Saturday. TBLSPHONB, .... COETLANDT 1370. GoiiunuDÍeatĩona sbouid be addresaed to C. W. SWEET, 14 & 16 Vesey St. J. 1. LINDSEY, Busmess Manager. "Entered qt fíie Fost-offlce at NeiiJ York, N. ¥., as ĸecond-claas lĩiaííer." no arguQieiifc is needed to demoũstrate tliat an addition of sucli proportions to tlie Worid's gold supply cannot be without a pro- found iiifluence upon tlie status of tlie silver quefition. VoL. L. DECEMBER 10, 1899. NO, 1,201 Euo-yboãi/ interested in architecture and in bnilding shovid reaã the Architectural Record. 25 ceiiís a copy. Eecord and Gtvide offiae, Nos. 14-lt) Vesey street. IN spite of alarmist stories, tlie absence of ffold exports invited a buyitjg movement at the end of the week, whtch does not appear to have wholly spent itself. The buyiog in the Gould stocks is saîd to have causes outside of sympathy with the general movement, and in fact it even Inoks as if they will set the pace and the others will follow their lead. It wouid, however, be unwise to look for any large speculative moveraent, íor the reason that the banks have ah-eady given indicationa of an inteution to check it, slîoiild one proniise toarise. The undercurrent is very strong, as can be seen from tlie quickness with wliich prices rally from depression. This will protect values ao long as the calaniities with which well-koown houses threaten the market as a result of cur- rency conditions do not occur; but the best that can he hoped for l'or some time is a see-saw motion dominated rather by strength than weakness. unless the punlic should take fright at the prophecies of evil that are now being made. PROFESSOR ANDREWS' apeech oa Thursday before the Inter- national Monetaiy Conference wae admirable, but it expounded rather what the position of tbis country on the silver question shouiii he, than exaccly what it is. Certainiy, it had a very ditferent riug froni that of the utlerancea most fre- quently heard upon our silver policy; and, too, it looked in a dift'erent directioti. It lacked particularly the dramatic bravo spirit, whicb frora tinie to time urges thia country to take an isolated position regarding ailver. Said Professor Andrews : " We wiil parc company with Asia and South America ralher than with you (Enrope). We wiU not forever continne aione the task of sns- taing tbe price of silver." In Irnth this conntry has nothing to gain, either in this matter of silver, ur in commerce, or In immigration by isoiation from the rest of the world. It is foliy to preach the doctrine; and w§ regret to say it is apparently gaining in some quarters a pernicions popularîty. Tlie United States is not an Asiatic country, and caiiuot aft'ord to tolerate an Asiatic policy. The civilized world at present has pronounced positively against Bimetallísm. Great Britaiu is monometallic beyoud conversion. Germauy stands íirmly with her, Austria only recently at a great cost placed her mone- tary system upfin a gold basis, France has no support to give ns, and uow tliere is taik of even India reverting to goUl. Correct as the position of the Unĩted States may be on the silver question, what cati we do in the face of adversecouditions such as these'i' Is notProfessor Andrews' position the wise one—to stay with Europe for the time being, leaving the probieui to be workcd out by inter- national experienceî We can certainly sland what Europe can. As Professor Andrews said: " The evils of a fluctuating exchange which beaet England in her commerce with Iĸdia we also exper- ience in our trading witli our nearest neighbors, hut we are deter- miũed not to acccmplisb a desirable end at tlie lerrible cost of opening a similar chasm betweeu oureelves and the nations of Europe." This is tlie wise coucse; particularly so as even this country within itEelf is radically divided in opinion about silver. Neither should we overiook the recent great increase in the production of the South African gold mines. The Record and Gufde pubiished statistics on this point the week before )ast, which showed that the Randt ia now producing at the rate of $95,000,000 worth of goid annually, while conservative expercs place the probable production tîve years lience at twice that amount. Duving the last ten years, the gold production of the United States has not averaged over thirty-five millions. Indeed, om- own silver tuines oan scarcely show so great an enlargement of output in 80 short a time as the South Airican gold mines doj and THE recommendation which the Preaident makes in liis message, for the control of quaraniine hy tlie national authorities, is one wbich should receive hearty popular support. Onr e-vperi- ence last summer surely made it quite clear that au efĩective qiiarantine could not be maintain'^d in the case of a severeepidemic by the number of unrelated S ate and local Boards of Health, eacli working according to aomewhat difĩerent niethod,-j, and al! wíth unequal eíĩiciency and unequal re :oiu'ces. Seaboaril quarantîne is not a local affair. The health of Ihe enttre country is con- cerned in the efBcîent administration of adequate protective regulations at even the smallest port of entry. Sutlicient medical skill, and ample resources, properly directed, shonkl be avaĩlable wherever needed, independent of any merely local rcquiremenls. But more than all this, to secure the utmost efHciency, tho quaran- tine systeni of the country should be a unifîed system, all its parts co-ordinated and in direct relation with a central anthority. We pointed out last week what was the proper field for local activity in quarantine matters. Local Boards of Health should exist even in small towns, and these could complete and secure the work done by the national government, by keeping strict surveillauce on imniigrants that have been allowed to pa.'is the .seaboard line, until all danger of disease is paesed. This is really thc most importaut work of quarautine. As things were last summer, if cbolera bad broken ouc in any one of hundreds of our cities, smail towns and villages of some sîĩíe, the disease would have had the fulJest scope. No medical or hospital organiz^tíon of any kind existed; no ambulance, no equipment for fumigation. The safety of the country depended upon the worb of a nuniber of inefficient, local medical oíBcera at loggerheads with the national authorities. A Oitj's BusiuesH. ASPECI.vL commĩttee of the Glasgow corporation lias, it Í8 announced, been appointed to consider how far the corpora- tion can wilh advanlage to the city înstitute a departinent for receiving deposits on short notice bearing a moderate rateof interest. Thi8 is, wc believe, the first time il haa been seriously proposed that munĩcipalities should add banking to IheJr other services to the public, and the proposal baa aroused cousiderable discussion in England. Strange aa it must seem to people íii this city, the pro- poaal has not been denounced as '" uudemocratic,'' " tHicialistic," or as outtíide the proper sphere of municipal action. Euglish people believe aeriously that a municipal eorporation is like any other corporation—organized not for the piirpose of acting ou ■■'demo- cratic," and avoiding '" socialisiic " priiiciples, but for the purpose of being of financiai assistance to the shareliolders. Consequently the proposal is being discussed by its advocates in order to show that it is based on aHrue economy, and by its opponents in order to show tbat it is based on a false economy. Ifc seems to us worth while to summarize the/liscushion in one of the leading English newspapers in order to >bow ĩn what spirit a niatter of this kind ought to be dealt with. Presumably it is with iheamall savings of the laxpayera that it ia proposed to deal: and it is obvious that unless the municipatity is prepared to pay a higher rate of inteiest thau is obtainable from fche savings banka, they can confer no greater advantage on these peopie than ihose they already enjoy. In one respect it may be aaid that the municipality can afford to pay more than the savings banks. When it has to borrow l'or public works it has to pay 3i^ per cenfc for its loans, and if ifc couid supply its needs by borrowiug from the taxpayers it could pay ihat rate—subject, of course, to a deduction for the working expenaes of its banking department— without incurring any loss. The government, on tbe other hand, does not pay the savings banks luore than 2''^ per cent. becanse it can go into tbe iiiarket and borrow at tliat rate. So far, therefore, it would appeai as if the municipality could outbid the aavinga banks. Other thiugs, however, must he taken into account. The municipality could under no conditions sink tbe wbole of the deposita lodged with it in public works, for which ithasnowto borrow money. A certain percentage would have to be kept io band to meet possible demands for repayment. In the case of tbe savings bankstbis reserve of unused mouey is exceedingly small, the in-inciple acted upon being as Cousols can be sold at any momenfc they are practically equal lo casli. The municipality could uot act upon auch a priuciple. In tbe event of a run its securitiea would be almost unmarketable. Ii it ia to do deposit banking business. therefnre, it must do as all other privale deposit banks do—keep a certain portioii of ita drposita in cash and iîi government securities. Anil if llie rcniaĩnder weie emplojed for city purposes, the ainount eanied upon the whole funds would not enable it to pay any appreciably Iiigher rateslhanthe governmert savings banks now do. The journal coucludes consequently that n municipaliLy acLing aa a bankpr would not be able to do for small depositora moie than the govern-