Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 54, no. 1382: September 8, 1894

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September 8,1894 Record and Guide. 819 ESTABUSHED-^«W.CH2l!i^l868, Devoted jo K^l Estate . guiLoijJb Appi^rrEeTUR,E ,House:Hou> DEGCUjATiori, Bi/sii^ESS Affo Themes orGEfJa^l IfJ'iW.Esi. PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Telephosb,......Cortlandt 1370 Cotomnnications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J, 1. LINDSEY. Busineas Manager. BR00KL5-X Office, 276-282 Washington' Street, Opp. Post Office. "Entered al Ihe Post-office at New York, A'. ¥., as second-class mailer." Vol. liv. SEPTEMBER ,S, 1891. No. 1,882 For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Department immediately folhwing A'cw Jersey records {page 3i0'i, Till; Eecoud and Gl'ii>e edition of ibe Building Laws and Ordinances of Brooklyn, with illuatrationa and a complete index, by which one is enabled to find at a glance jnst what he is looking for, is now ready for itelirery al the o.ffices of The Eecoud and Guide, li and IB Veaey street. New York, and 276 Waahington street, Broohlyn, at the uniform price of $2. THE business revival, no bigger than amaii'sliuutltwo moiifhs ago, has now reached such diuieusiotis tliat everybody sees it, aud ut last it is recognized that once more tlie wheels ot com¬ merce are moving, slowly as yet, but none the less .surely. The dry-goods jobbers say that the last tifteen days of business equal those of 1S92, which were very large. This improvement is uot local, but extends ail over tlie country,-with the possible exception of Nebraska, low^a aud a small part of Kansas where the corn crop failed. In the South tliere will be an increase of P00,000 bales of cotton, which increase alone will represent a very good business iu handling, carting, etc. In the stock market there seems to be no general buying movement, and prices sag when renlizatious are attempted. The next signal for an advance will be when we begin to import gold, winch natiiially ought to be very soon. How quicldy prices may return to better iignres is shown by the very recent movement of the Pittsburg, Chicago, Cincinnati & St. Louis stock, whicii a year ago sold for about 20, and slowly decliued to 13, remaining there for montlis, but a little buying movement taking place the price in a weelc rose to 20 and is there now. It is the same witli Northern Pacific preferred, which recently advanced from 13 to 22, while it ^vas months in falling to the iirst-namcd jioint. Ou tlie whole, it nnij' be safely said that a substantial improvement has set in which gives every indication of being permanent. EUROPEAN tlnancial papers continue to be occupied with discussions of our tarift' and its consequences to the trade of the countries they represent. Tbe Lodon Econoinist is not very enthusiastic over its probable eff'ects on British trade, owing to the low prices already prevailing liei'C. It takes tin plate, cotton ties, iron and steel to be most iu question from thiit point of view. Of the first it says : Seeing that they have already made the larger proportion of the black plate tinned in America there is little reason to doubt that they will be able to overtake the production of: all tlie black plate required, so long at least as the basis of prices is so near onr own. South Wales makers may be disappointed if they anticipate nny very great immediate benefit from Hie change in the tai-ift', and we think it would be wise to keep prices moderate so as to check the new industry which has sprung up in America. In cotton ties the. English manufacturer could find no comfoi't becaii.se prices on both sides of the Atlantic were so i early equal. Tlie reduction oE the duly on pig iron from ^(>.72 to ^1 was not likely to help English trade at present. EnglLsli iron of th<^ same quality as No. 1 .Vmerican and Bessemer wnuld cost Jf54 more than the pro¬ duct of the home furnaces and mills laid down in New York. Harvest time has not yet brought the demand for money whicii the banks expected, aud a new process of .piling up has begun at the great European financial centres ; the Bank of.England .sur¬ plus continues fo make new precedents in proportion fo liabili¬ ties. Discount rates as a consequence remain low, and business gives signs of i'ela])sing into dullness. If Secretaiy Carlisle wauts :?r)U,000,000 oi even double that to put liis gold surplus on a proper fonndation it can now be had easily and cheaply. A westward movement of gold would be hailed as affording a gi'atifying relief to the choked European money markets, and as matters now stand there woiibl be no danger of its being demanded back again for some time to come. The Austrian public is fighting agaiust the nse of silver in place of tho one- florin notes fchey have become accustomed to, but this ab.surd prejudice toward the white-metal money will not endure long. This is what we would Iiave to expect in our Easteru States if our $1 aud if 2 bills were retired to make way fov a larger use of silver, as they ought to be. "O ICHMOND TERMINAL, a name which has h.ad snch a dis- -*-^ turbing influence in linancial circles and has been synony¬ mous for disaster in the minds of investors for so long, will soon disappear entirely from the security lists, which places will hap¬ pily know it no more. The Southern Railroad, in which is embraced all the lines, except the Georgia Centraland some few others that were casb off or refused to come into the plan of reorganization, has b; en finally organized, and the securities of the new company which is to control it may be issued in the course of a month or two. If auy regret is to be expressed regarding the siihstitution of one organization for another, it is that the process did not include an inquiry into the manuer iu which the old ono was brought to the ground and the way in which deceived and defi-autled security-hoklei's could obtain recompen.se. Such a thiug was apparently not ^o be because of tho impossibility of gettiug stoek and bondholders to act with any spirit even iu their own interests. The Southeru Railroad Company will start with a compact, thotigli extensive railroad of 4,000 miles, with about 1.50 miles of watir line besides owned directly bv it, and leasing 000 more lines of railroad, with tixed charges cut dowu. f o recent net earning capacities and with a reserve of securities to provide equipment and improvements for some years to come. Moreover, the territory it opcrat, s being the first to feel the stress of the hard times that have weighted down commerce for some years past is now, under the stimulus of extensive econo¬ mies aud gopil crops, returning to prosperity at a rate, if not rapid, is at le.ast satisfactory. Consequently if: the new com¬ pany is managed conseryafivel3% it will make it.selt strong before auott er phase of adversity is likely to come upon it. The launching of this the first of the great bankrupt railroad enterprises iuto renewed solvency will be watched with interest both at bome aud abroad, beeause the results will show whether railroad managers of this country h.ave learned a lesson by the past, or whether the old-time reck¬ lessness and dishonesty are to continue and the process of reor¬ ganization to go on over antl over again as in the case of Re;iding and Atchison. An immediate influence of this reorganization is the encouragement of holders of securities of other bankrupt properties who may well feel cheered when some intrinsic merit eau by any process be found in securities that once seemed so hopelessly placed as those of Richmond Terminal. "TT is an unwholesome aud discouraging sign, that of the reported -*- refusal of practically all those merchants who testified before the Lexow Committee to appear now and assist the Grand Jury to find indictments against the police officers to whom tbey had paid regidar blackmail for " sidewalk privi¬ leges." It bears out the pessimistic view which has been advanced frequently, bnt always with reluctance in these columns, that New York City after all is governed in close con¬ formance to the moral and intellectual standards of the hulk ol the people. It is a sad enough disclosure whicii reveals prom¬ inent and wealthy merchants debauching the police in order to obtaiu small couveniences at the expense of their fellow citi¬ zens; but what are we to say when these men, having publicly testified to their owu wrongdoing, reflnse to make their confes¬ sion effective toward producing a cleaner administration of the Police! Under such circumstances a reformer iu New York must ueeds be furnished with unexbau.stible confidence in his fellow-men aud iui(;oiiqiierable faith in the long right arm of the Lord. The truth is, whether it be pleasaut to ns or not we have the government we deserve and a municipality ot onr own making. It is the most arrant hypocrisy tu denounce officials whom reputable citizens have been busy bribiug, and whom when occasion presents itself they refuse to testify against. Citizen and oflicer are tarred with the same brush. Let us at least retiiin the courage of our vices. Let na clear our¬ selves of caut, as Dl. Johnson advised, and uot whine .sancti¬ moniously foi' " clean government" when the bulk of us do not want "clean gineiinueut," which means the abolition ot* party ride in city affairs and liie strict enfoi'cemeat of the laws of the muuicipality. People don't want to do jury duty, pay their taxes to the nttennosl} cent, see the excise laws rigidly administered, and all those places-that-.shall-be- mentioiiless here effectively closed, no sidewalks or streets occnp'ed for the storage of: goods aud carts, no franchises taken and no contracts let save upon terms whicii amply satisfy the last just requirement of the city. In short, people don't really want clean government out and out. Every¬ one no doubt would not object to his neighbor being strictly looked after. Th<'. merchant whose goods encumber the side- J