Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: no. 56, no. 1427: July 20, 1895

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Jnly 20,1895 Record and Guid mSi^ It S>1^* IflGS. ESTABUSHEd"^ (^01121^^ 1868, Dev&teQ 10 Rea,l Estate.SuiLDif/c AficrfrTECTURE'}{i3USE3(oicDMffl{jiicrf, Biisn/Ess Affo Themes ofGEflER^l Iffttfif*!,^ PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. TELBIHONE,......COKTLANBT 1370 ODumiunlcatlODB should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J. 1. LINDSEY. Business Manager. Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Washington Street, Opp. Post Office. " Entered al the Posl-offlce at New York. X. T., as second-elass ynatter." Vol. LVI. JULY 20, 1895. No. 1,427 AN IMI-OJtTJNT ANNOUNCEMENT. The Rkcord axd Guin-& xeill furnish youwithdail^ detailed reports of all building operations, compiled to suit ■i'OOR business specifically, for 14 cents a day. You are thus kept informed of the entire market for yonr goods. A'o guess work. Erery .fact verified. Abandant capital and ihc thirty years' experience of Tiui Record axd Guide guarantee Ihe com¬ pleteness and authenticity of this service. Send to 1-1 and 10 Vesey street for information. (^ OLD has come to the front again in a way that is likely to ^ carry ■with it iinpleagaiitnesses. Just iiow it is apparently a dispute between the merchants who have balances to settle on the other side aud Ihe bond syndicate as lo who shalllose the triflingdiflerenco between 1he cost of shipping gold and Uie rate of exchange as fixed by the latter. The merchants are being told that their jiosition is pavsimonions and tini^atriotic, but it is ' hard to see why they should make the sacrifice, ii! any is to be made. The mistaken idea has been made much too prevalent that the bond operation of: last February was a quasi-philan¬ thropic one, instead of beiug the entirely mercenary—though not mercenary iu any hni'.sli sense—oue it ^yas. The restiKs to the .syndicate cannot have beeu otherwise than satisfactory, the profits have beeu ao very larg:e that it can well aflbrd to spend some of them iu observing the obligations toward the business community Ihat the privilege of ntidertakiug the sale ot the bouds carded with it. Moreover, owing to the foolishness of the Trea.sury Department tiie syndicate lias been relieved of the most onerous of these obligations, the imporlalion of gold, and it does uot become it to be quarreling'Vi'ith shipper.s over trifling fractious ou exchange, aud ifc should abate somewhat its petty desire to get every cent it possibly cau out of an uufortuuate situation. The public will not forget that it would not be pos¬ sible for gokl fo be going out uow it the syndicate contract had been strictly euforced. If gold shipments continue they must affect the Treasury balance, aud every one knows what that will mean. Of eouise, it pays belter to mend some things that have gone to pieces than to l;eep them "whole, and we are apt to forgive a cobbler for preferring the weather that is hardest ou shoes, but is it a fact that we are all coUblers ''. r I iIlK lu^afOT we approach the Presidential election, flie uar- -*- rower become the divergencies between parties. This is coutrary to political optics, but tliat such is the case mnst be apparent to all. Indeed, if the process of approximation be car¬ ried mucli furlhet, it will be difticult to see wliat the figlit ol' tlie next caiiipaigii will be about. Clearly, Ihe force of circum¬ stances is fast driving lieptiblicaus and Democrats alike to occupy the same ground ; or, if not that, it is eliminatiug from their disputes the solid "practical" substance about whicli alone tbo everyday man cares to bother himself. To explain: A few mouths ago there was at least a superficial possibility that the two great parties might drift to opposite poles ou the silver question. Perhaps to-day both are not (iuite "in line" on the matter; but Ihe opinion may s.ifely be hazarded that the na¬ tional conveutious will put both ou the same "sound mouey'i plauk. Of courae "sound mouey" is an ambiguous phrase, but ambiguity is the language ot politicians in dealing with real issues. Republican and Democrat, however, will each alike mean tlie same thing by the phrase—viz., the maiutetiauce of a currency conforming in the maiu to the commercial require¬ ments of the great ti'ading nations of the world. Then, again, as io that perennial source of diftercuee between the two parties —the tariff'. Not long ago, with hard times pressing on every¬ body, profits nil, wages low, tlie outlook black, it would have been easy to give the old dispute au intensely ]iracfieal and immediate interest fhafc would have made the contiover.^y a very earnest one. But, business is improving steadily, wages are advancing, the entire industrial machinery of the laud is getting into motion again, and the commercial outlook is prom- isiug, Uuder these conditions, surely it will be difficult tomake discussion .about the value of this or that tariff more than an academic or ttieoretieal dispute for the bulk of people. Expe¬ rience, indeed, is forcing many to see that Protection and Free Trade (as so far carried out in the United States) are uot niat- 'ters to get rabid over; that the country somehow is greater than either, and if only given peace gels along fairly well under McKinley tariffs aud uuder Wilson tariffs. Uudoubtedly, this ancient dispute has moved somewhsit out of aud away from t!ie slxops aud the couniitig-houses, and iu the open air it is worth les.s than formerly as a red rag in "politics." For the rest, at jn-esent there are only minor affairs for party difference, aud it would be a good thiugfor the country if for a period party lines in national politics were to become merely nominal boundaries, so that the emphasis of our |)olilieal activity could be eoncen- trated on local aud State matters. Good governmeut every¬ where throughout the land has suffered enormously because iu Ihe minds of most people national iiolitics have predominated. It is this condition that is mainly responsible for Ihe wretched .administration of our municipalities and for the farce wliich goes by the name of Stale government throughout the length and breadth of the laud. IN view of the return of a Conservative majority to the IJritisIi Parliament, speculation uow centers upon what the influ¬ ence ot! the policy of tho new government wiil be on business. At home it can do really nothing to chiinge the face of affairs; happily for the country, its iiuanciat and commercial jiolicy is too well lix(;d to be alt'ectcd in any material way by the transfer of the reins ot power from one party to the other. Abroad it maybe different, though, as we pointed out before, it is not likely that Lord Salisbury wiil fiy to do more than keep'Euglaiul at peace, \rhile pushing her eotnmercial advantage in every direction, just as Mr. Gladstone aud Lord Ro.seberry did. A different face may be put upon tliis policy, but behind tho Tory mask tlie features will be the same as before. The emergencies of the moment may call for some greater show of vigor tliati it Tias been necessary for the Liberal giiverument to make ; oue of these is likely to be created by tho altitude of Russia toward Japan. The minder o£ M. Stambidolif creates considerable anxiety out:ride of Bulgaria. He had beeu out .of power for some time without seeing the PflliOfcJ^f inaugurated for his country chaugcd lo any appreciable ^.extent, a fact that- did not satisfy bis eueuiies at home or ^broad. 'J'be European business situation cau still be summed np in an excess of money and a disinclination fo use ib except in gilt-edged investments. Vienna has had another flurry, in which mouey for a weelt's use '"Was between.9 and 11 percent. The financial Journals see .in tlie situation here the po,ssibilify of threatening conditions for the Treasury, and asaeonsequenoe purchases of American secur- ities arc very gingerly made.______,____________________________ iVEN in France, ■where "le sport "is .as alien in its deriva¬ tion as the word that designates it, the triumph of the bicycle is complete aud universal. The "mass" is get ti tig onto wheels with unexpected rcstdts. The latest cry of resentment for the " craze " is raised, they say, by PaiLsian publishers and booksellers. Thonsands who formerly had lime for reading aud cash to spare for the purchaseof books, have lately diverted the ouc and the other to the wheel. Wo are curious to know whether like results have followed in this conutry from tlic absoi'pcion of tlie multitude in the new pursuit. The universal adoption of a new, demiietatie means of locotiiotiou mnst, indeed, have effects beyond Ihose registei'ed in booksellers' i'eceipf.s.^ We know, for instance, that it ha.s affected tbe horse-market and, of course, concurreully all trades and vocations Ihat depen