Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: no. 56, no. 1430: August 10, 1895

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August 10,1895 Record and Guide. 181 ESTABLISHED-^W^CH"«^'«K«- ^H21«>ie68, DEVi^lED 10 Rfft.L ESTAJE. BuiLDlKo ^RptTTECTURp >{oUSnfOUlDEfl(Hp3i^ Si/sit/ESS Affc Themes ofCEifen^l iKtraPT. PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Tblephonb,..... Coetlandt 1370 Oommimtoatlons ahould be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J. 7, LINDSEY. Busineaa Manager. Brookltn Office, 276-282 Washinqton Street, Opf. Post Okfjob. " Entered at the Post-office at New Torh, N. Y., as second-class matter." Vol. LVI. AUGU.ST 10, 1895. No. 1,480 WALL street is undergoing one ot its periods of dullness. The comuiissiou houses ave doinj? practically nothing ; in fact, if it was not for the professional tradiug element the Stock Exchange might just as well imitate the fashicnahle churches and close up for the vacation time. The lemarkahle thing about this situation, however, is that while the only active party in the market is largely bearish, prices are really .strong. The conditiou of general business iu the country and the crop prospects keep holders of securities, whicli, owiug to the abund¬ ance of money, can be carried very cheaply, encouraged as to the future, and iu consequence unwilling to partwith their holdings. Short sales, therefore, do not bring out loug stock, aud the seller has to cover promptly, aud so luaintaius the very quotations he is anxious to break. While the geueral public is so satisfied with the outlook, there are uuder the sur¬ face some unsatisfactory features. Besides the adverse positiou of exchauge, it is reported that nearly all the large foreign houses are borrowers of stock against sales made abroad. This borrowing is for the purpose of keeping the stock sold iu Europe there iu order that it may imt have to be remitted for froiu this side, as would be the case if it should be shipped here. This is as artiticial as was the exchange market under the mauipnlatioo of the managers of the syndicate and must sooner or later be paid for. Very strenuous efforts are being made to iuiluce European fiuauciiil centres to iuterest them¬ selves iu Americau securities, and for this purpose Loudon is likely to get most of the plums to be had in reorganizations. The Atchisou underwriting, which has up to Ihe present been so successful, went there aud the Erie plau is now beiug offered there. Keadiug aud Northern Pacific will probably go iu the same direction. If this plan should succeed it may go a long way toward cbanging the position ot exchange, aud conse¬ quenfly mitigate the worst evil from which at lea.st the tiuancial branch of the business of the couutry ia now sufFeriug. MR. GLADSTONE'S speech on the Armenian question puts the uew British administration on its mettle in dealing with that knotty problem aud auy action intended to force the Porte iuto doing something to relieve the intolerable posi¬ tion of the ('hristiaus withiu its dominions will hasten the reac¬ tion in government securities. This has already begun iu the low-priced issues aud wiE uot end uutil it has worked lower figures iu the high-priced tines too. Events aro working toward au explosion in the Balkan provinces, the eud of which, owiug to the jealousies of the great powers, uo one cau foresee. The awful news from China is also full of trouble for tbe future. Coming at another time it would be merely a question of demand for redress aud compensation from the countries to which the victims of these outbreaks beloug and a prompt compliance ou the part of China, but uow with the Russo-Cliinese-Japanese perplexitystilluudctcrmiuedtheieisdangerof uew complications in every movement. There is oue thing that Lord yab'sburycan congratulate himself ou aud that is that the recent elections have turned out so that the power to enforce the policy of his goverumeut, if it goes to the unprecedented length for a Tory government of having a policy, cannot be endangered by any coalition of the minorities. Not ouly is this the case, but his party is the one that has the more willing support ot the upper chamber and the sympathies of the Crown. There never was a governmeut since the beginning of free pariiameuts that had its held of operations so clear of obstructions. Tliat the ener¬ gies of this governmeut will be absorbed in foreign aud colonial affairs there is no doubt whatever, but how such affairs will stand when the inevitable day comes wheu it must .surrender i^ontrolof theui it is impossible t.i say. It is equally impossible to say what effect proximate events will have on trade. The rea¬ sonable conelusiou, however, on this head is that should the problems that now present themselves to the diplomacy of Europe be settled without recourse to war, the improvemeut we have seen iu trade and commerce will continue to grow, and should sterner measures be resorted to a temporary interruption would be followed by greater activity than ever. THE property owners iu that section of the city lyinghetweeu Ninety-fifth and Oue Hundred and Fourth streets and Fifth and Park avenues, have a grievance from which they ought to be relieved, aud that very promptly. A great deal of money has beeu expended there of late years iu putting up ex¬ pensive buildings; but, while the property-owner has beeu doing his best to improve the locality aud briug it iuto use for decent people to live iu instead of leaving it to the hopeless destruction of the squatter and his geese and goats, the city has done uothing to help him. Repeated attempts have been made in the last two years to get the streets paved without avail. In consequence there is still within sight of Ceutral Park aud a mile or more below the well-paved and efficiently-administered amiexed district, roadways thatwoulddisgrace an impoverished couhtiy Yilla2:e—dust heaps in dry weather and quagmires in wet. The district to which we are referring has suffered con¬ siderably by having ouly very limited communications with the avenues to the east of it, the streets between Ninety-sixth and One Hundred and Second streets being cut offhy the railroad. This is a great evil and a bar to the proper development of the property, but it eau be borne with more patience than can the greater evil of nupaved streets. The property-owners are fully justified iu raising their most vigorous protest against this policy of neglect ou the part of the city authorities towards one small section of the city which has, while excluded from fidl benefits, to share the burden of the cost of general maiutenance, Kailroad Privileges on the Ifew Bridge, We are glad to see that tbe new East River Bridge Commission is prepared to aet witli extreme deliberation before appropriating the bridge yet to be built to the use of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company or to any similar company or companies. It will bere- membered that a private corporatiou known as the Ea.st Kiver Bridge Company—which was really tbe Brooklyu Elevated Company, dis¬ guised because it could not by auy means obtain the privileges it sought openJy and iu its own name—induced the Legislature at Albany to grant it a franchise to conueet tlie cities of New York and Brooklyu by a bridge across the East River and to operate a rail¬ road tbereou, in spite of the protest of tho people of bo+h the cities aft>eted, OE course this bridge was never built, the owners of the frauciiise never intended to risk their own money in the enterprise, although some petty show was made of acquiring property. But in the last session of tho Legislature another bill was passed empower¬ ing the two cities to build a bridge at a"co3b of $15,000,000. into which measure was inserted a clause giving power to the Commis¬ sion created to carry the work through, to purchase from any eom¬ pauy—there was, of coiir.se, only one—a franchise for bridging the East Eiver within certaiullimits, which'embvace all the territory withiu which t.Iie Commission eonbl build its bridge. In due course the companv having the franchise comes forward and professing much publio spirit offers to dispose of it to the Com¬ mission at cost, with a little provision added that if accepted would make the cities of New York and Brooklyn expend $15,000,000 to carry tbe lines of the Brooklyn Eleyated Railroad Company across the East River to the exclusion of every other means of travel. Such a proposition would have astounded even the Legislature if it had been squarely put to it, notwithstanding the uuholv trailic tbe rural metpbers carry ou in tbe rights oE Ihe large cities, aud would have beeu doomed to certain defeat. It is gratifying to see that the mem¬ bers of the Bridge Commission show uo di.sposition to allow this scheme to succeed, aud although the Brooklyn Elevated Eailroad Company is represented as covertly threatening to obstruct the building ot the new bridge unless it obtains what it wants, it is not possible for the scheme to succeed if the Coiumis.sion takes a firm stand against it. We do uot want to be understood a.s opposing riilroad eonveuieucea of every kind npou the uew bridge, but we do moat emphatically oppose, aud ill doing so kuow that wo represent the feelings aud wishes of the property-owners, residents aud busi¬ ness meu on both sides of the river, the placing of tho privi¬ lege of caiTyiug passengers across the bridge into the hands of any one corporation. What is wanted and what only jnstities so eiioruioiis au e.\pendituro aswillbeuecessary to.coustruct . thi.s bridge is free commuuieatioii botween the two cities. It wilL^g^,, a great advantage to the people if the railroads from either si^'Spring Brooklyn Elevated among them, are allowed to make cl(,Q ^j^^ ,,ggj^,, building work of the income they have a right to expi;-^,^^^ j^ ^^^j^ j^g^j,. ^^ j_ y^^ chise, but it would also condemn tho^^,^_ ^^ carpenter, builder and gen- oxtortion aud further limit th,- _;.'g, oj^porjeuce who has carried out should cansf to very narrow bnii;,.^i,jt^i„i^g ^ g^od reputation for The building of tbis bridge a' .^ j^j^ ^^^.^^ Mr, Mifiihell has iuat immense advance in the taciliti similar structure haa ever be^ taken iu the character of tiu •