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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 60, no. 1532: July 24, 1897

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Juĩy 24, 1897. Record and Guide 125 DdÍiIEO P fÍEA,L ESTWE . Sin LOIJ/g %::rilTEC-nĩHE .KoUSEtíOUJ DEOtB^ftĩWrf, BusníEss Atb Themes of GEita^l ÎKter.e»7.; PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. PiiMistied evcry .Salnrday. TfiLtl-HOKE,......COKTLANDT 1370. Communlcatlons should be afldressed to C, "W. SWT3ET, 14-16 Veaey Street. J. T, HNDSEY, Buainess Manager. "Enicrcd at Ihe l'ost-OJfice ut íĩciv Yorb, N. X., as second-vlass nuiller." VOL. LX. JULY '24, 1897. No. 1,532 HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF REAL ESTATE. Every Eroker or Owner can have hls own Bureau of Informa- tlon for a slight expense. With it he can follow readlly all trans- actions affecting any particular plece of real estate in New Tork City—a matter of tbe utmost importance in buying or seiling realty, appraisements, etc. The Index to The Record and Guide now covers all transactions—Conveyances, Leases, Mortgages, Auction Saies, Buildíng Improvements, etc. Under each entry all references to ail transactions are concisely groupea. The Index to Voi. LIX. is now ready, and can be obtaíned at The Kecord and Guide ofSce, 14 and 16 Vesey street. Price, One Dollar. ^-HEEE is no telling how high in-it-es wiU go on the stock T inarlîet, when, as uow, it is in the haiiûs of a conadent pub- lic comnmnding the use of enormousfuucls. Thebuyiiigthis weeií h:is been so §ood and so general that it has carried priees iip, in spite of iarge realizations. Bull tallî and nothing but bull tallx fills the street. Everythiog. no matter how despisea a fcw weelvs ago, has iiow great prospects, aud in a little wbile there will not be a non-dividender on the list. We are told, uu- ollĩeiany of course, that Rcading lirst preferred is to receive a diviûoud almost imniediately, although the propei-ty itself, aL'cordiug to the official statemeut, shows a aeficieucy of fixed cliiirges o£ nearly $1,200,000 fov the hrst half of the current liscal year. Anything lilío a rational gauge of a market in which such a story can materially advauee the pricc of a stocl;, is out of the questiou. Tho'se who were shrewd enough to buy In the depression will doubíless be shrewd enoiigh to take ad- vautage of the advauce aud activity to secure their profits. Oiie of the thiugs that is nioving men to taUe an interest in the stocl; market is the rise in wheat and the certaiuty of a great aemand for that cereal from abroad. Great as the influence of Ihis fact should uaturally be, it eau easily be overesti- mated. Now, as on similar occasious, it is argued that the ex- port demand -ís-ill be increased this year by the actual deflcieu- cies iu the foreign crops. As a matter of fact, whether beeause substitutes are eonsumod or we are mistakeu iu the reserves or in the amount oí: the deficieuey, it never reacbes that point. StÍU, a good wheat crop aua good prices for wheat make one of the best buU argumeuts ou stocks, because of the widespread bcuefit the two faets producc throughout tlie country. All that is to be aepreciated are unreasonable expeetations from this or auy olher moving force. AGTIVITY in their partieular branch of trade, accompan- iea by accliuiug priees is au ocouomical phcuomeuou that the British iron ana steel manufacturers have to eonsider. lu tbe first half of the year the volume of bTisiuess was escep- tionally large, stocUs were beiiig redueed, yet prices fell ma- teriaUy. The only expîauatiou uow forthcoming is the Ameri- ean eonipetition, which has penetrated into Europe and the principal countries of the far East. The question is being dis- ciissed whether this is not the result of depréssed business and low prices iu the tínitea States, and wbetíier it will not disap- pear with increascd demaud and higlier priees that may reason- ably be expectea with better time? Iiere. The real question to be discussca, it seems to us. is ■wliether tíiis power to com- pete with Europe, aud especiaily with Kritaio, has not growu oot of an abundance aud availability of raw materials, together ■with the perfectiug of the processes aua agents of manufac- ture. If this shoul.l prove to bc the case. as it unaoubtedly is, íhe other question of the permanence of the competition is fully answered in tho affirmative. One of the most practical, as well as interesting tnpies of tlie day, is tho influence that new goM discovcrles will havo upoii busînpss. Not only are new flekls beng aiacovered iu Alaska and adjoîning Britisli territøry, hut the fields that have been developing for somo time increase their output. We alluded recently to the eontiiiued increased yielã of the Rand. The enlarged output of Coîorado is too well known to need mention. Now Western Australia comes iuto line by more tban doubling in the flrst half of this year its con- tribution for the first balf of 1896 by a yield of something more than $5,000,000. AH this gold eventualiy fiuds its way to the centres of finanee and he'comes the basis f or commercial and iu- dustrial development. Consequeutly, we raust be near a period of greatly increased activity ana of higher values. Week by week something is gained for peace in tíoutheastern Europe, and iíi spite of those who obstiuately cling to error, thc conccrt of the Powers is maintaíned. THEIĨE is proĩ)ably uot much trulh in the uewspaper talk about au alliance of Spain and Japau agaiust the Uuited States. ThG rumor, however, contaius nothing improbable. There might be a lesson for us in the fact that for the first time in our history we find it probable that nations shouia be com- biuing against us for defense. This is the inevitable fruit of the jingo policy. If we întena to renouuee the magnificeut peace policy of oiir past and add the name of the United States to the barbarous list of naíiouH on a "war footlng," we had bet- ter take thé step completely and set about armîng and drilling ourselves. Annexation schemes aud sassy dipiomaey must cre- ate reaction for whieh we shonld prudently be prepared. The saadest spectaele iu the world to-day is the sigbt of this coun- try gradually departing from its traditions of peace. CORRESPONDENOE. TAXATION AND REAL BSTATE. To the Editor of Tiiĸ Recohd anj> Guide:' ' ' Tour editorlal on the personal property tax and the necesaity for the organízatlon. of real e.=!tate owners is progressive and ín- teresting. but instead oî a mere negatlve ground in regard to the tax on personal property, I think it would be for the benefit of owners oE real estate if you would take an active and aggressive position for the abolition of all taxes on movable property; for there is no one force so detriiĩiental to thcowners o£ real estate as a tax which tends to discourage trade and manufacturing-. I wish that there might be placed at the head of the columns of your paper the principle laid down by Enoch Ensiey. one of the largest landowners in Tennessee, in a letter to Governor Brown of that State, which is "Never tax anything that would be of value to your State, that could and would run away, or that could and would cometoyou." In that letter he stated that at least nineteen- twentietĩis of his property consisted of real estate, a large part of which was farm ]and, and he expressed tiie opinion that of all the men in his Státe who should object to any taxation at all of money. merchandise or trade, manufacturing, etc, it is the man who owns the real estate. Any inducement which increases the volume of business trans- acted in our city inevitably increases the value of real estate. When the fares on the elevated railroad were reduced from terÍ cents to five cents, the value of reaĩ estate on the upper part of Manhattan Isĩand lying near the road advanced in value from the mere expéetatĩon of the reductíon. I am doubtful of the desirability, from the standpoint of the real estate owner, of any real estate owners' organization. The tendency of such organizations is apt to be to attempt to obtain what appear to be special advantages. An apparent special ad- vantage to real estate is likely to be a disadvantage to business, and for every dollar added to the charges on movable property real estate wiU lose more than a dollar. As a matter of fact, real estate owners are organízed by nature. For, unlike those engaged in any other business, a benefît to one is înevitably a beneflt to ali. Every building erected increases the value of the property of the rest. Every improvement by whomsoever made benefĩts ail. So that every effort to better his own property on the part of the real estate owner Is a benefit not only to hls own, but to the property of ail the rest, NEW TORK TAX REFORM ASSOCIATION. LAWSON PURDY, Secretary. [Oue cau hardly staua ou "mere negative grouna" in regara to an inoperative tax. A tax, whreh, for any reason, is evaded, as the personal tax is by a majority of eitizens is pernieious. It is contrary to gooa public poliey and is couaemnea thereby, whatever may be tlie theoretical value it possesses. For this account, if for no other, the personal tax has always seemea to us to be thoroughly bad. It ought tô be cálléa a "tax for pro- moting civic aishonesty." We shouia be glaa to see the abuse a.one away with, and we are conviuced that its abolition wouia iu no way injure real estate. The only objection that we cau see against putting taxes mainly upon real estate is that thereby tho body of citizeus might lose all idea of the tax gatherer. Of eourse, as a matter of fact, they would continue to pay taxes, but were payment rpade io the fprin of rent, cost of merchanaise, etc., the real na-