Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 60, no. 1541: September 25, 1897

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September 25, 1897.-' Record and Guide Dn&TEDTDRE^LEsTAiE.BinLoifJb íqĩ):jírrE(mjĩ^.Kous£iíouiDEaí^wft BL/SI[/ESS fJÍD ThEMES OF GeHER^I 1KÎW.ES1.. PRICE PER YEAH IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Publisheã every Saturda-y. TE1,'?PH0NB.'' . - - - CORTLAMDT 1370. 3ommunlcatÍona should be addressed to C, W. SWBET, 14-16 Vesey Street. r. 2, LINDSEY, .Busiveaa Manager. ______________^^ "Bntered at the Posí-Offiec at ^'ew York, If. T., as secon&clase matter." VoL. LX. SEPTEMBEE 25, 1897. No. 1,541 N' OTHING could bave attested the unâerlying strengtli oC the Stocli Market better than the occurrences of thi,s weelî Wben the estent of the transactions of last Tuesday be- Came known it was a matter of generally expressed surprlse that the decliues for that day were not greater than tbey were. íieirørfs- comiug iu coutinually o£ large íucreasea in eam- íngs of ralroads and of improTements iu the eommercial and m- dustrial situation keep up tbe spirits and confidence of the pub- lic, as do also the iucreased distributious of profits aunounced from time to time. The railroads are uow reaping the beuefits of a large grain movement which will, there is every reason to believe, be soon supplemeuted hy au enormous merchandise movemeut, aud consequeutly they are assured of a large traffic for some time to come. The cruao deductious made by the out- 'sider from these facts cause him to overestimate the value of the securities affectcd by íhcm, henee the confident and general ibuyiug. Teehnical ^ournals are caliiug attention to the faet that no mean part of increased earniugs of the railroads will have to bo spenf in meeting physieal dcficicncies în roadbed and rolliug stock, allowed of neeessity to occur in the bad times, and âep- recating the demauds on railroad mauagers for iucreased divi- dends. But this is a matter outside the keu o£ the average mau uow in Wall Street, aud, thereforc, without immediate signifi- cauce, though in tbe end it must iufiueuce the course of prices. 'lt m'ust be borue iu mind, too, -that the excuse tbat was jtaUeu for the last orgauisĩed attack will be available at iuter- vals before the meetiug of Cougress, aud after that will be con- iliuually prominení. The situatiou iu Cuba to-day giveg the ad- îvocates o'f interventiou by this country strouger ground to go lupon than they bave bad siuce tbe outbreak of the rebelliou iu Ithe islaud, aud there is no likelihood that it will be changed Iwhen Congress meets. For a people who are better protected against the probability of war than any other couutry on the globe; we are extraordiuai'îly subject to war scares, especially wheu prices are high in tbe Stoek Market, a fact of which pro- fessioual operators who favor the short side know well how to avail themselves. -------------*------------- THERE are signs of impending cbanges in the relations of tbe Bank of England to the joint stock banks. The for- mer, as is well known, bolds the reserves of the latter, which, by reason of that fact, uot uuuaturally, assume the right to crit- icise the actiou of the depositai-y whenever they think it con- templates dangerous dopartures from its traditious. An illus- tratiou of this is fouud iu the protest made by the members of the London Cleariug House against any policy looking to the conversiou of auy part of the reserves into silver. But it is not 'altogetber certaiu tbat this protest will bave the weight it would 'bave had teu, or even five, years ago. The Bank of England has 'had a stauding complaiut agaiust its banking depositors, that cach one, relying on the reserve beld for all, has made a prac- tice of beeping a very small Individual reserve in order to em- ploy the last peuny possible of its resources iu the market. Some time ago tbe Bank of England also announced its inten- tion of enlarging its dlscount business, a policy it immediately put into force and latterly it accepted three months' bllla at 2 per cent., while its previous busiuess, with the bill-brobers at auy rate, had been restricted to bills wlth uot inore than 60 ãays to run, and was in largest proportion iu short tlme blIlB of seven to fourteen days. Tbe result of this is tbat tho bank and , open market rates are on a parity—except as that parlty may I be now disturbed by the rise in the bauk rate of last Thurs- day to 2% per cent.—and the deposltary bank Ig competlng wlth its deposltíng banks. The latter may flnd fn thls pollcy an ad- Iditlonal grievance and concert eome measures to place^them- selves In a posltion to retaliate. The dlssolution of the nnlon of the two, If it should coníe to that migbt not bê a bad tblng íbr the fluancial world, becauso it would relleve thc Bank of Eng- iand of wbat is a very onerous responsibllity, especially iu times oC dauger, of keeplng a reeerve sufficieut to upboldtbe wbole tínauclal fabric of tbe natlon and compel the joint-stocU banks" themselves to malntain tbeir owu reserves, a result that would he a source of more general streugth, though It mlght curtail the resources of the commercial community. The flnal outcome may be something less estreme thau thls, but It is, wholly rea- souable to think that tbis aggi-essive policy of the Banb of Eng- land was not entered upon without duly considering Its proba- ble effects upon the depositing banks, and that consequeutly it is prepared to act in otber matters besides that of dlscounts, without consultlng their feeliugg or opinious, To the ordinary busiuess man, these matters are most important, as they have a direet iufluence in mablng money dearer. Not only is thls the fact In Loudon, but it has íts reflection in all the otber financial centres ■ of Burope. The recall of American capital acroes the Atlantlc, which began this week, must also have a tendeucy to stiffeu rates aud mabe'aceommodations harder to obtaiu. The New Lien Law. In efCect September 1,1897. A Summary of Its Provisions and of all Legal Declsions Coií-' struing It, By Edward L, Heydeeber of thê"Srew"Tôrf'Báfr^ CHAPTER n. A6AINST WHOM AND VíHÂ't: Åmechanic's lien is seeurity for the debt due the llenor, Just , as a mortgage is securĩty for the bonds. ,Tust as it is possible for one man to give the bond whlle an- fither glves the mortgage to secure it, so the'coutractor may owe tlie debt to the sub-contractor aud the lĩen be glveu (by opera- tíon of law) ou the owner's interest in tbe land and buildiug. As" lliis lieu ĩs glven by the law agalnst the will of the owuer, the couditious uuder which It will be given are tlghtly drawn. We must, therefore, determĩne ^ 1. Who is the owuer. 2. That be has conseuted td the improvemeut. 3. What his iuterest Is. , 4. What encumbrauces áré pîior to the lien. 5. What, if anytbing, be stilĩ'ofw'és tô'the contractor, •, Mrst, ivho Í8 the oniner: We cannot determine thls questiou simply by fluding iu whose' name the deed stands, for such a person may be uuder contrafcf which would make him simply the agent for ôthers. When' sueh" questibns flrst arose, the courts held that an owner' who had' agreed to sell, but who had hot yet glven bis deed was the owner, and this rule was embodled in the general act of 1885." But iu the new rcvised lĩen law, which took effect Septem-' ber 1, 1897, this rule has beeu completely reversed, and it is now" declared tbat the vendee iu posséssion under a contract for the purchase of real property is the owuer, So that now the llen will only attach to such rîght ãs this vendee has and still must depend on the contract between blm and the owner of the fee; The very fact that the deed is withheld by the owuer for hls protection will show that the vendee's interest is only a small margin, In cases wbere the tltle standg iu tbe wife's uame, whlle the busband is the operator, no rule cao be laid dowu, and each case must be determined by the facts as they are devéloped. A les- see or a life teuant in possessiou îs tbe owner, and the Ilenor caunot reach the remainder. Formerly, a purchaser at a foreclosure sale did not become the owner, untll the deed was delivered to him, but now the llen law has reversed tbis and provides that his title shall date baeb to the tlme of the sale, The effect of thls, of course, is to cut off the right to lieu, instantly on the sale^ Seconã, tke consent of thc oivner: If this be expressly gîven by the owner, it hinds him and it may be given verbally or in wrltlng; If In writlng, it canuot be explaiued orally to meau somethiug else. If the owner jolng In ' or acqulesces in the order given hy the contractor, his consent Is clearly glven. But tho owner's coneent once given, may be withdrawn before the worb begins, and after such withdrawa!, there Is no duty on the o'wner to use force to prevent the worb, ■ and hls congent belng absent, uo llen can be had. Formerly, the tendency of the courts was to extend the eon- sent glven by the owner, but the latest declslon In the Court of Appeals sharply Ilmlts thls and declares the nile In these words: "It seems that the requirements of the statute as to eonsent are not met by a mere general agreement to the effect that a third *Copyrlglit, 1897, by "The Keoord and Gulde."