Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 64, no. 1638: August 5, 1899

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August 5, 1899. RECORD AND GUTDE. 197 11 EsruBUSHQ)^ lifj^a swi^ isea, BusiWesb Aib IkkvBs or GeiIei)^ lHTEi|p% PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. j] Published every Salurday, Tblephonb, Cortlandt.1370. Communication? should he addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J. 1. LINDSEY, Business Manager. " Entered at the Posi-OJ/ice at New Tork, ff. Y., as seetind-class milier." Vol. LXIV. AUGUST 5, 1899. No. 1,638. The Index to Volume LXIIIof the Record and Guide, cover¬ ing the period hetween January lst and June 30(/t, 1899, is now ready .for delivery. ï'riee, $1. This Index in its enlarged form ■is now reeognised as indispensable to every one engaged or interested in real estate and building opérations. It eovers all transactions—deeds, mortgages, leases, auction sales, building plans filed, etc. Orders for the Index should be sent at once to the ojfiee ofpublieation, 14 and 16 Vesey Street. THAT prices are strong on tîie stock market is simply the Iogical resuit of continued good earnings on the raiiroads and the apparent évidences of prosperity in commerce and manu¬ factures. The professional élément that persistently turns to the hear side of the market gets no encouragement from the holders of long stock, nor are they likely to for the reasons given in this column last week. There may be some reason for believ- ing that the reaction from the bull movement that culminated m the spring was insufficient, but only if the exceptional char¬ acter of the gênerai movement of business is overlooked. Eut this fact cannot be overlooked, especially as it follows a long pei-iod of economy in which processes of concentrating of inter¬ ests, lessening fixed obligations and cheapening opérations were never more rigorously carried out. Besides money is fairly cheap, and owing to our balances being very favorable for several suc¬ cessive years we hâve an advantageous position in the world's money market, and may control the extent to which we may be afEected hy the scareity cf loanable funds in Europe. THERE s ems to be a growing feeling that; while the présent British government has been very successful in foreign affairs, even if it is hard to defîue its foreign policy, it has failed somewhat at home. This is the interprétation of the lib¬ éral victories in by-elections. It is among the later traditions of the British public that their home politics are safest in Libéral hands, while their affairs abroad are conducted best by the Con- servatives; consequently, it is not unlikely that, as the former now contains many pressing items—relating to the church, local government and taxation—the uext élection will produoe a change in the administration. The final émergence of Japan into a nation accordant to modem définitions, completely administer- ing government and justice within her own territory, and as a factor in the international policy of the East, îs one of the great events of the day, the results of which can be watched with Inter¬ est and perhaps with anxiety. It may be taken for granted that, with a large population on a soil of comparatively moderate area, the national ambition of the Japanese is not yet satisfied even for a raoderately reasonable future as the lives of nations go. This fact directiy concerns the présent occupants of power in the Philip¬ pines. The demand of French cotton manufacturers for an in¬ crease in their protective tariff is being opposed by the colonies. Reflected by railroad earnings, commerce in France is in a flour¬ ishing state, all the great lines reporting considérable increases. It transpires that the ease iu money lately experienced at Berlin was due to the loaning of large Prussian government balances. The statements of the Reichsbank do not présage the entire élim¬ ination of anxiety from the situation during the next coming few months. Spéculation in industrials is still the feature of the Berlin market. Only recently the new stock of a cément concern was subscribed, it is estimated, twenty fold, and the-first quota- tion on the Bourse was nearly 1007^ above the issue price. It has happened that buying orders in a newly listed industrial were so numerous that all coidd not be executed. The week brings some news from tbe smaller nations, among whictuitaaerves to be noted Uie fact tbat the Government of Ai^ntinasOli-hesitates to offer législative expression to its previoiiajy'ïmnouacèd financial and monotary policy. The Uruguayan budget'Has bêèn made up and published; revenue is set down at $15,978,000 and expenditure at 115,970,000; the small balance to the good is, of course, to be later enlarged by économies in g.dministration. The British minister at Caracas gives a doleful picture of trade in Venezuela. He reports that since the inauguration of Blanco's successor in March of last year there hâve been two révolutions, each para- lyzing trade for the period of its continuanee; an épidémie of omallrox, a senous décline in the price of colîee, and this year a partial failure of the crop owing to droughts. The hopeful side is showti in a prevailing condition of political quiet and a ten¬ dency now apparent among agriculturists to raise cocoa and other things, and not to dépend so entirely upon cofEee as haa hitherto been the practice. ■---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------•--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A BOOM IN BUILDING. -T~ HE following statistics show very clearly that the gênerai ■^ improvement in business throughout the country is stim- ulating building activity. ^.,, ■-----------January to June,----------, ^''■'^^- <---------189i>--------^ ,-------189S.-------, ^Percent-, New York (Man.fe Bronx) Hêiô ^ll^êïmo 2% $42^fel9 ''H'^''''- Boi-ougli of Brooklyn .. 3.724 12,530.985 3 006 7 801 290 63 D?'î^f°, V-.............. -'11^ 11,865,260 2,082 10,152,800 17 '.'. Pliiladelphta ............ 4,026 10,420,430 3,097 12,167,470 14 ^; Louis .............. LL-iO 4.195,295 1,387 4,373 122 .. 4 Washington ............ 1,385 3,.TO3,363 1,086 2,425,311 45 .. Cleveland ............. 1,490 2,918,270 1,491 1,666 777 75 P'"sb"rs ............. 1,054 2,908.720 747 2 683 736 S £^t''o't ............... 1,183 2,090,700 1,076 1,938,100 S Milwaukee.............. 756 1.961,298 615 1.469 971 33 Kansaa City ........... l,S06 1,004,780 1,458 1,264,100 51 Buffalo................ 813 1,616,497 950 2.344 299 31 Minneapolis ............ 1,720 1,512,131 1,433 1,231,275 23 Los Angeles ............ S75 1,119,537 755 1,034.651 8 Cincinnati ............ 1,140 1,112,124 964 1,220 315 9 New Orleajig ........... S64 987,210 754 680 760 45 St. Paul ............... 542 797,538 495 509 341 57 "" Lou.sviUe ............ 1,263 791,527 1.033 821,508 . 4 Toledo ..................... 765,530 ..... 465.655 64 AUegheny .............. 362 571,125 319 572,625 Omalia ............... 410 404,204 530 784,623 .. 48 Totals for 20 cities.......$135,649,484 ..... $98,660,254 Inc. 37.4%, Thèse figures are in all respects interesting and encouraging, but they become simply phénoménal when we examine them ia détail and then see that of a total increase of about thirty-seven million dollars for the given twenty cities over thlrty-three mill¬ ion dollars of that amount must be credited to Greater New York! As a centre of building opérations the metropolis dwarfs any other city in the country to a condition of microscopic insignifi- cance. It is equal tO' more than six Chicagoes and nearly seven Philadelphias. What a "local" market! Of course, not ail of the eighty-four million dollars worth of new buildings projected in New York will be instantly carried out; and even with the big proportion that will be promptly un¬ dertaken some time must elapse before the money expenditure in¬ volved will be distributed for labor and materials. But the sta¬ tistics are the forerunners of actual activity. They may safely be taken as the beginning of unusually brisk conditions. ---------■----------♦--------------~ THE Municipal Assembly hâve now confirmed the tax rates suggested by the Comptroller's Office for meeting the re¬ quirements of the ordinary city and county budgets and what may be called the deficiency budget to equalize the expenditures of the several boroughs Iast year, when the amounts provided prior to consolidation were insufficient to discharge the year's administrative obligations. The rates and the sums they are ex¬ pected to produce were given last week. In officiai circles so much satisfaction is expressed over the fact that the rates are not so high as it was first supposed they would be that the sus¬ picion will arise that this is done to keep the public from dwell¬ ing too much on how high they really are. We do not wish to deprive our readers of any comfort they may find in the thought that it might hâve been higher, but a rate of 2.4S04, the highest ever known in this city on an increase in tax valuations in Man¬ hattan and Bronx, nearly three times greater than any previous increase is a matter that we are justified in calling attention to. The reasons for both increased valuations and higher proportion¬ ate taxes are too well known to need mentioning. They are sim¬ ply two more of the many evils that hâve followed consolidation; hastily and unscientifically made. While Manhattan and ths Bronx bave the highest tax rate on the largest increase of valuea ever known, Brooklyn has a lower tax rate, on a moderate in¬ crease of values, than the borough has known for many years. -------------«------------- A PRESS dispatch from Chicago, published this week, states that real estate and loan companies almost without ex¬ ception refuse to make loans on certiflcates of title granted under the Torrens law. It would be interesting to know the grounds of this refusai. We are left to assume that it is due tO' préjudice against the Torrens system of Iand transfer, but we are not ready to accept this without first knowing what the other side has to say. As was pointed out in an article, published iu thèse columna