Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 66, no. 1700: October 13, 1900

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October 13, 1900. RECORD AJSTD GUIDE. 453 Dn^TiB p Rf^L Estate . BuiLwjfo Ajf!::ifrreinu!^ ,K™snlMii OEoat^mL BtfsD^s ai^Theves Of Ge^Iq^ l)fTEit^« PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. PubMsJted every Saturday. TELEPHONE, CORTLAND I.-170. Communications should he addressed 'to .' C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. 7. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. "Entn-cd at the Post-Office at Sew York. 7f. 7., as second-class matter." Vol. LXVI. OCTOBER 13, 1900. 1700. ON the stock market the week has been one of small busi¬ ness, with fractional declines in quotations, and the mark¬ ing up of rates on call money. There is still an underlying strength that makes operations on the short side risky, if not unprofitable. The supply of stocks that enabled profitable covering of short sales to be made a few weeks ago seems to have come to an end, and while caution is the motto for the mo¬ ment, confidence in the ultimate situation continues. We are feeling somewhat the effects of the scarcity of money abroad, and there are thosewbo do not hesitate to say that this will have further effect; and, although they believe prices will be higher before the close of the year, they are holding off in the expecta¬ tion of seeing better opportunities for buying than the market now affords. This theory is based upon the belief that for¬ eigners must yet be heavy sellers in our market, and will sup¬ ply the stocks, even though it may he imposihle to make people at home let go of their holdings. In view of the conditions abroad there is some plausibility about this theory, especially as the holdings of the Northwestern railroad issues abroad are large, and these issues feel the effects of diminishing earnings as a result of the partial failure of the spring wheat crop. Op¬ posed to it is the fact that we have gone through a long period of liquidation, and prices are away below what they were in June of last year, when the boom was at its highest, and even considerably below what they were last spring when the election bogy was first trotted out. It is possible, and more than prob¬ able that, on this fact and in the belief in a revival of business as soon as the election is over, new buying may be more than sufflcient to absorb all the stocks returned to us from Europe. If this theory is correct the waiting bulls will be disappointed and will come in later to push quotations up against themselves, a thing tbat has been known to occur before. Gold imports and signs of renewed ease in call money are among the hopeful features of the moment and strengthen the bull view. IT may seem a singular thing, but it is really only coincidental, that the Indian famine and other troubles of that peninsula occasion the sending of a large amount of gold to London at a time when it is needed there. The $5,000,000 of gold India is now shipping would have gone under any circumstances of the London money market. It comes about in this way; Owing to the general depression in India, so many people have had to convert their ornaments^which often represent their savings —into current cash. The metal reduced to bars has been paid to the government for rupees of which the supply proved to be insufficient, and recourse had to be had to the silver market and the mint to meet the demand. This process was facilitated by the recent act which made rupees and sovereigns inter¬ changeable at 15 to 1, and gave the former a coin value in gold of 16 pence English, or the equivalent of 32c. United States. Some of the gold received by the Indian Government had to be paid out for silver with which to replenish the stock of rupees and, incidentally, was responsible for part of the recent rise in the price of that metal, as well as of assistance to the London market which needs the gold. Reports from European finan¬ cial centres are mostly taken up with the condition of the money market and the diplomatic-military situation in China; the efforts of the Bank of England to protect its gold holdings, by, at different times, raising the prices of eagles and of bar gold, shows the state of the one; and the concurrent and sym¬ pathetic weakness in German Imperial 3s and Chinese 5s, that of the other. The failure of the Bank of England to advance its discount rate this week, ought not to have created the sur¬ prise it seems to have done, because the rate is already a high ■one, 4 per cent,, and only a great emergency would justify fur¬ ther advance, and then only when other means, such as those already employed this week, failed to hold to norma! propor¬ tions the demand on the bank for gold—for export. So far these means were fairly successful, as the amount of the desired metal secured for shipment was not only moderate, but also in part obtained from outside bullion dealers. If, and when the bank's reserves are attacked in force, we may expect the discount rate to advance, provided there is no supply of gold from any yet unexpected source. South Africa for instance. It is not impossible that the results of the negotiations that have kept President Kruger all tbis time at Lorenzo Marquez may not have some bearing on this point; this is a surmise only, but it follows the recollection of the intimation given by Great Britain to the Dutch Government some weeks ago, that they would regard it as an unfriendly act if the Dutch Government, in car¬ rying the President of the late Transvaal Republic out of Portuguese jurisdiction, carried also the archives and treasure of the extinguished republic, which Mr. Kruger was supposed to have with him. Vienna was reported this week to have had had a panic, and although this was promptly denied, its con¬ firmation would not have surprised those who have kept them¬ selves posted on the financial and trading conditions there. The "Gold Clause" and the Election. REAL estate men, or more correctly, those who lend on real estate, evidently take a view of the political situa¬ tion somewhat different from the one they held at the last Presidential election. Perhaps people are harder to scare the second time, or possibly they have grown more philosophic or more hopeful with the flight of years. But, be the explanation what it may, the fact remains that the "gold clause," that pro¬ vision against disaster that disturbed the peace and haunted the mind of some unhappy mortgagors in the fall of 1896, ap¬ pears in the records this year very much less frequently than it did four years ago. In 1S96, from the week ending July 2d to the week ending October 1st, 707 deeds with the gold clause were recorded in the Register's office, an average of SOya per week. During the current year, counting frora the week ending July 5 to the week ending October 4, only 303 papers containing the currency stipulation were filed, an average of about 21%. Of course there is still nearly a month of electioneering to frighten the timid, but there is no reason for doubting the con¬ clusion that these figures really indicate the general sentiment —so far, at least, as the real estate world is concerned. For instance, this year during the week of September 13, there were only 34 gold deeds against 47 in the corresponding week of the last Presidential contest; during the week of September 20th, 20 against 62; during the week of September 27th, 24 against 52, and finally, during the week of October 4th, 42 against 78. Roughly speaking then there is not in real estate ranks one- half the uncertainty this election regarding tbe future stability of the country's currency. The same conclusion holds if the situation is tested by the amount of money involved in the mortgages. Omitting the New York, Westchester, and Connecticut Traction Co.'s mortgage of $2,500,000, and Harper Brothers' for $1,500,000, the mortgages for this year (between the week of July 5 and October 4) amount to $S,174,394. Four years ago they aggregated more tban twice as much—$16,670,143. How far the political implication of these flgures may be carried, we cannot say. Four years ago undoubtedly Mr. Bryan's ideas had a disturbing effect upon the minds of capital¬ ists interested in real estate (however favorably others were impressed), which was recorded by the increase in the num¬ ber of deeds containing the "gold clause." Evidently a cer¬ tain number of real estate people feared Mr. Bryan then. This year it is equally clear this fear is entertained by not half as many persons—whether because the candidate's ideas are now more acceptable, or because his election is regarded as more problematic we leave to our readers jO judge. THIS year the New York and Kings counties' quotas to the cash requirements of the State are reduced, the first's by $801,878 and the second's by $179,058. The rate for tbe State tax fixed by the last Legislature was 1.96, and this on total valua¬ tion of $5,461,302,752 produces $10,704,158, of which New York County pays about 50 per cent, and Kings County about 13 per cent.; Greater New York as a whole pays about 70 per cent, of the year's State expenditures. By far the greater part of the special State taxes, like those on the liquor traffic, collateral inheritances and corporate franchises, are drawn from this city.