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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 67, no. 1724: March 30, 1901

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March 3®, ifoi. RECORD AND GUIDE. 537 Dp^tiD to ftfL EsTATi. BbiLDifJG ftipcKn-ECTURE .Hcni'^EiHOLJ) DEGcat^ntH, Business AJtoThemesofGeKeraI IriTO^Esi. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. Publiehed everv Saturday. TELEPHONE, COKTLANDT I37O, CommuDleailonit should be addressed to O, "W. STTMET, 14-18 TeseT Street. /. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. "Entered at the Poat-Office ai New Tork. N. T.. aa aecond-rtana matter." Vol. LXVIL MARCH 30,1901, No, 1724. IN spite of the activity, at advEincing quotations, of some well- known railroad issues, the stock market of this week cannot he considered as altogether satisfactory from ..he bull standpoint. There has been realizing in a good many issues and some im¬ portant recessions iu prices, altogether revealing the condition of uncertainty that generally precedes a reactionary movement of any considerable proportions. The buoyancy of the public temper, the plentitude of money and the favorable outlook for general business ave still present, and have to be taken into consideration in forming general views. They have been instru¬ mental in preventing declines before, when quotations, in the minds of good judges, were beyond values, and even speculative values; and now, when priees are even higher than they were then, no one can say with positiveness that they will not pre¬ vail again. The cautious observer is discredited because he has been entirely wrong in his predictions on the course of prices for a couple of months past, and it will take some time and normal conditions before he is in credit again. But it does look as if we are coming to the point where the motives for booming stocks will have become exhausted for the time being, and they will be allowed to take care of themselves. We will then be able to ascertain how much of present values is due to manipu¬ lation and speculative fervor, and how much to the undoubtedly great prosperity of the railroads and the industries upon whicn Lhey are predicated. EVEN though the recalcitrant Boers refuse to assist the re¬ cuperation and regeneration of their country by laying down their arms, there are other,s who think the time has come when civil life and activity may be taken up again. In a small way mining has been resumed at Johannesburg, but the action of European capitalists largely interested in South Africa is still more indicative of the bettered prospects of that territory. Re¬ cently, M. Rouvier, ex-Minister of Finance, of brilliant record, was placed at the head of the French Bank of South Africa, aud it is naturally concluded that this step would not have been taken unless there were pretty good grounds for believing that the time had come when the bank could empioy its resources profitably in its selected field. A couple of weeks ago we pointed out some signs of a recovery in European business with the advent ol bpring, and m the interval several others have ap¬ peared. Not the least of these is tlie large naval programmes laid down by almost every one of the gi'eat Powers. The British Government alone will give out $45,000,000 of work to yards of private builders. The borrowing uy small and large Powers and by municipalities is considerable, and often for new works to be undertaken immediately, aud the demand for luouey for in¬ dustrial and commercial purposes is rather surprising, in view of the known and expected restrictions in various lines, in Great Britain and Germany particularly. Vet rates for money in London are strong, aud a correspondent in Berlin wi'ites, under a recent date: "Notwithstanding the decline in the general busi¬ ness situation, the demand for money in manufacturing centres continues comparatively strong. The private discount rate has risen as a consequence. Abont two months ago one of the features of the market was the arrival of money from industrial centres, where it was uot needed, to be placed at the disposition of the banks for discounts. It is quite remarkable tliat manu¬ facturing centres now show an increased demand for money, al¬ though prices of finished goods have continued to fall, and the. general state of business has grown less favorable. The rate for call money also now averages about 1 per cent, higher than in February." While these facts speak of an improved Euro¬ pean industrial situation, the investing public continues to evince a preference for the highest class of securities and take pretty promptly ali the public loans that are announced. ■■^HE resignation of Thomas J. Brady as Commiaaioner of -^ Buildings for the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx has been forwarded to Mayor Van Wyck, who will, It le under¬ stood, accept the same at the urgent request of the maker, Mr. Brady's letter resigning the important positions he has fliled with such credit is given In another column. When It was an¬ nounced last November that Mr, Brady intended to resign, we intimated that Superintendent John A. Dooner would be his successor whenever that intention was carried into effect. We have stronger reasons now for believing that that will be the case. Tenement House Bills —Landlord's Respon¬ sibility. OUR advices .from Albany confirm the view generally ex¬ pressed iu the daily newspapers that the bills presented by the Tenement House Commission will be enacted without any unnecessary delay. The new provisions as to construction and the nature and powers of the Tenement House Department it is proposed to create were given in our issue of March 2 last, and those who are interested in knowing what they are can there obtain the necessary information. It should be borne in mind that the bill relating to construction, etc, or the Code of Tenement House Laws, will, if passed in its preseut form, go into effect on receiving the Gubernatorial approval. The bill creating the Tenement House Department will not be effective until January 1, 1902; meantime the enforcement of the provi¬ sions of the first named bill will fall upon the Departments of Health and Buildings. Hitherto it has been customary to allow an interval of some duration to elapse between the passage of an act imposing important new building requirements and its effectuation; but in this case the framers of the Code of Tene¬ ment House Laws liave decided otherwise, and made their provisions applicable immediately on their enactment. Tbe bill specifically applies to "every tenement hereafter (that is, after the date when the act takes force) erected." Buildings in process of erection are provided for in Section 4, which says: "A tenement house not now (when the bill takes effect) com¬ pleted, but upon whicli work has been actually commenced, after approval of the plans tlierefor by the Department of Buildings, shall be subject only to the provisions of this act affecting now existing tenement houses." The provisions of the Code relating to prostitution in tene¬ ment houses have secured for the measure in which they are contained more support probably than any others. They have been specially indorsed by the Committee of Fifteen and promi¬ nent clergymen who have also petitioned for their enactment. These provisions are peculiar in that they throw upon tbe owners direct responsibility for the suppression of prostitution in the tenements; that is to say, the Vice Crusade of five years ago, having driven that form of wrong-doing into the tene¬ ments, the landlords are to drive it out again, and not the clergy and police, who are really to blame for its planting and growth there. It is admitted that this particular evil is ot recent growth. The way the landlord is to be made responsible is this: A house used for this improper purpose, with the per¬ mission of the owner or agent, is to be subject to a fine of one thousand dollars, collectable, if necessary, by the appointment of a receiver of the rents or by sale of the property. Permission is to be implied if the, owner or agent, having been served with notice by the Health Department that any of their tenants ai'e using their premises for the unlawful purpose specified, shall not within five days commence summary dispossess proceedings. Further, it is provided that in proceeding against the owner or agent: "The general reputatiou of the premises in the neigh¬ borhood shall be (competent evidence, but shall not be sufficient to support a judgment without corroborative evidence, and it shall be presumed that their use was with the permission of the owner and lessee; provided, that such presumption may be re¬ butted by evidence." Actions for recovery of penalties are to be taken iu the Supreme Court, and judgment is to be a lieu, sub¬ ject only to taxes, assessments and water rates, and to such mortgage and mechanics' liens as may exist thereon prior to the filing of the notice of pendency of action." In reference to that part of the subject of tenement house reform that relates to mere housing, we would like to again remind the Legislature that it is the speculative builder that has provided accommodation, with the exception of the merest fraction, for the yearly growth of many thousands in our teue¬ ment population, and that any changes made in structural re¬ quirements ought to be subordinated to this fact. In England, as we know, the housing of the poor has passed through all the stages—a philanthropic, commerco-philanthropic aud municipal —and is now passing into a state question, and there are not