F
September 15,1894
Record and Guide.
351
^ ESTABUSHED'^ft.RKpH2l«>I868,
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Vol. liv. SEPTEMBER 15, 1S94. No. 1,383
For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Department immediately
followina Yew Jersey records [paqc 373',.
WITH SUPFLEMENT,
The Recoud and Guide edition of the Building Laws and Ordinances
of Brooklyn, wilh illustrations and a complete index, hy which one in
enabled to find at a glance jnst what he is looking for, ia now ready for
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WALL STREET, or rather tliat part of it whicli spends its
life ill gtie-ssioy at the daily prices of securities, is just uow
puzzled even more thau wheu Cougress was iu scssioa wheu tlic
daily grinding of lies iiiiiiiiucrabic could be worked without
cessation. On one side, the i'itveet feels that the long-talked-
ahout re^vival of business is undoubtedly here, aud woolen
luiUs, ^lass factories and other industries which have been para¬
lyzed for months are j;'ettin^ into operation; but these good
signs are offset by the oHicial bad reports of the com crop,
reports whicli are corroborated by every oue who persoually
knows RDythiug about the condiliou of the corn States. The
diftereuce betweeu l,100,000,t")00 bushels and 1,800,000^000
is appalliiag aud Wall street aud the country generally may well
stop a short time until this ditt'ereuce can be realized. Whether
we have 700,000,000 bushels of corn more or le.ss to be handled
or made iuto provisions means emi>Ioyment and busiuess tor
luauy different iuterests, the aggregate of which woidd
be at least two ov three hundred millions dollars
and this means trade and trade nieaiis piolits and profits mean
good times iu Wall Street, It does not follow that even with
the reduced crop a big busiuess will not be doue, but it does fol¬
low that discrimination must be made with one's purchases ant),
for this reason, it will be well to keep east of the Mississippi
with purchases of railread stocks. The coal stocks are also safe,
as with a revival of busiuess and the increased use of coal by
trolley cars aloue, where foruierly horse-power was u.scd, there
will be a very tangible addition to the saleof coal. AU Southern
securities ouglit also to be good, a^ tben^ crops of all kind are
the best of any iu the history of the South.
IN Eui'ope the improvement iu trade conditions continues, but
without any marked featnres. A more hopeful feeling
]irevails generally, but this saiiguiueiiess does not appear to be
based as yet upon any very prouoimced increase in actual trans¬
actions, ludeed, reports iudieate that the situation iu Europe
is in many respects similar to that prevailing at present iu this
country. The markets are brisker thau they were a year ago,
but buyers, upon the whole, are pnicccding very cautiously and
prefer to purchase for present iiecils latliei' thau stock up to
meet even very restricted auticipatious. The money market is
â– unchanged. TheUankof Eiighiiidcoiitiuues to augment its stoek
of gold. There is no demand for money anywhere. This lifeless
state of afi'aii s is the surest iudicatiim possible that busine.'is is
notyetin a normal conditiou. In tTerniany tlnrre are two sources
from whieh better trade is looked for—the United States and the
Orieut. The uew tariff, of course, has caused the expectations
couceniiug this e(nintry, and, it ie supposed, the war between
China aud Japan will arouse trade witli the far East. It is
more than probable, however, that the G-ormau tariff promises
oar German friends more than they will ever realize, for, what¬
ever advantages the lower scale of duties confers upou the
foreigner, iu verymany cases thev are more than ofl'set by the
reductions iu the cost of production which have beeu eil'ected
â– within the last few years by the American manufacturer. Still,
prices in Euroxie are .said to be so low that they now scarcely
leave any margin for profit, and, under these cii'cum.stauces,
should business in the Uuited States pick np aud jirices here
stiffen, imports from Europe might be increased. Those who
are lamenting the pooreorn crop iu this country should not over¬
look the fact that ouly ,50 per cent of au average of that cereal
or maize will be obtained this year in Em-ope. Statistics of
the out-turn of cotton in India are at haud. The total yield for
this year is placed at 2,950,000 bales, or about 200,000 bales
more than in the previous season. Due to adverse climatic con¬
ditions the quality of the crop is pronounced decidedly poor.
The greater part of India cotton goes to the contineut of Europe
and not to Great Britain, the chief customer for the Ameri¬
can fibre,
----------â– ----------
The Leaven of Morality in Brooklyn.
WHEN the rotten borough of Graveseud was annexed to
Brooklyn last wiuter the impression was universal that
the leaven wliicii had worked tbe political revolution in Novem¬
ber woidd suttice to raise this uew ward to the moral level
indicated by the electiom of Mayor Schieren and the .iailing of
John Y. McKaue. Not a few ot the best fi'iends of the enlarged
city have noted therefore, with alarm, in the last few weeks,
indications that the leaven is working the other way, or, to pre¬
serve the technical accuracy of our simile, is insufficient for
the leavening of tbe whole lump and tliat there is grave danger
tliat all of Bioiildyn's cake will turn to dough.
The most conspicuous of these indications at this present time
is the revival of the bestial, brutal, inhuman, pugilistic exhibi¬
tions at Coney Island, under the false appellatious of " amateui'
athletic" exhibitions, and asunder theCourtney-McKane-Boody
patronage, now under tlie patronage of tlie police authorities
and tbe same old gang of iioiitical toughs aud gin-mill loafers.
AVhile there wa.s a healthy, moral sentiment opposed to these
degrading exhibitions and a manly, courageous public press to
denouuce them, there â– \vas still a sound basis for the hope of an
ultimate return by Brooklyn to the higii plane of morality aud
deceucy she exemplitied wheu Beecher waa her oracle aud Seth
Low her executive.
But siuce tliey have been lost to Brooklyu the city has growu
so familiar with vice and political corruption that it has viewed
with perfect composure not only the revival of these degrading
Coney Islaud pugilistic contests, butthe still sadder apology for
them madeby tbe Brooklyn Ear/lc. This paper, by au occasional
spectacular, if tardy, championship of the cause of morality in
municipal affairs, acquired au oracular authority to represent
the moral sentiments of the commimity. How low must this
moral sentiment have fallen, therefore, wheu the Eagle expresses
editorially such seutimeuts as these :
" Brooklyn is not nnd does nut claim to be a home of saints. It is
not a goody-goody town, its jicojilo neither Lo'.d stop watches oii
sermons nor read theological essay.s in tlie grand stand at a horso
race. They believe in a niinimnm amount of liyiiocrisy and
a niiiximum iiuiouut of manliness, * » ^ ^ TLere are
some people aud a few newspapers wliicli hope to achieve
a little cheap reputation by assnniiug a sanctimonious attitude
toward this matter. Wc liave uo synipiitliy vfith them. Wo believe
iu all fonna of sport, tho teudency ol â– jvhich is to cuconriigc a henltby,
wholesome and manly spirit among onr young men, bo.'^iug matches
included, and we would hate to seo the day when a finicky civiliaa-
tiou attains the stage at which it produces nothing bnt pliyslcal
weald iuss."
Eortunately, sucli au outspoken declaration iu favor of
the criminal class is uot of frequent occurreuce. Our in¬
terest in this matter is not altogether of au ethical uatiu'e.
Brooklyn real estate interests are deeply interested iu it, seii-
onsly affected by it. Brooklyu has already such a superabund¬
ance of the tough anil vulgar element iu her popidation that
property values are in mauy large sections seriously afiected b}'
it. It is no longer the city of quiet, orderly homes it used to be.
The classes who patronize prize tights ave in the uuaierieal
majority and their e\'il iufiuence is extending to the youth of
every household. AVhen the Ear/le gives utterance to sueh seu¬
timeuts it makes the defence of the fireside more difficult, it
allies itself with the worst elements in our population.
What Brooklyu ui^eds more than auythiug else for the resto¬
ration of her shattered credit aud fortunes jnst now is the subju¬
gation of tlie tough, the exaltation of the moral elements in her
population. She needs to do those thiugs which will make her
attractive to decent people. Tiiese are driven away by Couey
Island prize fights and by official sanctions aud Emjh apologies
for them. The Superiutendent of Police aud the Eagle shoidd
about face ou this matter aud support the manful cttbrts wliich
Mayor Schieren is making to restore to Brooklyu ber good
name and fame. In uo other way could they do so much
towards restonug prosperity to the real estate aud building
iuterests of Brooklyn. This article would be incomplete did we
uot report that notwithstanding the BaoWs stultification and the
apology of Superiutendent Welles, Mayor Schieren has set his
face firmly against any more of the degrading exhibitions that
have made the Coney Island brand of athletics a stench in the
nostrils of decent people. There is uo danger that auy of the
"forms of sport, the teudency of which is to encourage a healthy.