December 15,1994
Record and Guide.
879
^â– ^ ^ - t5TfiBLISHED-^WARpH2liJ>166B.
Dev&teD io Rea,! Eswe . BuiLoiffc Af^cif itecture .HouseHoid DEcaufciKMij
Bifsii/Ess Alto Themes oFGEffeR^L Wtcrest,
PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.I
Pnhlished every Saturday.
Telepho.ve,......CoriTLANDT 1370
Communications sliould be .iddreBfled to
C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street.
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Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Wasdington Street,
Opp. Post Office,
"Entered al the Posl-office al New Torlr. A\ T., as second-class matter."
Vol. liv.
DECEMBER 15, 1894. No. 1,396
For additional Brooklyn matter, see Brooklyn Department inimediaieiy
following New Jeraey records {.gaiie 90(1),
THE stock market has rarely ii ever been so strong iu tlie I'lu-e
of beavj' 5iol(l exports as it has this week, antl although it
weakened somewhat yesterday wlieu the amoimt to be shipped
wae actually annotiuced, the Iaet did uot detract from or make
less apparent the real stren^rtk tliat uuderUes the market.
Whatever teiitleneiew prices display in the next week, or uutil
the demands of Eiiroiie tipoii our gold supply tire sati.sHed, it is
finite obvious that there is a greater disposition to buy thau to
sell, aud tbis, coupled witli thelight realizing of security holders
in the past thirty days, argues well t'oi' better quotations with
the incoming year, Tlie ehasteued spirit in which Cougress lias
received siiggcstiotis i:<ir the improvement of the condition of
tlie railroads aud of the cnrreiiey ha.s had agreatdeal to do with
the streugth of prices and the demaud for railroad securities es¬
pecially. Of. course, the Railroad Pooling Bill, if it
becomes a law, "will not do everj'tbiug fov tlie railroad.^
tbat is claimed for it, but it will do a good deal, and its passage
will be hailed i\"itli no littUi satisfaction l>y kiudied in¬
dustries, uotabl.v the iiou iudustiy, wliich is languishing siinpJy
beeanse of the policy of extreme economy to wbicli the railroad
companies are now compelled to jesort because of the povert.y
of their returns. It has become an anxiom that when the rail¬
road industry' is depressed alt bnsiuess is depressed. That is
hitrdly the ease, because tbe railroads can only lose theiu busi¬
ness when other industries decliue. But there can be no question
what<'ver that as soon as th<; railroads feel justified iu placing
their orders for steel rails, equipnient, etc., ahead of the time Avheu
they will be required, bii.siiiess all over the country will receive
an immeuse stimulus. For this reason the attitude; of the Sen¬
ate and President toward the Pooling Bill will be awaited with
the utmost interest iu all the markets of the countiy. The iiu¬
niediate movement of prices will therefoi e, continue to hinge ou
aetiou or iiiactitui in I 'ongress.
LONDON is not doiugnunhiuforeign securities, consequently
home and colonial governments and municipals ave receiv¬
ing more attentiou than .sfCiiis quite consistent with an expecta¬
tion of tlie niaintcnauee ot prices of those issues. Consols make
uew records every week and some of the municipal 2^s iiroinise
to touch par, one, of wluch !j<7,."i00,0()0 were issued onIj'eigh¬
teen months ago at SH, is now teu poiuts higher. These prices
will not stand when the fi Die comes for large withdrawals of
money into lonimeice. Speculation i)uie and .simple has beeu
aluiost wholly conhued to South Afriean gold mining shares, of
wliich large issues have been made asa resuitof the increased
output of the mines. The advance in tlie price of Consols, in
which deposits in tli<' Post Ottiee Savings Bank are invented, and
the automatic reduction that \v\\\ take place iu the return paid
on tbem, may Compel the government to consider the necessity
for reducing interest luiid on deposits from 2^2 to 2 percent.
Paris has not only taken to speculating in SoittJi African gold
mining shares, but is also forming a company to work a number
of claims under a <-one(!Ssiou from the East Rand Company,
The French Chamber of Deputies has under discussion a bill to
iucrease by '30 to .">0 per ceut. tbo duties ou starch, exotic farin-
acea aud their derivatives. The Bour.se was kept strong for the
fioatingof the now Russiau loau. Germany repovts the condi
tion ofthe several irou centres in her midst as still unsatisfac¬
tory, business .shrinking notwithstanding low prices. In Berlin
a demand for American investments is .springing up. Renewed
friction between the Government and tbe Socialists is can.sing
uneasiness iu political circles, Vienua and Budapest liave it
. seems botb beeu thoroughly scared by their recent narrow
escape from panic, and propositions have beeu introduced
into the bourses of liotb cities to prevent iucreasiug gambling
i 11 securities; if will be interesting to learn how thoy propose to
do it. Austria is again in tlie market for gold; all the gold cur-
reuLy reijuired for the refonu ii«\v being canied out must be
coiued within two years. Bohemian sugar has fallen in value
ill advauce of an inci-ease in the output of the German refineries
this year. The premium on gold at Buenos Ayres baving risen
agaiu, Argentine securities have decliued. Figures recently
published show that exports of wheat, corn, etc., from the
Argentina iucreased in value from $l(j,800,000 in 1889 lo
$29,000,000 in 1893, aud exports of wool, hides, skins, etc, de¬
creased from fp!Hi.700,000 ill 1889 to :^.~i3,000,000 last year.
The growing capacity of the Republic to ship wheat is .shown by
the faet that exports for the tirst half of 1894 were greater than
those forthe whole of the ^previous year, which iu turu were
double what they were iu 1892. Iu 1882, 1,700 tons only were
exported, and ten years later nearly 500,000 tons, last year,
1,000,137 tons, and this year, in six mouths, l,029,54(j tons.
From ,Juiie SOtb to October 31 st, the British market alone took
about 300,000 tons, so that it is possible that the complete re¬
turn for tbe year will show another doubling of the amount sold
in foreigu nnirkets.
" Map-Making,"
^0 nutuy reforms have beeu .suggested lately that one hesitates
1^ to add to the list. Such a great uumber of plans bave been
laid out for tinkering with the municipal structure without re-
con.stnieting it at tbe foundation, where the evil really is, that
tbero is great dauger that in the end we shall conclude to retain
the old bnilding witb tbe addition of merely a few slight super¬
ticial alterations, liowever, while people are in so kindly a
mood towards all schemes for reformation which do not include
themselves, we canuot resist the temptation to point ont a cer
tain direction along which the zeal of the real estate body might
travel for the beneht of all eoucerned.
It is obvious that as fhe city grows, the lines of individual iu¬
terest and activity must, with increasiug frequency, cross the
lines of public or corporate inteve-st and activity. All legal pro¬
ceedings attending Ihe opening of new streets, the wideuing of
old ones, the creation of parks and public places, the acquisi¬
tion of land for railroad and other .similar pnrposes indicate
where these intersections occur. Broadly speakiig, the princi¬
ple that rules in these collisions between the iuterest of the few
und the interest of the many is that the lesser mnst succumb to
tbe greater—public requirements dominate private convenience.
This is all very well, aud on the score of the principle oue has'
no complaiut to make. The evil, and hence the need tor refor¬
mation, arises from the manner in whichthe principle is worked
out. It is sciircely too much to say tbat the entire .system of
acquiring veal estate fov public ov quasi-public purposes now in
vogue, ueeds restriction if not reconstruction in ovdev to insure
a full measuve ot fair dealing to owners of realty which that
chiss is very frequently de.x»ived of to-day.
In another column our readers will hnd a story of how the
City bas, unwittingly, no doubt, and perhaps through the force
of tbe defects of the system undev which the aiitliorities work,
trifled with a vast amount of property of its citizens tone .ad¬
vantage to any one. It is an ordinary example of how, when-
cvev veal estate is wanted lor municipal purposes a cviule auti-
quated ineflicient piece of machinery is set in motion at an
unnecessary eost to everybody—except, be it uever forgotten, to
the few who arc " wovking" it. In this Concourse ov Boulevard
mattcv beyond the Havleui, to which we allude, tbe Departments
liave goue to wovk in a randoiii way to jilan on the maps of the
city a new thoroughfav<' of quite uuusual dimensions. By the
e-stimates the improvement culls fov an expenditm-e of fi-om
Iifteeu to tweuty millions of dollars. It affects, of course, a
very lavge amount of property divectly as well as iudiveetly.
We have nothing to say about tho impiovemeut itself; what
we wish to point out, iu tbo interest of pvopevty owners, is
tbat it and othev similar improvements should not be
legally consideved until the authorities have fully deter¬
mined that the improvemeut is necessary and piacticable and
pavticulavly have ascevtuiin^d that the means fov cavvying it ont
pvouiptiy to a successful conclusion arc positively at theiv com¬
mand. As mattevs van to-day, tlie Deptirtnient " go it blind,"
us the saying is. A few ambitious, ov perchance public-spirited
citizens, make their appearance, lift theiv heads fov a moment
above tbe euovmous level of populav iudiftereuce to civic affairs
and demand that the Great Multilineav Boulevavd extending for
-----miles, fvoni —th street to —th stveet, to eost $50,000,000,
move ov less, be undertaken, as it is an immediate necessity if
New York City is to retain its supremacy as tlie chief city in the
Union. The authorities arc convinced. It is havd to be dis¬
obliging iu so small a matter. It is comparatively easy to de¬
lineate the proposed impvovement upon the city maps and, too,
the action has an air abont it of official activity aud entevprise.
This essay iu map makiug, bowevev, is a veally serious mat¬
ter for tbe veal estate owuevs whose propevty is touched by tbe
cai'togvapbei'.s'linei^, The only veality in the proceediug up to
this point is the effect which it has npon real estate. !Monlbe