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May 16,1896
Record and Guide.
833
^ F-<;TARTi<;HPn
ESTABUSHED-^ SWPH 21»C*-1868.
DeV&IED to f^EALEsjME.BmLDIffc AR.CrflTECTi;KE,t{oiJSEliOU)DEGQF^TIOlf,
Busii^ESs /lib Themes of GejIei^I Wtei\e31.
PRICE, PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.
PnblishrtI every .Salnrday.
TBLEI'IIONE, .-.-.. CORTLANDT 1370
Ciuumuuicatious should be addressed to
C. W. SWEET, 14-lG Vesey Street.
J. T. LINDSET, Business Manager.
"Entered at the Post-office at New York, A. P., as second-class mailer."
Vol. LVII.
MAY IG, 189G.
No. 1,407
The Rkcokd and Guidb will furnish you with daily detailed reports
of all building operations, compiled to suit your business speci.fically, .foi
14 cents a day. You are thus kept informed of the entire market for your
goods A7i guess work. Every fad verified. Abundant capital and the
thirty year.i' ixinrii nrr of 'loK Kkcdkd ANU GUIDE (/((((noi/ic tlie coin-
pleteness and anihenticily of Ihis service. Send to 14 and 10 Vesey street
for information.
WITH SUPPLEMENT.
rriHE vi.sit of the MeKinley agents to thi.s eit.v tliis Aveek is an
-•- adniissiou on the port of iioliticol luanafiers of the iiupoit-
iince of the coinnieicial opinion in the coming election. Not
since the days preceding the resuiiipt ion of .specie paynieuLs liave
the hanking and trading communities been listened to with so
much respect as they are to-day. This is an excellent sign and
one that promises well for a return to curiency sanity. The
fact that onr vi.sitors failed iu their mission of inducing the
representative business men of New York to accept Mr. MeKinley
as a sound money candidate, in spite of his record, without
any express declaration from himself, will probably bving out ;t
stitement in the near future that will put this question at rest.
These gentlemen are astute enough to see that the East tvill be
satisfied withnoiie but an oiits))oken promise of currency reform
based upon gold alone, tnid the candidate who cannot come out
for that niiLst look elsewhere for .support. The man Avho is
silent on this ipiestion will be .just as objectionable as the one
Avho is outspoken for free silver It cannot be otherwise ; the
curiency formed on the best exiierience of 1 he world is necessary
to our prosperity, aud the business mau who encourages the
creation of .any thing else is simply adding to the chances of his
own ruin. This lesson has been pretty thoroughl.y learned in
the past tliree years by the country east of the Mississippi aud
the parLs west ot it not affiliated with the silver industry. The
way this fact has found voice in the past week will most pro¬
bably induce Mr. MeKinley to give personal expies.sion to the
sound mouey views he is said to jiossess within a fcAV days, or
.see his boom collapse aud a stampede of all the other candidates
for nomination to the gold standard. At all events, the week
has improved the positiou of the believers in gold and as a con¬
sefpience the commercial situation has brightened and the pros¬
pects for higher prices on the stock market bettered.
T^UROPEAX business, politics and quarrels remain in stdta
•A-^ quo. The outcome of the .South African exposures will not
apiiaiently be more than an investigation into the attairs of the
Chartered Company aud the imposition of some limitations to
the powers of that corporation. There is a general admission in
Great Britain that the Boer authorities have acted with human¬
ity and generosity in their treatment of the people charged with
treason against the Transvaal Republic. But those authorities
show no present disposition to remedy the abuses which primal-
ily caused all the trouble, and those abuses cannot be forgotten
because there are thousands of Uitlanders still suffering from
them, Avh-) will not let the Home Government forget them. It
IS here where the difficulties of the sitiiafion will still be found
to lie, when the Transvaal Re])iiblie has disposed of the charges
against the members of the Reform Committee and the British
GoA-ernmenthas dealt with Dr. .Jameson and the oftic is who
accomjianied him ii])on his raid. Another matter that is likely
to gain greater public attention for .some time to come, is that of
the relations of tliiba lo Spain. A belief has sprung up in un¬
prejudiced circles, and is growing, that Spain is unable to cope
with the insurrection. Should this belief be veritied later, the
effects in places where the securities issued by Spain ou the
revenues of Cuba, but with her own guarantee, are largely held
will bo bad. The largest part are earned in Paris, Spain has
for so long been in a condition verging on bankruptcy that this
additioual burden must force a c(dlapse, even if the event of the
loss of this hist remaining portion of her American einpiie
d()es not lead to armed disturbances in the mothi^r country itself.
Either event Avill be bad in its induenee on the marki'ts, and
both together very bud indeed. In the more fortunate countries
of Great Biitain, Fiance, Germany and Austiiathe returns of
railroad earnings indicate good business, and to some extent
justify the recent rise in the quotations for railroad shares,
cept that tl;e latter are phenominally high.
es-
O INCE the publication of the preliminary report of the Board
â–º^ of Consulting Engineers, appointed by the Dock Depart¬
ment to advise on the measures to be emplo.yed to make the
dock system of this city adequate and efficient, tho attention of
proniotors seems to have been drawn to the value of West street
for passenger and freight transit purpo.ses. The report referred
to included iu the improvements reciunmended a marginal street
250 feet wide, Avith a railroad connecting with all the docks,
uuder the exclusive cmitrol of the Dock Department. A couple
of weeks ago the Manhattan Elevated Railroad Company, in
subaiitting plans to Mayor Strong for extensions of its .system,
suggested that they be given authority to run an elevated rail¬
road through the lower portion of West street. Now the New
York and New Jersey Bridge C(un])any proposes to constract an
elevated freight railroad, of the usual elongated tank order,
from the Battery to connect, via West sireet,and llth itnd 12th.
avenues, wilh its jiroposed bridge at 5nth street. This com¬
pany, by the way, has yet to demon.strate its ability to build its
bridge. Presumably, in view of its own ambitions, the Dock
Department will oppose the occupation of the riverside thor¬
oughfares by anything that mny obstruct the improvements they
propose to carry out and which are absolutely necessary to the
development of the commerce of this city, 'The reasonableness
of this Department's claim that the railroad .along the dock front
should be controlled by it will be .seen in a moment's considera¬
tion. When once a private corjioiation is accorded a privilege
of this kind a monop(dy is created and till further improvement
barred. This is shown ch^aily by the present condition of rapid
transit in this city and by the policy that enables the New York
Central and the Harlem River railroads to bar access to the city
agiiinst all Iheir freight carrying competitors. With the Depart¬
ment in contriil, the railroad arouud the dock will be open to all
comers, whether reaching it from the slips or coming in ou
bridges, and, moreover, it will be easier tor the city itself to en¬
large these fticilitis as required, than to obtain improvements
from private corporations. The propositions 1'roni piivate cor¬
porations to take portitms of the marginal streets are but in
rudimentary form, still it is just as well to call attention at once
to the injury likely to arise from them if they .are accepted. It
ought to be understood that uothiug shall be placed on the
streets alongside the docks that will confer a monopoly of
freight carriage from and to the docks on a private corporation,
(u- that may hereafter stand in the Avay of the comprehensive
scheme for the improvement of the dock front.
^OMETHING of a sensation has been created out of the
^^ tiling of engineers' plans for a tAventy-two-stoiy building
on the site of the Schermerhoru building, on Broadway and
Pine street, owned by Mr. John Jacob Astor. As such a build¬
ing will enclose the recently completed American Surety Build¬
iug on its .south and east sides, and as there has been talk of
negotiations carried on to preserve the light and air of that
building by purchase of easements attaching to the adjoining
pioperty, the newsiiapers have jumped to the conclusion that
the negotiations have ended in a fight between the two owners.
The conclusion drawn from this is that the filing of the pliins
by Mr. Astor Avas to bring his opponent to his terms. The
newspapers have beeu torrential ly garrulous on this phase of
the matter, but the principals have declined to discuss their
attairs with reporters, so that we do pot know whether there
were negotiations or ill-feeling between them or'uot. It is rea¬
sonable to suppose that the Surety Company would not like to
see another building run up right alongside of their own, but it
is doubtful ita man of Mr. Astoi's wealth and standing would
resort to such a step to force a money bargain. Such of the
newspaper statements as were capable of examination can be
proved to be incorrect. One is that tho tenants in the Sehermer¬
horn Building ean be dispossessed on a few diiys' notice, iiccord¬
ing to the terms of their leiise â– . As a matterof fact, the leases giA'e
the owner no such powers, being ordinary agreements ensuring
the teuants quiet pos.sessimi of their oftices for the terms named
therein Another of these statements is that the Surety Com¬
pany dropped the negotiations and secured the iutroduction of
the City Clnb bill for limiting the heights of buildings in the
Legisltiture. This is all nonsense. The bill iu question was
prepared, as every well-informed person knows, by Mr. Geo,
B. Post, though seut to Albany by the City Club. Senator Pavey
refu.sed to father it, and introduced it by "request" only, and
thereby prepared it for its ultimate fate. The bill never had a
chance of passing. It is probable that the Surety Compauy, in
common with every owner of a high building in this city, would
uot be averse to :ee restrictions put upon future buildings. But
the bill, if tidopted, would not have helped them a great deal in
their negotiations with Mr. Astor. The latter, under the strict-