Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
May 29, 189^.
Record and Guide
917
ESTABUSHED-^ iiWPH 21^1^ 1868,
Dev&teO p Rea,l Estajz . Building Af^cKiTECTimE .KouseHoid DEQOf^fiiBrf,
Bl/SIiJESSAtlDTHEHESOFGElteR^VlNTEFtESl.,
PRICE PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS.
Fublisned ever]/ Saluraay.
TBLEPHONB, ..... COETLASBT 1370
OonununloatlonB should be addreeaed to
C. W. SWEET, 14-16 "Veaey Street.
J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager._________________
"Entered at the Post-office al New York, ?r. Y., as seconA-class malter."
Vol. LIX.
MAY 29. 1897.
No. 1,524:
NEW BUILDING LAWS.
The Record amd Guide will publish a new-
edition of the New York Building Laws and
ordinances as soon as official copies of several
recent laws can be obtained from the Secretary
of State's office, Those who are familiar with the
manner in which our previous editions of the
building laws have been compiled know what to
expect—a handy volume, with headings and mar¬
ginal notes, full indexes and colored engravings.
This is a complete and standard work, edited by
William J. Fr\er, and is invaluable to architects,
builders and others interested in building oper¬
ations. The new edition will bring the building
laws up to date, together wilh the Greater New
York Charter provisions, which latter take effect
next January. Orders for the new publication
may now be sent in to the Record and Guide,
Nos. 14 and i6 Vesey Street, New York, and
deliveries will be made at the earliest day practi¬
cable,
OW"l\G to a temporary fallinjj off in pold exports, and to
signs io the Seuate that the Tariff Hill will now be
pushed to a vote, there was a moderate rally iii prices on the
stock market this week. The rise, however, was almost wholly
dm; to the operations o£ professionals, aud chiefly on the ci>t-
ering of shorts. Commission houses are lamentably idle.
There is, however, outside buying small in quantity, ami very
cautious as to quality. Tiiere has been what maybe called a
gleaoiutf, because the amounts otteilng are very light, of secur-
itii-8 of iSouthwt stern roads, cm reliat)le 1 epoi ts that the harvest
prospects which are about lo be realized in the Southwest are
very pood. Elsewhere, th. re is little or no reason for buying,
80 much depending on crops that are only just seeded- As to
the Tariff Bill, its fate, as well as the day of its determination,
is still anyone's guess. The House will pass any nieaiaire fav¬
orably regarded by the administrati<m; but nill the Senate
turn out such a iirt-iisure, or is ihe administration so committed
that it must accept; almost any form of.a protective and income
raising enactment?
THOSE who have been all along wrong as to the nature of
recent phases of the liiasteru question are now burdening
tlieir minds with anxieties as to what will be the outcome now
that actual hostilities have ceased and the Turk has put in his
bill for compensation. They say that a few months ago no one
expected such a situatiou as now exists, and-that there is, there¬
fore, reason to believe that a fow months hence there will be a
worse one. Tho Sultan's obedience to what must be regarded
as orders from St. Petersburg to cease active operations in the
field indicates that he iHamenabh' to advice from that quarter, at
least. The Czar is known to desire peace, and it is doubtful if
the power of ihe Kaiser ia sutficieut to £oice Germany iuto war
in such a cause—especially as Oerraan mouey is more largely
tied up iu Grecian than lu Turkish securities—even if he wanted
to, about which there may be some natural doubt. Looking at
the whole matter dispassionately, tbe probable fact is that a
lengthy aud troublesome diplnmatio negoiiafion has begun,
during which the highly deTeloped capacity of tbe modern
newspaper for creating icares will find employment, but to
which a peaceable, if not altogether satisfactory, settlemen*
will be found. The past few monthB have proved that lhe ex¬
pressed desire of The Powers tor a continuance of peace is gen¬
uine, fn in fear of the awfiil uucertainties that war would en¬
tail, if from uo bifiher view, and this ought to enable the en¬
lightened aud humane opinions that prevail in thia eountiy,
Great Hrilaiu, P>;iuce and Italv to greatly inHuenee the tinal
conelusic'u. One of the most troublesome feaiuies of the case
is that in Greece the latter have a rather tricky and dishonor¬
able protege who, if the victor were any other power than
Turkey, might very properly be left to its fate, but the victor
being Turkey, this is impossible.
T
EusincBS and War,
HE examples are many of nations that have bankrupted
themselves by going to war, but in these latter days it
seems tbat none but baukiupts are willing to tight. In the last
twenly-five years there has been no war in wbich one of the
partii s was not vinually bankrupt, anil in the case of Turkey
and Greece both combatants are iu that irreepousible condition.
Nations that steadily pay their debts make great military prep¬
arations, but they avoid tbe actual shock of hostilities.
Within our o:7n couniry tnere can also be observed a tendency
forthe dibtor seciions to be far more jingoish tl.an the creditor
sections. Papers of the Middle West talk about the cowardice
and lack of patriotism in .New York, and periodicals published
in the safe fastnesses of the Kocky .MouutaiLS have the bravery
to denounce both arbitration treaties and the appropirations for
coast defences, to call for active interveniiou in Cuba in the
same issue Ihat they aigue against further increase of the navy.
These Rocky Mountniu papers, serving debtor populati<ms and
interests that have suffered greatly by the tall in the price of
silver, denounce the moneyed interests not only as con.-titu-
tional cowards, but as con-piring miscreants who want peace
that tbey may go on without interruption spreading their nets
to enmesh the industries of the world. The nations do not
fi^ht, say these valorous editors, because the creditor classes
will not let them figtit.
In fact, there is more than one reason why wealthy people
and those engaged in great businesa enterprises are not bel¬
licose. To have somethiug to lose makes a man conservative.
Besides, wealth biiugs bodily ease to most of its possessors,
and bodily ease bring^ in many undeniable cases cowardice and
the desire to avoid rude t-cenes and experiences. Where wealth
accumulates some men do, iu tact, decav, and many decayed
men are kept in existence aud in places of power by wealth.
During peace one lot of men comes to the front, and during war
ano'her. A few meu may be able to thrive under either condi¬
tion, but th"re are many who prosper in one period and not in
another. Business faihnes, like U. S. Grant, may be great
military successes, and it is uot to be weudered at that men who
are successiul in time of peace should diead the coming of war
times as very po.'isibly involving their ruin.
But wealth and business experience exert influences making
for peace of a far worthier nature than those mentioned, busi¬
ness is based on foresight, and develops that faculty wonder¬
fully. To be a really model tighter of the old type one needs
not only the sidendid pluck of ihe bull, but also something of
his blindness to consequences. The man or nation that has so
managed finances as to be a bankrupt is much more likely
to be gifted with this bovine blindness than the man
or nation that has succeeded in business. Both may be
equally brave, but one cau foresee tne probable outcome
of a light wbile tbe other cannot. After a war is over both par*
ties to it frequently ste that it was a mistake and nearly always
one or the other of them does so. The growth of foresight which
business has piomoted tends to lead one or both of the j.arties
to seethe mistake of fighting before the battle instead of after,
which is manifestly a great improvement. '' ', __
Modern uiiljlary methods have co-operated with the growth
f'f foret^ight lo enalde far-sigbted nations to "conquer peace"
in advance of war. In a day of machine guns and cordite am¬
munition and steam transportation by land and sea, discretion
is so much tbe better part of valor that valor without discretion
stands uo chance at all. The same foresight that tends to make
certun nations peaceable also tents to make them invincible.
Machinery will never win victories but with even a modicum of
valor behind it it will defeat a large amount of blind courage.
The influence of business sense in promoting peace finds a
manifest and eveu mrchanical expression iu the undoubted in¬
fluence of the bond-holding classes upon governments. Now
that nations have beC'me honest enough so that they are able
to go ill debt tbeir delitsjcoristimte a very definite ballast which
st'-adies them aud makes their motions more di liberate. When
two nations ai e deeply in debt to tbe same classes Ihoae classes
have a stiong incentive to promote peace between the naiiont.
Thia is the " emasculating influence of concentrated wealth"
whichourfriendsof the Rocky Mountain regions talk bo much