Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 26, no. 653: September 18, 1880

Text version:

Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XXYI. NEW TOEK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1880. No. 653 Published Weekly by TERMS. ONE VEAR, in advance..,,SIO.OO. Communications should be addressed to C. W. S^JVEET, No. l*?? Broadwav HINTS TO THE PEOMOTERS OF THE WORLD'S FAIR. See to it, that Ulysses S. Grant is offered the chief executive position in the company- organized to manage it. Choose a site as soon as possible, and let tliere be no scandal in the way of real estate speculation in the choice of a location. Arrange immediately for proper legisla¬ tion next winter at Washington and Albany, to advance the objects of tlie exhibition. Put live young men in all i)ositions where active work is required. There are too many old, broken-down and over-busy men connected with the enterprise as at present organized. Appoint a special committee of very bright men to receive and consider suggestions frjm any quarter, having in view the intro¬ duction of taking novelties into the scheme for holding this Fair. Let the buildings be entirely unlike any other International Fair ever held. Why not have the several edifices rej)resent dis¬ tinct types of architecture, Egyptian, Doric, Corinthian, Gothic, Moorish and Modern, so that the inspection of the various structures would be in itself an art education ? Have caUs issued for all manner of World's Conventions, to be held in New York during the iKogrcss of the Fair. Have provision made for exhibitions of all the national games of the world, horse races, bicycle contests, cricket, base ball, athletic sports, in short, let these fail's reproduce in modern life the Olympian games of the Greeks. THE MORAL OF THE MAINE ELEC¬ TION. The Fusion victory in Maine was a genu¬ ine surprise to the whole country. The re¬ sult of the Vermont election seemed to show that the old parties held their own ; that, if anything, the Republicans made some gains, as compared vnth the votes in former elec¬ tions. It was supposed that the prosperous state of the cotmtry insured a Republican success. That party was blamed for the panic of 1873. Mr. Tilden received 350,000 more votes than Mr. Hayes because of the hard times. But when good times came, it was naturally supposed that the voters would return to their old allegiance, and would cast their baUots for the regular nominees of the Republican party. What, then, is the significance of the Maine as compared with the Vermont election ? It must be borne in mind that there is very little difference in the jplatforms of the two great i^arties. There is a look askance at free trade in the Democratic Platform, and at some revision of the tariff for the benefit of the foreign commerce of the country. But in all other resiaects there is literally no point at issue, except the possession of the offices. And the Vermont voters decided that from that point of view they j)referred the RepubUcans to the Democrats. But in Maine a very different state of af¬ fairs exists. Tlie so-caUed Greenback-Labor party had, in that State, divided the Demo¬ cratic party, and had received many addi¬ tions from the Republican party. It is un¬ questionably true that Maine has not been as prosperous as the rest of the country. Its fisheries have suffered ; its shipbrdlding has long been under a cloud, and the increase of its population has been very slight. Then the plank in the Democratic Platform which seemed to favor the development of our commerce must have been particularly at¬ tractive to the business interest as well as to the working j)eople. of Maine. But the Fusion majority brought to the fore new issues. In Vermont it was the old Republi¬ can party against the old Democratic party, marching under banners that bore the old cries, and with a programme on each side which did not greatly differ. But the. Fu- sionists in Maine brought to the front vital questions, some of which have been agitating the country for years past, but which have not as yet found expression in the platforms of any great national party. In looking over the programme of the Greenback-Labor party, it wiU be noticed that the Greenback issue is kept in the rear. This new party is anti-monopoly. It looks with disfavor upon the control exercised over the nation by the railway magnates and the great corporations. It shows extreme jealousy of the money power as embodied in our National Bank system. It wants the Government to issue as well as to stamp all currency, whether gold, silver or paper. It wants the interest of labor to be looked after. It demands ful¬ ler statistics; new bureaus, having in view the weKare of the common people. It so far discredits the old Democratic Platform^ that it looks to the Government to cure many of the ills which faUto the lot of the poorer classes. ' It is remarkable that at the meet¬ ing held on a stormy night in Cooper Insti¬ tute in Nev." York, the Greenback candidate for the Presidency had an immense and enthusiastic audience. He was cheered to the echo in his denunciations of the state of things which gave us such overgrown capi¬ talists as Vanderbilt and Jay Gould. The newspapers belittled the meeting and dis¬ missed it with a paragraph, but the Maine election and the crowds which follow Wea¬ ver in ail parts of the country show that he has a following and a future which is not to be despised. It is a warning to the Demo¬ cratic party if it wishes to succeed that it must take more radical ground ; it must come to the front as the champion of the common people; it must discard its old Jeffersonian notions of non-interference by the Government. The danger to tlie Repub¬ lican party in the Maine contest is its effect upon Indiana, That state also is a hot bed for these new ideas. After Maine, Indiana poUs the largest Greenback vote and has the .greatest number of influential men support¬ ing the Greenback ticket. Should the fusion be complete between the anti-monopoHsts and the Democrats, Indiana may follow the example of Maine and the moral and politi¬ cal effect upon the November election would necessarily be very great. One thing is, however, sure. The capi¬ talist class—those who have wealth or expect to gain competence, are generally on the side of the Republican j)arty. What¬ ever may be said about certain episodes in Mr. Garfield's career, as a representative, a perusal of his speeches will show any one that he is a man of signal ability, a states¬ man in the truest sense of the word, a man of wide culture and hberal views, and there can be scarcely a doubt but that if elected he would make a President superior in nearly every respect to many who have preceded him. But suppose the Democrats should suc¬ ceed? We have no fears of the country. Gen¬ eral Hancock's record is a good one. All he has written is greatly to his credit. He seems to be a man of unimpeachable honor, of strict integrity and of strong common sense. He would add dignity to the Presi¬ dential ofiB.ce. Still, it must be confessed, the break in stocks that foUowed the Maine election, the gloomy feeling which seems to hang over the business of the country, is not comphmentaryto the Democratic party. It would seem as if the wealthy class have taken alarm at this Fusion victory in Maine, and it may be with some reason. There can be no danger of any such trouble as occur¬ red in the last Presidential election. There