Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 28, no. 696: July 16, 1881

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EAL Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XXVIII NEW YOliK, SATDIIDAY. JULY 16, 1881 »i96 Published Weekly by The Real Estate Record Association TERMS: UiVE YEAR, iu advance.....$6.00 Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 137 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. CONDITION OF THE STOCK MARKET. The "boom" in the stock market, which waa expected after the 1st of July, has not as yet made its appearance, and the current impression of the street is that it has been postponed indefinitely. Tlie argument has been that the Govern¬ ment would pay out in interest and f oi' called bonds between July 1 and August 13 some¬ thing hm than |100,000,000. This would niiike money abundant and oheap, and tlie liulls argued that this fi-eali oapltal would lind its way into current iuvestmouta and lirlng about imieh higher llguraa; tluifc if gtivomnientB wore only woi'lih iji| peroeiUi, Mlooks wliloh paid 0 per Qont, oaglifc to be worfcli 130, while H per ooat. stooka elioukl be ol leap at 1(10, Upon thl8 theory thovy were llboi-al puy- ohasoaoE gtooks, and when tho Isfc of July (jftme It really looked as le the market was about to advaiioe. But several thlngH that fllnoQ oeourred have olmnged the outlook. Tn the fli-flfc plao© there was the attempted nraasslnatlon of the Preeklent, Tills Avas a rude shook to the market, whleh, however, bore the blow very well indeed, Then eamo the war among tho railways, the outting of passenger and freight rates, As soon as this beoarae known it alarmed oonservative in¬ vestors, who began to think that large divi¬ dends were not so certain on any of the roads, The passing of the dividend on Canada Southern and the 1 per cent, quar¬ terly dividend on Michigan Central was an¬ otlier severe blow to the market, for it showed that on the trunk lines, the very gilt-edged securities, the business had not been as good as had been expected. But back of these obvious circumstances there are two factors which have operated upon the market during the past six weeks and are likely to affect it for several monttis to come. One is the certainty that, com¬ pared with last year, there wiU be a deficient wheat harvest. The most sanguine admit a falling off of at least 35 per cent. In other words there will be 135,000,000 bushels less to export than there were last year. In value this involves a sum greater than the total gold import for last year. While a de¬ ficiency in the winter wheat was acknowl¬ edged, it was hoped that the spring wheat would be an average one, but the floods that have poured over the West and Northwest at a critical time lead operators to fear the very worst. If the Northwest crops are seri¬ ously short, a great many stock bubbles must collapse. Undoubtedly this certainty of a smaller crop is what has led to thie war among the railways. There is still another general reason which is undoubtedly operating to depress prices, not only in this country but in all countries; and that is the temporary failure of the bi. metallic conference to come to an agreement for remonetizing silver all over the world. Any addition to the currency of the world advances quotations. The "boom"in prices iji April and May was largely due to the be¬ lief tliat silver would be rehabilitated, tlie world over, as a money metal. But this not having been accomplished, theie has been disappointment, and hence the London Financier says : This declining tendency was obsei'vablo yesterday in nearly all the departmtmts, not only in American and Canadian, but In Brltigh, Blexlcan and Austrian railways. Koielgu Oovcrntneut!^, Hudson Bay, Otto• luati Uttult, ludhui mliilug sliui'cs, aiul many others, wore drooping. It will bo remembered that it was the puestige of,the Bland bill which chuuged tbe eoui'se of prices in this countiw. When Hllver waa demonetized, ahrlnkage of valuea wiiH experleneed In all departments of buMl= neMH, It In notable that tlie weakneHS in the mai'ket here was Immediately developed uiion the adjournment of the mouetai'y oou= fei'enee. But will there be any paiilo'( Nothing more unlikely. The railroad earnings for June show an Inoreaso of 30M per gent, over Juno of the previous year, Tl,i§ exoliangos In all the large olties show an Inerease of about 44 per oent. The prlee of labor Is rising, Immigration contlnueH large, business aetlvity wag never greater, people are not in debt, there has been no abuse of the eredit system, and better than all, the price of land is steadily rising, and the new wealth from this source will amount to a very large sum. Stock values are one tiling, the actual prosperity of the country quite another. While there has been a check to any advance in stock values, there does not seem to be any warrant for any serious set back outside of the walls of the Stock Exchange. SUBURBAN RAPID TRANSIT. To understand the situation thoroughly, it should be understood that a company has been organized to build a complete system of rapid transit roads for the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards. To supply the wants of the entire district, present and pros¬ pective, three roads have been planned whicli converge at the Second avenue, over which a bridge is to be buUt. There is also to be a connection made with the Metropolitan on the West side, and with the Harlem, so as to take advantage of the sunken track. These routes were laid out first by tho en¬ gineer of the Central Park Commission. When a rapid transit commission w^s sub¬ sequently appointed, it substantially en¬ dorsed their report. There being some dis¬ content, a second rapid transit commission was appointed, which, after going over the whole ground, endorsed the- plans of the Park Commission engineers and their im¬ mediate predecessors. A compg,ny has been organized to build the roads, and its officers have been hard at work preparing plans, publisliing maps and acquiring rights of way, all of which require time. But there is discontent among certain property-holders in the annexed district. They want a road up the Third avenue be¬ yond the Harlem River, so as to help certain interests in the more populous parts of the Twenty-third Ward. Mayor Grace has been induced to appoint a third commission to see what shall be done. With General Daniel E. Sickles at its head, this body is now sit¬ ting to inquire into the wisdom of building a road up the Tliird avenue. If the third commission should endorse the plans of their three predecessors, that would probably put an end to the agitation. It is very desirable, not only that the plans should be good, but that tho work should be speedily undertaken. The Brooklyn bridgo is nettdug completion, and the North River tunnel is well under way. It Is very desirable that a suburban road should bo In operation before people ar© teniiited to eroBs the rivers by Mystoms of raiild transit, wlileli will reaeli tho dlstriets outside of Brooklyn and Jeraey City. If the Suburban Bapkl Transit Company will hurry up their work, they might head oft' any op= position company in tlie annexed dbtriet. THE ADVANCE IN THE PRICE OP BUILDING MATERIAL. The railroads have had tho advantage of oheap Iron for the past three years and all our industries have had no reason to com^ plain of the cost of material. With a ram. pant stock market, there has been no specu- tation up to this time or until very recently, in any of the leading products of the country. Cotton, corn and wheat have ruled low and when labor was first being employed it did not demand high figures. But it was evident to all business men Ihat the plethora of money would find its way at lengtli into general merchandise and there is every evidence now of a steady enhance¬ ment in values, especially in manufactured articles, due to the increased cost of labor. On June llth the Real Estate Record gave the following advice to builders. "It would, we judge, be wise to take large con¬ tracts ahead for building material at their present rates. There is every prospect of an enhancement in values during the coming fall, for while consumption is enormous, supplies are light and as the price of labor is rising in every department of trade, there is a fear of a large enhancement of values." Those who heeded that warning have reason to congratulate themselves. Take the article of brick. In our market reports we have shown over and over again the dangerous condition of the brick market for buyers. The heavy rains and other causes have prevented the usual work in brick yards and this occurring in connection with an extraordinary demaud for building, has put the buyers of brick entirely at the mercy of those who sell them. This hint ought to be sufficient for all who are under obligations