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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 53, no. 1348: January 13, 1894

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f January 18^1894 Kecora ana u^uiae. 41 ^ ESUBUSHED^*MW,CH21'-i^l868, "Dev&teD to Kej^l Eswe . BuiLoif/c ^cKitecture ,Ko\JSE«OU) DEGQRATlOri, Bi/sit/ESs Atfe Themes orGEffeivL IKteresi. PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every .Saturday. Telephone, --..-- Cortlandt 1370 Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. /. 2, LINDSEY. Buaineas Manager. Brooklyn Office, 276-282 Washington Street, Opp. Post Office. "Entered at the Post-offlee at New Tork, N. T., as second-class matter." Vol. LIII. JANUARY 13, 1894. No. 1,348 ALL that can be said for trade and finance is that they are no worse than they were a week ago. It being reasonable to suppose that after such a long .spell of bad times better ones should be near at hand, it is al.so rea.sonable to su])pose that business generally ;is well as the stoek niaiket is awaiting some incentive to an upward movement, something that will awaken people out of their suspicion or indiflereuce. Regarding the stock market particularly there are mauy issues that are selling below their value under a fair prosi)ect of better times, but that market continues to be overshadowed by au adverse influence. of one kind or another. At the moment a fear for the condition of the national treasury has succeeded to the malign influeuce of the ^^'ilson Tarirtbill, whieh was the inheritor of the powers of depression of tlie Silver Purchase law. The administration has given notice to Congress of tlie true condition of affairs in the Treasury and has fallen back on its dignity, apparently considering that it has now notliiug to do but await the action of the legi.slative body, no matter how business outside may be suffering thereby. A similar course was pui-sued toward the silver question; it was only after months of appeal 3 will have on the forthcom¬ ing dividends. As, however, the raOway companies do not pub Ush statements of net earnings oftener than twice a year, and then only when the dividends are declared, this is wholly a matter of conjecture. However, notwithstanding the great coal strike the losses of earnings are not so large as on the American lines. On the great English lines the average loss is 6.9 per cent, the highest loss being only 18.8 per cent, and that on a line directly affected by the coal strike. Some encouraging conclusions are drawn from the fact that the manufacture of pig iron has been comparatively light for two years past and that only a small working .stock was left ou hand at the close of hist year. Agricultural reports in England are not at all satisfactory, but there is hardly a doubt that business is imi)roviiig there, finding its incentive in the activity at the great naval stations, and is only kept within its present limits by the prospect of an early dissolution of Parliament and the underlying fear that trouble is brewing in India as a result of the condition of the currency there. In France, as in the United States, 18118 was a year of panics, commencing with the Panama disclosures, resulting in the withdrawal of $-lO,00(>,()t1(t from the savings banks by small depositors and accomptinied by an embarrassed national treasury. Customs reports shows that about ^i!3(i,.5(»(>,0O(t of gold was imported in excess of exports, with an increase of only about $400,000 at the Bank of France, consequently it is concluded that some hoarding is going on, though for what reason it would be veiy diflBcult to say, except that tlie cautious jieasautry and bourgeoisie have gotitintotheir heads that w.ar isinevitable. In Germany the losses that have been made in foreign loans have affected confidence in the large banking agents who have been prominent in floating them to the extent of reducing quota- tions'and the shares of other banks have declined in sjTnpathy. Some of the large iron centres of the Empire are reported to be more active than they were a few weeks ago. General business, however, continues to be depressed by tlie discussion of the proposed commercial treaty with Russia and the probability -that the Reichstag will refuse to sanction it by its vote, and for other well-known reasons. The Austi'ian government is said to contemplate not only the withdrawal of the one florin notes, but also of the five florin notes: This measure would give a large field for the use of the silver the government lias accumulated for some years past. Vienna is likely to be kept in good condition by the execution of public works, of which many are proceeding, and to which is to be added an underground electric railroad. Australia has been put into a condition of ease by the better market for its loans in London, which enabled heavy January interests requirements to be met there without the remission of large amounts of gold, which the colonies could ill afl'ord to send. HOW long is the American investing public going to stand the impudence of the self-elected reorganization com¬ mittee, of which the two latest are the gentlemen who put out announcements that they will condescend to protect the interests of the AtchLson and St. Louis & San Francisco, or the St. Louis & San Francisco and Atchison security-holders, as the case may be. Of course there are two distinct committees, but, as the two most important names appear on both, they are practically one, which in the circumstances of thi; case they should not be. These gentleineu have no authority whatever for forming a committee, except what they m.ay hereafter obtain by the acquiescence of the security-holders in their acts. They say that they liave done it " at the request of large owners of bonds," but iis the securi¬ ties involved amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, they cannot have the consent of a sutlirient amount to justify their position. There ought at least to have been a meeting of bond¬ holders, called by jniblic annouiK'cinent, to give them an opportu¬ nity of judging the litiuss and comiietency of the gentlemen pro¬ posed. As it is, tliese ctmimittces are nothing more or less than tricks to obtain trust company and other business, to say noth¬ ing of fees for services, etc. The attempt to introduce this method of "protecting" the holders of securities of bankrupt corporations is finding prompt resistance in London; but here it has become the custom to submit to the dictum of certain people iu these matters, so that it is a general thing to hear bondholders hope that "they"—referring to tiiese interests—will not do this, that or the other, as if the speakers were helpless and had no power whatever of making themselves heard. In the present case the constitution of the committees is not only without war¬ rant, but is unsuitable, from the fact that the interests in the two cases are not tlie same. Atchison has been brought down by the weight of allied lines, i)articularly tl)e St. Louis & San Francisco, so that its .security-holders might very well ask that the allied lines shall bear the burden of the reorganization, which it cannot do very successfully through a Committee ostensibly represeutiug their interests, but really as much con¬ cerned about the St. Louis & San Francisco bonds. However, this or any other particular instance aside, security-holders ought not to permit the continuance of the practice of auy body of men, who choose to do so, constituting themselves a Com¬ mittee of advice on reorganization, but to insist upon the intro¬ duction and maintenance of a system through which the interests, motives and intentions of their would-be protectors can become known and by which guarantees can be obtained that their particular interests and not some ulterior and personal design will be served. THE determination of the Cleveland administration to push the Income Tax measure is a mistake certain to prove politically dear. We are uot iuterested, however, in the political aspect of the matter. Om- regret that an effort is to be made to re-est.ablish this old and once discredited method of tfixation arises from the fact that if th(^ attempt be successful another statute for the promotion of dishonesty will be in force. It must be clear to everybody that the conditions which make our present personal property tax a farce and a disgrace will operate even more powerfully in the case of an income tax. It is a queer thing that those who are pushing this measure ignore our past experience. The revenue obtained from the old income tax was a decreasing one, in spite of the rapid increase of national population aud wealth, and yielded the Government what was practically the minimum amount at the moment wheu it was .abolished. No doubt au income tax is a wise and equitable method for raising Governmental revenue, but the sentiment of a people has to be considered in all wise legislation, and a theoretically admirable law is practically a very bad one if it clashes with public feeling and produces wholesale perjury and corruiJtion. We have pointed out more thau once in these columns a method of taxing incomes which, we believe, would be unobjectionable. A tax upon rents would reach everybody's