Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 54, no. 1393: November 24, 1894

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November 24, 1894 Kecord and Guide. 731 fmm ESTASUSHED-g^ tfW.CH 215J> 185 8. DzvSteD TO Re\l Estate.0uILDI^b7^p.c.^ITECTlJRE,Koysn(olIlDEoaRAT^ori. Bi/sii^ESS Ai^ Themes oFGEftov-l 1Kter.esi. PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday. Tki.ei'HOn-e,......Cortlandt 1370 Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, l-i-16 Vesey Street. J. 1. LIATDSEY. Business Manager. Brooklyn Office, 276-282 WAsnisaTON Street, Opp. Po3t Oftice. " Enlered at the Post-office at New York, N. 1'., as second-class matler." Vol. liv. NOVEMBER '2-1, 189-1. No. 1,393 For additional Brooklyn matter, sec Brooklyn Department immediately following New Jersey records ipa^e 7SQi. UXTIL fhe results of the govetDment bond issue aro seeu, not merely the amount of bonds subscribed ±'o'", boeausc it is hardly probable that the tinaucial institutions of the eouutry would care to face the consequences of a failure of the offer and that therefore (be issue will he over-subscribed, but its perni.anei)t inllueiice outhe gold reserve, there willbe no return to good feeling and coutidence. So much is made of the importance of increasing the reserve that it will be a great dis¬ appointment and be reHected iiijnrioii.sly on the prices of eeeiirilifs andon general busiiiesB if a large partof: Ihe gold received I'or tho bonds doe.s not stay with the Treasury, It will take time to ascertain whether this is to be the case or not. Undue stress is laid on the fact that a -small parcel of gold was purchased this week at a price indicating a small premium; as a matter of fact gold has passed to and fro between this country and Europe for several years at au appai'ent loss to the shipper. If fhe recent ca.se is takeu as putting a premium on gold, then there has beeu a premium on the metal sini'e 1890, couimencing vrith what went to Europe in antic¬ ipation of the Baring failure. Ae affecting the gold situation it isa remarkable fact that the cancellation of gold certiticates is going on at a somewhat rapid rate, and that the present amount of gold certilieates iu the Treasury and in eircu- hition is only one-half what it was at (he begiuniug of 1893. The call for bids for the bouds and the .subsequent discussion thereon, have created a very uneasy feeling which will not be easily removed. On the subscription being aunouuced, au at¬ tempt will no doubt be made to rally the stock market, but the success of that attempt will be moderate, if any. The reduction ill the Burlington dividend, while a proper and conservative course, has directed attentiou to other roads that have not made any change, as a result of the poor business of the i)a8t year and a half, and readiug betweea tho lines of official -stateineuts iu regard to them, it is easy to see that unless business improves very materially, of which there is ouly a small prospect, there ■willbe further reductions iu the rates of distributed protits, if not entire suspension for a short time. It may bo said that these changes, heing light and bnt temporary iu their character, ought uot to affect prices as much as thoy do, but the faet to be con¬ sidered is, that they do so affect them. THE geueral advance in government securities in Europe fol¬ lowed the initiative sethy the governments of France .and Russia in supporting their issues in the I'aris market on the death of the late Czar of Kussia, and is partly due to the as¬ sumption that his successor wilt continue the policy which secured the peac« of Europe for fifteen years, an assumptiou that may turn out correct but has as yet no logical basis. Tho French goverument did even more than actively support its Rentes, it threatened operators with section 419 of the Penal node which punishes with from oue to twelvemonths imprison¬ ment and tines ui! frrm $100 to ^12,000 combinations or coalitions to influence the jirices of mti^chaudise or public securities. I'nces of these eecurities can only stand w,'>or6 they do uutil this ille¬ gitimate support is withdrawn. Britisli trade returns for Octo¬ ber are satisfactory as iodicating that an end has eomo to the declining tendency apparent for eome raonthf.. past. Imports increased 0.9 per cent, and exports 5.3 per cent, compared with October, 1S93. Another favorable featui* of the rGt,!rns is the increase in the exports of coal, yarns and tin plate. As the Rhenish-Westphalian steel rail-makers are compiaiuini, if the preesuro of Euglish competition, the presumption is .ali.^wed jhat future returns will show an expansion of the iron trade i^ ht direction. Tho Berliu Bourse has refused to suspeud oper- ^'j,*'a^ ou time in Riissiau roubles, the trade hetween the two B' 4^c^*^^'equiring that merchants shall be kept apprised of the value of the Russian paper in whicii settlements are made. In Austria aud Hungary prices are inflated to a. poiut that threatens collapse. Recent changes in the Spanish min¬ istry are iniUcative of tariff refonns iu the liue of freer trade. The settlemeut of affairs in Australia aud New Zealand drags. In the latter counti'y the LTOverninent is hesitating in its policy of backing up the banks liuding the position involves more responsibility than was lirst thought would be the case. New South AVales has a deficiency of $10,000,000, the reveuues of Victoria are declining and the departures from the colony exceed tho arrivals, while Western Australia seems determined to increase its luihappiness by the adoption of a system of government loans to farmers. The re¬ sponse of Japan to our government's offer of mediation con- flruis what we have said about the positiou of Japan and the probable duration of the war, whieh is now the exact measure of China's obstinacy. That country never yet yielded until the enemy was at her capital and there seems to be uo reason to be¬ lieve that she has changed, or th,at she will sue for terms uutil the Japanese are linockiug at the gates of Pekiu. Crossing au euemy's country with inferior or practically no transportation is slow work even if there is no opposition and consequently it looks ■\-ery much as if the war will be carried over until well into uext year. — ■■ m IROX-MASTEKS in Great Britain are giviug a great deal of thought to the condition of the ti ado by which they exist, and a grcnt deal of inform.a.tiou is beiug poured out to ascertain M-hether or not the supremacy that was once so easily hers eau¬ not be regaiued. It must be extremely galling to the local luaunfactiirers to see the iron-work of several very important buildings iu Londou and of some larger undertakings in the Provinces, as has been the case latct}', come from Belgium and other countries on the t'ontinent. It is said one German tirm alone exported to Great Britain 30,000 tons of joists last year. A committee of iron-workers, appointed to investigate the ques¬ tion, have reported that the decline in the British iron trado is due (1) to the lower rauge of' wages paid on the Contiueut; (2) to tlie coinmand of cheaper fi'eight, both hyland and by sea; and (3) to the higher profits made in the proteVted home mar¬ kets, enabling German manufacturers to sell surplus produce in outside markets at a low profit, or at no profit at all. Muchof this discussion is addressed at the British workman. At the, same time there comes to hand a report from the United States vice-commercial agent at Hamburg, ou the con- ditition of the working classes in Germany, which appears to be one of unadulterated misery. He s.ays : "Frugality and industry can hardly be expected to accomplish any miracle greater than that of enabling a thrifty workman to keep out of debt." If the improvement of the iron trade in Great Britain requires that the working jjeople shall make sacrifices that will bring them to the conditiou of the German workman, it is not surprising that they regard the condition of the trade and the complaints of the employer with equal indifference. Itis hard to .'^ee how auy industry subjected to snch competition as this can be expected to thrive, notwithstanding auy concessions the Avork-people make. The real point of difticidty is not iu the wages or freights paid, but in the leverage the protective policy seems to give to the Germau in seeking foreigu markets. If the falling off in the British iron trade sur\'ives the dull tinies, it is not unlikely, consideiing the important part that trade has iu the general national prosperity, that a modification in tlie free trade policy of Great Britain will be agitated for and obtained, at auy rate iu lines that are so seriously liaudicapped by tke dif¬ ference between the policies at home aud abroad, as the iron trade apparently is. ' 5,aii ,d» \\.y THE recommendation of the National Strike Commissiou that a permauent commissiou be appoiuted to decide dif¬ ferences between two parties, with power to the Federal Courts to compel only one of those parties to obey the decisions of the Commissiou after summary hearing, is not very promising of nuich assistance iu settling the dispute betweeu labor and capital. Of course this reconimendation is too absurd to ever find embodiment iu the laws. The whole of the discussion that has followed the strike of last June has been mo.st unsatisfactory so far as its influence toward lessening or ending wage disputes ia concerned. The first utterances appeared iu the North A mer- icait lierleio and came from the General who commanded the troops in Chicago, a railroad manager and a labor lender. The first was sure the army was equal to putting down any disturb- auco ; the second know that the railroads were right and inci¬ dentally charged that there was a wholesale and organized con- spii-aey ou the part of the railroad employes for.t.he;destruction of railroad property, and the labor leader said the striking rail¬ road bands had displayed a great deal of chivalry, which ■ hivaliy, however, he had previously advised the members o( bis own uniou not to imitate. Neither these opinions or the r,?.port of the Commission have any practical value, and the ques- fifc^es ■« J