Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 57, no. 1468: May 2, 1896

Text version:

.Miiy •!, J896 Record and Guide. 737 Dp/bjED 10 Real Estate.BuiLdi/Ig -^crfiTECTUi^E.HouseholdDegohatioiI. Bt/sii^ESs Alto Themes of CEfiEi\Al lriTEi\Esi. PKICE, P^R YEAR, IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Pntil'ished rrerg Siilnrdag. Tti-EruuNK, ._-... Cortlandt 1370 Coiiimuniculious should he addressed to C. W. SWEET, ll-l(i Vesey Street. ,/. T. I.INDSEY, Business Manager. " Lnlrrrd al Ihr Post-offlce at A'cw York, X. Y., as second-class matter." Vdi., LVII. M.-W L', 1S9(!. Nd. 1,4(>S The Kkcoud and Guide will furnish yon irilh daily detailed reports of all building operations, conipiled to suit Ydi'H business specifically,.foi 14 cents a day. You arc thus kept informed of the entire market for youi goods A'o guesswork. Every fact verified. Abundant capital and the thirty years'^ I xperience of Y UK Rkcord and Gvivk guarautee Ihe com¬ pleteness and authenticity of this service. Send to 14 and 10 Vesey street for information. THE stock market di.splayed a tlecidedly reactioniiry ttii- deney tlii,s week iiiid ha.s developed into esheiiie diilliiesK. The leiiewiil of ,mild expoits i,s keeping oil buyers, and .slioiild they assume I:ii^;c volume, they will elfect jiriees For seemilie!-'. All iiufavoi'iilile iiii|ii'e,ssion was caiuscil hy the calliiifi' ol' part of the Government bahiiices on ihe eve of this iiioviiiient, hecaiise it was taken to mean that the outhjok reijitiicd tliat the 'l'rea.5- ury sliouhl be protected with all its resources. Owiiiji' lo the iuiportaiue (hat i.s attached to the outward moveinent of yio\i\ and the liad iuHneiice such a movement has ou stock prices, it is very dilliciilt, if not impossible, to obttiin a correct idea of its probable extent, but sucl- indications as there are point lo con¬ siderable sliipiueuts befoie (he demands from the other side aie satistied. ^Villl the stock maiket entirely in the hands of trail¬ ers afjaiii, it will be sw,iyed by tiu- amount and fieipieiicy of the shipnieiils, because a situation like this jiives those traders tlie chances they love for scalpin,!:? eif;'litlis and ((Uiirters. Commis¬ sion hou.ses, in spite of active dniiiiiiiinj;', have no business to speak of. l.ni'S'c selling'orders are as likely to reach one here nnd there in dull as in active times. These account for breaks ill spots, and lliey give opportiinith^s to buyers for a long pull whicli should not be lost. TT^FFECrs often apiiear dispioporlionate to their causes ; an ^^ e-xamide may be cited iu the renewal of the Triple .Mliance and tbe iiniiroved po.sitiou of Great Britain in E.iiypt, as a result of the lempoiaiy triumph of Abyssinia. There were tears tliat Italy woiibl withdraw from this coinp.ict, or that the nefi'otiatiiius tor its renewal would be protraeted over a loufr period of time and be the cause of frequent disquietude. But King Menelek's victory has hastened the consumniatioD, aud although the uew a.tfreeintiit is to last only until 1002, or is an e.Ntension of the old oue foi' tive years, yet it, notwithstanding- the hot words (hat have heen spoken in the past six mouths, gives Europe the best guarantee of pe.ace it has had in many a long day. Probably at no time since the Franco-Prussian war has the outlook for tive or six years ahcnl l»een so good, 'ihis, taken in conuectiou with the probabilities for a calm and pei - inanent settlement of the Venezuelan trouble, ought lo have a very beiielicial ett'ect mi eomineice. which meanlinie has been getting ii'to good shape again, .-\nstialia, whieh sutieicd first and worst, repot t.^ money unloanable at 1 per cent., the banks very stioiig and the iiiiporl ;iiid export uiovemeuts of trade increasing. .\i'geiiliiu., anulher early aud severe sufferer, pub¬ lishes tigures showing' (hat last jear her export traife was flonble in (piaulity and :iO per cent, iiiore in value whtit it was in 189;i. To thosf who are disturbed by the fear of .Japanese conipetilioii, it will be coinforting to know that wages are rapidly rising in the Empire of tbe Mikado. It is said the p.ay of a coolie is double what it was ten yeais ago, and, although it is now only seventeen cents a day, the mere fact that itis going up and that the progress of the nation is eiilliiig for a more luxurious aud comprehensive style of living on (he luirt of all classes ought to somewhiit s(ill the anxielies tliiit liiive heen created by the knowledge of the ability of the .Jtiiianesc aud the modesty of their demands in the mailer of pay. .Seri- ' ously, we are too ready to assume that low wages mean jiroduc^ live ciipacity. What we want (o know is (he amount of skill, intelligence and energy that can be obtained for a .given sum of mouey. With thtit fact it would he possible to make lietter comparisons and to calculate the force of the competiti.in likely , tu be created. The British budgel is still exciting discus.sion, ! the Statements beiug so extrjioidiuai-y. In the general satisfac¬ tion at the results of the past year, it seems (o be forgoKeu that itis much more extraorriinary that in a time of jieace the nation should be pledged to an expenditure of !^r)()0,(H)(),(K»() to strengthen the navy and that the natioual expenses as a whol<( are rajiidly ineieasiiig with the iiio.spect that they will grow rather than diminish tis years go on. This will test the ability of the people to keep their place in the race of the nations when bad times come again. IJUT in siiite of the renewal of the Dieibuud there is a cloud upon the political horizon, as there alw.ays must be in a world full of turbulent people, such as this is. This cloud is hovering over South Africa, aud in spite of till th.at has been said and done since last Christmas, uot omitting the events of this week, it has a very portentous appearance. President Kruger's theatrical moves aud Mr. Chamberlain's dispatches, petitions iu form but undisguised orders and threats in fact, are not in the least caleitl.ated to lead to a calm aud deliberate settlement of differences. The warlike pieparatious which are beiug made ou both .sides, moreover, almost indicate that neither expects those ditfeieiices to la; settled without resort to arms. We are apt to ,iudge the sidiation in South Africa from the events which began with the ,laniisoii mid, and while we do that we overlook some very important facts that are uecessaiy to forming a correct opinion of the ,situation. There must have been .serious cause for complaint when the wholo of .Ioh.3unesbuig and the Hit- lander interests, with so much at stake, assumed a position of revolt against the coiislituted authorities of the countiy in which they dwelt. This feeling of indignation was not felt by the British settler alone, but as we have seen by Americans and some (TCiinans resident in the Transvaal. Summarized, their grievances were of exactions that amounted to conflscation of the properly values they had created. The policy directed at them could have had only one end. and that was to drive them away so that (he native could come in and take the spoils they left behind them. Hut for the clumsy way the work of protest was done, and especially the Jamison raid, the whole matter would have been before the world lu a very ditt'erent light than it uow is in and the Boers would not have as much symiiathy ti.s they do at this minute. If tlie qnariel, for it is a iiuanel, be¬ tween the Hrifi-sh government and the Transvaal Republic,'can be kept in the diplomatic state until the feeling created by the events of the past few months is .somewhat mitigated, there is no doubt whatever that dispas.sionateeonsider.ation of (he whole inattei—not merely the buccaneeiing phase—that time will iiio- duce will carry .some of the feeling to the side (h.at now meets ouly with reprobation. It is probable,. too, that Geiinany will not officially intervene again in this questtou. The German press has taken its stand and will continue to support the Boers, no doubt, but it is doubtful if the nervous individual on the throne will send any more dispatches or that the Empire offi¬ cially will interfere. As a matterof fact, the entity known as the (xermau government got a fright last wil.^ •■ from which has not recovered ; this was not caused by tt:e mobilization oi the celebrated " flying squadron," but by the rapidity with which France and Great Biittiin readied au understanding. Up to that point it had banked ou the latter's isolation, but as it turned out that isolation was of her own choosing. IF Governor Morton signs the Consolidation bill, as then^ is too much leason to fear he will do, he will do it iu open vio¬ lation of the wishes of the two great communities attected. He cauuot plead any iguorance upou this point. While both New York and Brooklyn dozed and dozed for yetirs previously upon this qiiestiou, they have at least been alert during the piist six mouths ; the vetoes of the two mayors and the great public demonstrations of this week most emphatically and, at the same time, fairly repiesent the opinion of the people on both sides of rhe liver. This opinion was best expressed by Mr. .lames G. Carter at the Cooper I'nion lueetiug, when he said: "I don't know what you mean by consolidation." In fact, no one knows what is meant by "consolidatiou" except, perhaps, the com¬ mittee appointed by the Legislature to supervise the work of the commission that tilovernor VIorlon has power to appoint undei' the bill now before him. The committee's explanation of the term, if honestl.y rendered, would show that it had very little to do with the well-being and advancement of the fxreatei' or Smaller New York. No doubt the politicians have very clear ideas of what they mean by " consolidation." Heieaftev the expression will carry a similar meaning fo what "combine" has had since the Broadway cable scandal. To New York aud Brooklyn it is a blauk aud the bill passed by the Ijegi.slature over the mayoral \ etoes a leap in the dark. Snch a movement is very likely to lead into a slough. To an individual, such a leap may mean only a temporary and, peih.aps, small incon- veuieuce. To a municipality, however, it is fraught with the most serious consequences The evils of a false move are endless and the time and trouble involved in eytvicating it from