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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 59, no. 1507: January 30, 1897

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Januaix 3P, 1897. Record and Guide i6s: ESTABUSHED ■©/ MJ^RpHSLii.^ IS68. Dev6ieD P ReJ^L EsTAJE . BuiLOIjfe Aflpff tTEerURE ,^{0USEy01I^ DEGffl^UlOll Bi/so/ess Afto Themes of GEjtoi^L Wtej^si.; RICE, PER YEAR, IN ADVANCf", SIX DOLLARS. Published every Saturday, Tblbphoke, --.... Coktlandt 1370 Commnnloaliona abould be addreaeed to C. W. SWEET. 14-16 Vesey Street J T, LINDSEY. Busi7icss Manager. "Entered al tlie Post-office at New Yorlt, N. I., as seconO-elass mailer." Vol. LIX. JANUARY 30, 1897. No. 1,507 WARNING. We are informed thai certain iiuUuidnals arc going about rejyre- senting thai the liECOiiu and Guide intends io issue some sort of a railway guide or cover to be placed in hotels, sicamshi2)s antl elsewhere. Home persons have been induced through the use of the ■name of the Kecord and Guide, not only to spend money with these parties and pay in advance for their order bat to settle for old aecoants with them. We warn ihe public thai the Kecord and Guide is in no way whatsoever connected with this project, and that no accounts should be paid except to our rcguUir collectors. For mutual protection, our friends should rmmcdiately telephone us, ]^^o. 1370 Cortlandt, wheiiapproaclied by the swindlers. NATUIIALLY the selection of Lyman J. Gage tor the Treasury portfolio liad a stimulatiiiy: etf'ect iu tiuaLciiil circles, beciiiise this appoiiitojent «ill eecure to the council of .the incoiiiiug Presideut that techcical buowlrdge whicli is absolutely iudispeiiKable to it iu the pre.'*eufc euiergpuoy. It is p hahly uot necessary now to critcise the ftuaucial s^ide of the present administraliiju, but it may be remarked, to emphasize tbe wisdom of the selectiou of a practical working fiuaucicr by Mr. M-cKiulcy for his Secretary of (he Treasury, that some of the troubles of the expiring admiuistration anise from the fart that Mr. Carlisle's waut of techuical educittinn in financial matiers withheld from him tbe coufiilence of that part of the business community most attected by his acts.jHad Mr. Carlisle earlyJQ his admiuistration refrained from a policy of hostility to banltiog iuterests his path would have beeu much smoother Later he learned where he had to rely in dangerous emergencies but Mr. Gage will not have to go through this course and there will bl- a confidence iu the Treasuiy Deijartiiitnt,to do the right thing at the right time, which has uot been reposed iu it since a practical financier ma:le way tor a lay theorist. Further Mr. Gage's appointment wilt remove doubt, if any existed, of the President elect's views regarding the gold standard and the limit of concession that may have to be made to tbe silver party in any measure of currency reform. Ibe tendency we have remarked before, to look for.wartl to tbe coming spring with cheerfuluesp, ismore patent than ever. Matters that in less con- " tident times would seriously att'ecb values, now have very little influence, while good news has anijile piaj'. Under sueb circum¬ stances, indicating as ihcy do an imnienst improvement in the commercial situation, prices must inevitably advance when related to issues that have any merit. MOST encouraging reports of tbe condition of general busi¬ ness in Great Britain and on the Continent come to hanti, whicli is in marked contrast to the state of affairs on the Ex¬ change, because, while the legitimate lines are quite active, speculation is very dull indeed. Tbe existence of the former is, however, a sure sign of the appearance of the latter in due time. Those who are anxious about tbe influence of tbe Rus¬ sian demand for gold upon exchange will be relieved to learn that the plan now beiug formulated for putting Russia on a gold basis does uot contemplate doing more thau to give perma¬ nence to an arrangement already the common practice under a permissive edict, viz., tbe cashing of bank notes in gold at the rate of one and a half roubles for one rouble gold. The world's production of gold in lS9t> has been estimated at about $213,500,000, or about $17,000,000 more than in 1895. One feat¬ ure of this estimate is not without interest on this side of the Atlantic; it is that tbe United States keeps its position at tbe head of the gold producing countries of the world, though Africa is a close enough second to make it by no meaos cer¬ tain that the United States will lead next year. There has been no change in the foreign markets for money of any im¬ portance and consequently no Indication of what the next movement will be, though lower rates have tbe probabilities more large against them than higher rates. Building Material Markets in 1896. That the year 1S96 was not a prosperous one we are quite cer¬ tain will not be disputed. At the start conditions were unpromiB- ing. President Cleveland's Venezuelan message In December was a disturbiiig feature, as fear of a rupture of our peaceful relations with Great Britain was somewhat general. The fact that the Treasury gold reserve needed replenishing by another bond issue also had an unfavorable influence. As the month advanced, however, our foreign relations became more settled, and trade gradually began to open up. During February the improvement continued. The Government's bond sale was successful beyond all anticipations and was not a disturbing feature to the money market as it was feared it might be. Another favorable develop¬ ment was the rejection of a free silver bill by the House of Repre¬ sentatives by an overwhelming vote. In March, however, the business depression, which did not end until after the National election was held in November, started. Congress took up the question of recognizing the Cuban insurgents as belligerents, and the result was that the business world became much disturbed. The attitude of the two great political parties on the currency question now began to be a topic of deep interest, and when the uncertain attitude of the Ohio Republican Convention on the sil¬ ver question became known it caused some uneasiness. Subse¬ quently the declaration of the Republican conventions of Massa¬ chusetts, New Tork and Minnesota were satisfactory and allayed to a great extent the uneasiness produced by the Ohio State Con¬ vention, As the year advanced, depression became more pro¬ nounced: in May the political situation became a source of much uneasiness. The silver advocates were meeting with success in the Democratic State conventions at the West and South and .some doubts were expressed as to whether it would be possible for the Republican National Convention to declare positively for the single gold standard. Another disturbing feature to business was a resumption of the gold exports. In June a temporary improvement in business circles followed the favorable action of the Republican National Convention on the monetary ques¬ tion, but it was quickly offset when it became apparent that the Democratic National Convention would be controlled by the silver element. Although it was expected that the Democratic Na¬ tional Convention would declare for the free coinage of silver at the ratio of IG to 1, the action taken on several other doctrines, notably the denouncing of Federal interference in local affairs, demanding that holders of obligations of the United States should no longer be allowed to choose the kind of money in which they should receive payment and the apparent intention of the party, if successful, to reorganize the U. S. Supreme Court, caused great uneasiness throughout the country. The gold reserve was steadily decreasing as a result of a large export movement of gold and withdrawals from the Treasury for the purpose of hoarding. Subsequently, however, the action of the banks and trust companies of New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago in placing at the disposal of the Treasury about $25,000,000 of gold held by them, and a meeting of the foreign exchange houses and gold shippers to devise plans for stopping the out¬ flow of gold was successful and materially relieved the financial situation. The depression in business circles and the general nervous strain during the Presidential campaign of 1S96 will long be remembered. In the building trade business was brought almost to a standstill. Builders found that it was practically impossible to borrow funds to continue work. As a result construction in a. large number of cases was left half completed, with the trade anxiously awaiting the outcome of the election, A favorable development which tended to relieve the situation to a consider¬ able extent was an import movement of gold which started in August. At first it was thought to be the effect of manipulation, but later it became quite apparent that it was the result of natural conditions, as the balance of trade was largely in our favor, as the exports of merchandise were heavy, while imports were small. The situation was further relieved by State elections held in Vermont and Maine in September, as the results showed unprecedented pluralities of the Republican or sound-money party. Despite the fact that all indications foreshadowed the defeat of the free-silver party, immediately preceding the election a great stringency developed in the money market as a result of the extreme nervousness and anxiety generally felt. Hoard¬ ing of gold was general and during the entire month of October it commanded a slight premium. No surprise was expressed over the election held in November. The result was as ha.d been expected, but never in the history of the country had a more complete change occurred in the financial situation as'that shown by conditions existing November 2d and November 4th. On the first-named date the desire to hoard gold was intense and the withdrawals from the Treasury were large. Premiums as high as one per cent were paid to foreign exchange dealers and bull¬ ion brokers. On the N. T, Stock Exchange up to 16 per cent were paid for call loans. The contrast as shown on November 4th was almost fabulous. The premium on gold had disappeared and It became a drug; it was deposited in large amounts at the banks and freely tendered at the Sub-Treasuries. Rates of inter¬ est dropped to 4 per cent on call. There was an immediate start¬ ing up of our industries; mill, factories, furnaces and mines all over the country resumed operations. As an example , of the improvement in the financial situation, municipal bonds, which