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September i8, 1897. Record and Cjuide 379 VRĸia— •i.^ íú.^:/-.^ ,^
P f^ ESTATE.BuiLDĨĩfe ApCÍÍITEenfflíXOJSEIÍOID DEOOlflOft .BifsDÍESS aiÚiThemes OF CEĩfeRjViKiCTf*!:^ PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Publisheã every tiaiurday. TBJ/ÍPHONE, ... - CORTLAKDT 1370. Communicatlons should be addressed to C. W. SWEĨET, 14-16 Vesey Street. J. 'I, LINDSEY, linsiiiess Manager. ■ Eii.tcred al Ihr, Posl-O.I)icc at Xeiv l'ork, X Y., as secoiid-class mtitler." VOL. LX. SKPTEMBEli 18, 1897, No. 1,640 TIIB temptation to organize operatious ou the short side of tlie stoclí mai-Iiet uaturally grows with tlie advanee in jjrict's; tbis accounts for the existcuce of combiuatious which are seeking for weal: places in which to make an impression, aucT to flnally bĩ'ing aboiit a general decline- So far prices have beeu well maiutained, in spite of these things, with also some con- spieuoiis advauces here and there, so that "shorting" has beeu anythiug but a pastime in the past weelí. Reasou may point to lower qnotations, but, iu the preseut temper of the public, rea- sou counts for very littie, Some stress is laid upon tlie recently published trade statement for August, showing a very large bal- aiictí iu favor of this country, and of the probability of early imports of gold as forming a basi.s for a new bull moveraent, The favorable balanee is due to the reaction from the heavy buyiug uf last Spriug, just as we shall see a reactiou from the Ueavy Angust buyiug of grain by ISurope, siuce the agricultural reports from India and Argentiua liave become so good. Gold imports, uuder the circurastance of our trade, have only been kept baclî by the fact that better use could be found for money tibi'oad than here; this having beeu líuown for some time, their aetual advent would have very little influence. What the ad- vocates of liiglier quotations really have to rely upon mostly is the fãet that t!ie public are in a buyiug mood agaiust which uo pi'ofessional combination to operate in the other direction can have auy appreeiable efCect, aud tliat, as there was uo reasou íor a large part of the old advauco, it Is uot neeessary ío bave it reasou for a uew oue. StXCE uur last issue, in which we pointed out tlie uecessity l"or. aud tho yrubability of the Goverument of Great Britaiu takiuy actiou iu regard to silver, ít has transpired that ĩt has opeued uegotiations with the Bauk of Eugland to learu uuder what couditlous the bank would be willing to avail itself of ils cliarter right to keep a flfth of its reserve iu that metal. Tlie i;ouditÍons as stated by the Governor of the baulí ou Tburs- dĩiy are uuerous euough to niake it doubtful whether the mau- agenieut seriousiy coutemplated the makiug of auch a chauge. Tliey amount aluiost to a demand for a guarantee against all rlstĩs, The important point, however, is the evideut seriousness with which the British Treasury is takiug the raatter up, and the cousequeut probability that in the eoming wiuter an ar- raugemcut will be perfected that will advance the price of sil- ver aud give it stability. It must be borne iu mind thut it is nut the bauk but the goverumeut that is taking the initiative, aud that the problem it has to soive is to preveut the further depre- i'iation of silvei', uot in the interest of the TJnited States or oC France, or of any other counti-y, that produces silver or has a unweildly load of that metal on its hauds, but în the interest of ĩndia, whieb uses it exclusively as a tradiug medium, and of British trade with thc far Bast. The solution of this problem lies in the larger use of silver money, and circumstances have so bronght it about that Great Britain must assist tbis process. Tbe Indiau Treasury has to face the pi-ospect of a deflcieney in revenue, whíeh cannot be smail, for some time to come, Al- ready a temporary loan of $12,500,000 has beeo raised, for that îs what the reeent purehase of cxchange for that sum amouuts to, and others will have to be raised from time to time, probably in inereasîug volume, in order to meet tbis deficieucy, uiiMl the marketiug of new crops and improved commerciiil conaitions place the country again in a sound financial eondition and re- lieve it of ĩts distress. A measure that will materially Increase the value of the metal in whieh ludian produets are pald for, and of whieh large stoeks are held in the country itself, would be of great servlce and immensely aid the government in thé task it has to perform. The fact that Great Eritaln benefits so largely by the Eastern trade requires that it should, without iDiperiIling [ts own curreucy standard—of whlch no rational be- lĩig îins iliH sllghlcst expectatlon-be wiHlng to do íts part In the work. Turning to another matter, about whose successful eud- iiig so many doubts have been expressed, there is reasou for niucli gratifieatiou iu the couclusion of the tedious peace nego- tiations at Coustantiiiople, în that ít is a triumph for the Euro- pean concert and of civilized means for arranging internatioual dĩfferences. Some fiue day those who could ant believe that in formiug the coucert the several natious of whĩch it was com- posed had auy other pui'pose thau to hoodwiuk each other, will wake up to the fact that a better spirit permeates modern diplo- maey, and that in spite of huge standing armies aud fioating uavies,reason will more and more decide coutroversies between uatiou and natîou. "P*]^SE\VHKRE iu our í'olmiins iii tiiis issue we print the íirst ■^ ofaseriesoE papcrs on the Meehauies' Lieu Law, pro- pared ior m by Mi', Edward L, ĩleydeeker, ol! the the "bar of this city. Mr, Heydeeker is a uative of New York aud has watcbed the growtli of the real estatc operations of thc Greater New Yorlí. His uuiversity traiuing Liusbeeu suppleuiented by twelve yearíî' e.-íperience at the "bar aud ho hatl the advautages of Ijcgiiiniugiiisueh officesas tlioseof Coudcrt Hrothei's aud Judge Charles F. MacLean, Hiĸ practiceaiid Liw tastes hare ledbim tu tlic rcal estate side of Ihe liiw and soine ot'the result of his pi'actiee and study are iiow pi(;senled to our readers iu cleai', condensed. sententes, whicii luake plain the rules whieh buîlders aad operators shi)uUl kiiow, The recentehauge in the Lien Law makes such a review of the htw very tiraely. Mr. Hey- declíer's oííices are at 111 Btoadway. The New Lien Law.'' lu effect September 1, 1897. A Hiiiiimai'y of Its Provisious and of all Legal Decisions Con- struiog It, By Edward L, Heydeckor of the New York Bar. CHAPTER I. WHO MAY HAVE A LIEN AND WHAT IT MAY BE HAD FOR. I-IE ob.ieet of the lieu law, from the enaetment of the first slatutc on this snbject, has been to give some seeurity to llu' mochauie or materialman, whose labor or material has pa.-:i.-ied from Iiis possession by the very act of doing the labor or furuisliing the material, The opei'ation of the rule of law which provides that everythiug attaehcd to the land passes to the owner of the laud has preveuted aud must always prevcnt tlie full realizatiou of this secui'ity to the I.tborer aud raaterial- Jiian. (See second papcr ou this poiut.) Tu the early statutes the beuefit of tbe act was.confiued to the i-oiiti'actor and those in immediate couíract with hiui; but now iho rule is established that auy oue who performs labor or fumishes material for the improveraont of real property with the. consent or at the request of the uwner thereof, oi' of his agent, coutractor or sub-contractor, shall have a lien for the principal aud ĩnterest of tho value, or the agreed prÍeCiOf such labur or materials upon the real property improved or to be im- proved and upou such improvement, from the time of filing a uotice of lieu as prescribed. We raay classify all possible Iienor.s as (a) cuntractors; (b) sub- eoiiti'actors; (e) niaterialmeu; (d) laborers, Anyone niay be a conti'actor, whether he be regularly in tbe busiuess ur eugage iu ií spccially or for the fli'St time; in faet, the act defines the eontractor to be a person who enters into a coutract with the owner of real property for the improvement thereof. He is free to employ any of the usual buslness methods and so may act through au tigeut in takiug the contraet or doing the work. lu fact, the ageucy of the agent need not be dia- closed until the filing of the lien, and if the lien be filed in the name of the priucipal. and proof of the ageney be given at the proper time it is sufficient. So a womau may be the principal and act througb her hnsband as agent. But the proof uf agency must be elear, aud there must be no taiut of fraud. It matter.s not where the lienor reside.s, whether in the state or out of It, ur where the work is to be done or the material is to be fur- nished. or where the payment is to be made, or where the contract was made, provided only that the work or material is actually used in the improvement of the real property. Again, it matters not whether the Jlenor be a corporation, furelgn or domestlc. or au unincorporated assoelã- tion, or a person or two or more persons, the same test of the actuaĩ use of the work or material in the improvement is all that is needed, -V sub-contractor is now defined to be a peraoo who has eon- *CoiJj'rleht, 18ti7, by "ĩTie Record and Gulde,"
