Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 80, no. 2058: August 24, 1907

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August 24, 1907 RECORD AWD GUIDE í 285 ESTAEUSHED-^ MARCH Sltí^ 1 eeS. DĩATtí) ĩo Rea,L EswE,BuiLoiĩfe AífH^TEcnn^ .KousEtíoui DEeQFiATiorf, BlíSRteaSAttoTHEMES Of GEflEH^l !|ítEH.E31.; PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications sliould Ije adJressed tQ C. W, SWEET Pubíished EVery Saíurday By THE RBCORD AND GUĨDE CO. Presldent, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F. W. DODGE Vlce-Pres. & Genl. Mgr., H, W. DESMOND Secretary, F. T, MILLBR Nos. 11 to 15 East 24tli Street, New York Cîty (Telepbone, Madison Square, 4430 to 443.3.) "Entej-etl aí tha Post Offioe at Neio Jork, N. 1'., as srciiiĸl-class matler." Copyrighted, 1907, by The Record & Guide Co. Vol. LXXX. AUGUST 24, 1907. INDEX TO DBPARTMBNTS. Advertising Section. Page. Page. Cemeĩit ......................xiii Lumber ...................xviii Clay Products ................xv Machinery ....................vi Cousultiug Bngineers..........v Metal Work ................xiv Contractors aud Builders. ,■.. .iii Quick Job Direclory.........xvlii Electrical Interests ..........vii Real Estate ..................ix Fireproofing ...................ii Roofers & Rooflcg Materials. -vii Grauite ......................xvi Stone ........................xvi Iron and Steel..............viii Wood Producta ..............xix THE way in which general bwsiness manages to main- taiQ its volume, in spite of the scarcity of money and the decline in securifcy values, is extraordinary. If there is one^ department of busiuess whieh ought to feel most severely the efEect of tlght money it is that of build- iiig; but tbe figtires for July, 1907, sbow a comparatively small decrease froin the large flgures of last year. Tbe decrease amounts only to $6,000,000, of wbicb $4.500,000 is attributable to New YorJî;. Tbroughout tbe middle West, particularly in tbe larger cities, building is more active than it was a year ago. Chicago, Cleveland, ^Detroit, Kan- sas City, Milwaulîee and St, Paul all report substantial in- creases in tbe amount of new construction projected. Ou tbe otber hand, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and the majority of tbe eastern cities bave not succeeded in doing so well. On the whole, however, tbe showing is remarkably good, and it looks as iE the building industry could count upon an- other year of snbstantial prosperity, So it is in otber liues. Many manufacturers report that not only tbat they are working overtime to fiií existing orders, but tbat new or- ders are coming in in a larger volume than ever. It is probable that Ihe farmers will suffer no abatement of the good times of recent years, for the higher prices they wĩll receive, will constitute more than a compensation for any diminution in the yield. In short, it seems entirely possi- ble that the course of business during the coming year will be that which the best friends of the American business publie could desire. There will be 'a slowing up in certain lines, which will, in the course of time, Iiavc tlie effect of easing the money market; but the volume of business will be well maĩutained and there will be uo sudden contraction either of creûit or of activity. We have no doubfc thafc the location of tbe Peunsylvania and McAdoo terniinals wiU Lend to heĩp theatres, restanrants and shops, as íar soufch aa possiijle uutil new subways have beeu built. On tbe whole, however, the location of the new Natioual theatre is as good a one as could be found. The projectors of tbe enterprise needed a site whicii was large, which was capable of effective arebitecturaĩ treat- ment, which was sufficiently accessible, and wbieh, at the same time, was not too expeusive. It îs difflcult to see what other locatiou would have mefc with greater sufficiency these various needs. The site includes a whole block front, facing on a park, aod in a loeatîon which is tolerably acces- sible at present, aud wiU constantly become more so. The neighborhood of Columbus Circle may, indeed, eventually be the busiest and most ĩmportant place in upper Manbat- tan. When Washington Heights, the Bronx and Westches- ter are more densely populated than they are at present, the tendency wiU naturally be to push the ceuter further north, but it cannot fcravel any further north than Columbus Circle and Fifty-ninth street. Some day fche Metropoiifcan Opera Hoúse will be moved into that neighborhood, and the whole of Fiíty-ninth street fronting on the park wiU be converted into theatres, restaurants and stores. No, 2058, THE plans for the new National Theatre in Central Park West and Sixty-second street have been íiled, and its construction will be awaited with interest. No private manager would have dared to invest several mîĩlion dolĩars in a theatre in fchis partieular neigbborbood, beeause thé location is too remote from that in which the other high- class theatres are assembled; but for the purposes of this particiilar enterprise the site has been admirably selected. It is easily accessible from those large areas on the West Side aud in Harlem where live the majority of the theafcre- goers, while it is also suíliciently accessible from the more fashionable districts to the south and east of the park. The only regions from which it wiU be comparatively inaccessi- ble are the suburbs. It will be diE&cuIt to reach either from Jersey or Long Island, even after all the bridges and tunneĩs are in fuU operation, and this will undoubtedly be a somewhat serious drawback, because an încreasing pro- portion of prosperous New Yorkers will hereaffcer find homes on the other side of the waters. The drawback will be partly reniedied by the completion of the Blackwell's Island bridge, but the remedy will be very partial, indeed. SBCRETARY TAPT was quite right in protesting against the attacks which have been made upon President Roosevelt in connection with the receut break in the stock markefc. Tbat break has been due more than anything eĩse to worid-wide conditions whieh have made loanable capital extraordinarily scarce and which has consequently resulted in tbe sale of all kiuds of securities. The responsibility for a condition which has depressed the price of English con- sols and New York Cíty bonds so as to make them cheaper than tbey have been for a generation cannot well be iin- puted to President Roosevelt or to the policy upon which, under his influence, the Federal government has embarked. If railroad securities have declined in priee more in pro- portion than other securities, the reason is chiefly that they were more weakly held and that they have, during the past year, been subject to radical legislative action on the part of the State governments. Doubtless the fine împosed upon the Standard Oil Company by Judge Landis did somefching to unsettle confidence, because it seemed to be dictated more by a purpose of doing an injury to the Staudard Oil Company fchan by a wish to exact a reasonable and sufficient penalty under fche statute. But if Judge Landis exhibited an unjudicia! disposition to tag revenge on the mosfc con- spîcu'ous oE the "Trusts," the President cannot be held re- spoESible. He has never encouraged such a disposition. AU that the executive department of the Federal government has doue was to seek the enforcement of a law against re- bates, which was passed with the full approval of all shades of public opinion, and if the peualty exceeds the crime the fault lies wifch the stafcute, In any event the Standard Oil Co. has been notoriously an unscrupulous offender in the matter of rebates, and it can searcely be denied that even if something more than j'ustice has been done in this one instance, the fine has been Imposd on the people who have most deserved it. ĩf President Roosevelt's polícy has been inimieal to the value of railroad securities, why fche reason must be that the vaUie of railroad securities is dependent upon violatious of the law. He has done nothing for a year except to seek the enforcement of laws. Some of these laws may not be wise, but their unwisclom cannot be charged to his aeeotmt. No act of the Interstate Commerce Commissiqn under the rate bill has as yet been díctated by the intention o£ inj'uring the railroads, and it is the rate bill for which the President is peculiarly responsible. The railroads would be far safer under the exclusive supervision of a Federal government committed to President Roose- velt's policies than they are under the existing system of mixed Federal and State control. I THE FOREGOING considerations seem so obvious that the abusive and unscrupuĩous attempts to make the Presldeut responsible for the decline in the price of stocks wears the appearance of a conspiracy. Either the enemies of his policy of Federal regulation are merely taking ad- vantage of a necessary decline in the price of securities for the purpose of an attempfc to make the President an- popular, or else a decline in the price of securities beyond a certain level has beeu deliberately brought about in order to provide ammunition for an anti-Roosevelt campaign. In eitber event it is impossible to see what the perpetrators of these atfcacks expect to gaîn. President Roosevelt has