February 19, 1887
 

The   Record  and.   Guide.
 

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THE   RECORD   AND   GUIDE,

Published every Saturday.

IQl BroadTAray, N". "Y.

Our Teleplione Call is      «      -      -      -      -      JOHN 310.
 

TERMS:

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Communications should be addressed to

C. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager.
 

Vol. XXXIX.
 

FEBRUARY 19. 1887.
 

No, 988
 

The stock market has been dull and depressed during the last
week, to the great surprise of the leading manipulators who looked
for great activity and advancing prices. There appeared to be
some justification for these sanguine expectations, as the strikes
were over, money easy, trade good, aud the railroad returns unex¬
pectedly large. Nevertheless, for some good reason no doubt, the
outside public refused to buy, and those who held stocks did not
care to sell at prevailing quotations. Hence the dullness of the
market. It looks as if the depression would continue for some days
at least.
 

But all is hopeful in real estate circles. Private sales are heavy,
and the Auction Room presents a very animated appearance every
day. The sales last week were well attended, the bidding spirited,
and the prices very satisfactory. General trade continues fairly
good, the only questionable symptom being a slight falling off in
the demand for pig iron. This is the flrst weakening in that quarter
for over a year; nevertheless it is agreed on all sides that we
will probably build 12,000 miles of railroads in 1887, which will
almost double that of 1886 and quadruple that of 1885. There has
been a serious break in the wheat market, but this is not an
unmixed evil, for although it is bad for the agriculturist yet it
insures cheap bread for the manufacturing operatives employed
in the large cities, mills and shops.   The outlook generally ia very

favorable to the'general trade interest of the country.,

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Senator John Sherman's letter to the Lincoln commemoration
banquet in this city is attracting deserved attention. He takes the
ground so long advocated by The Record and Guide, that the
government should raise sufficient money to aid in works of general
public utility. A surplus is not a bad but a good thing, if wisely
administered. We are peopling and converting to human uses a
vast continent. To properly fulfil our mission involves the under¬
taking of great public works, such as the cleaning of rivers, the
deepening and protection of harbors, the cutting of canals, the
draining of swamps, the irrigating of what are now deserts, and
the reforesting of denuded regions. It ia only the general govern¬
ment that can effect these mighty changes, and the parties and the
statesmen who advocate this view will certainly ultimately prevail
in obtaining permanent control of our government. The " do-
nothing" government theory has had its day. Senator Sherman
is the first of our statesmen to realize the changed conditions
which will characterize the politics of the futura.
 

The women suffrage advocates are making headway. The
Kansas Legislature has passed a law enabling women to vote at all
school and municipal elections. Our own State Senate has favored
a similar enactment by a vote of twenty to nice. Female
suffrage to this extent has been tested in Great Britain for some
years past without any evil results, as the women generally voted
on the same side as their husbands and fathers. In Kansas it is
expected that the votes of the women will help sustain the prohib¬
itory liquor law. There are to be local elections in that State on
April 5th next, and it is to be seen whether this addition to the
number of votes will improve ih.Q personnel of municipal and other
local officials. After the novelty wears off it is doubtful if the
women will vote in any large numbers. They have abstained from
going to the polls even in Massachusetts, where they have a right
to cast their suffrages for school officers. But the Kansas experi¬
ment will excite a great deal of interest for some time to come.
 

After hearing the arguments on both sides the Judiciary Com¬
mittee of the Assembly decided unanimously to report adversely to
the proposed act making certain changes in the constitution of the
Real Estate Exchange. Our Albany correspondent states that out
of consideration for Mr." Crosby, the mover of the bill. Chairman
Baker has consented to make no report at all. This is as it should
be. The interests of our Real Estate Exchange are too complex to
permit any bare majority acquiring supreme control. Real estate
is unlike stocks, grain, cotjon or petroleum, in that it embraces a
great variety of intereste—owners, brokers, auctioneers, agents and
 

investors as well as speculators. These ought all to be represented
in the Board of Directors, and so far they have been. But if a
mere majority were to obtain control, some one or two interests
would dominate over all the others, but with minority representa¬
tion such as the charter now permits any group of thirty or more
members, out of the 500, can have its representative in the Board
of Directors.
 

President Cleveland is receiving the thanks of allfgood citizens
for his veto of the outrageous " Pension bill" passed by Congress.
His message on the subject is a well-written document, and does
him great credit. The great ease with which outrageous jobs are
pushed through congresses and legislatures emphasises the wisdom
of the Fathers of the Republic in giving the President the veto
power. If there is ever a revision of the Constitution of the
United States the Executive should be permitted to discriminate
for and against the items in every appropriation bill. This is
permitted to the Governor of this and several other States, and is
a, check upon corrupt log-rolling. It is plain to be seen that the
tendency of things is to lodge more power and responsibility in
executives and limit that of legislatures. The public want to know
who is responsible for bad government.
 

It would be a bold and wise stroke for President Cleveland to
appoint a representative Western Democrat Secretary of the
Treasury in Mr. Manning's place. It has been charged that our
Treasury Department has been run during all administrations in
the interest of the National banks and in accordance with the ideas
of Eastern financiers. Mr. Manning was president of an Albany
National bank before he was appointed to the Treasury, and
becomes the president of still another National bank on his retire¬
ment. His last elaborate report was in the interest of the National
banks, for he pleaded with Congress to withdraw the greenbacks eo
as to permit the bank notes to take their place. The silver wing of
the Democracy is in an overwhelming majority in that party, and
they ought to have some chance to have their views respected in
the conduct of the administration.
 

The "Tenement House" bill now before the Legislature
naturally attracts a good deal of attention among builders and
property-holders. The motives of the promoters of this proposed
enactment cannot be questioned. They mean well; and all good
citizens must sympathize with them in wishing that lawd that can
be enforced should be put upon the Statute book reforming our
tenement house system so that the great body of the poor will be
housed under good sanitary conditions. To do this, however, there
must be no confiscation of private property, aud care must be
taken that the cost of tenement houses will not be made so great
as to deter capitalists from investing their money in that kind of
property. Even undesirable houses are better than none at all.
The Real Estate Exchange, however, should be careful not to com¬
mit itself to the whims of humanitarian cranks on the one hand
or represent the selfish interests of tha tenement house-owners on

the other.

m

It is undoubtedly true, as Mr. Richard Deeves pointed out at the
meeting of the Legislative Committee of the Real Estate Exchange
the other day, that the sanitary condition of the new tenement
houses is very much better than that of thousands of private houses
occupied by fairly well-to-do people. Our present laws, if faithfully
carried oui", insures the erection of reasonably comfortable and
healthful houses for poor people. But Governor Hill has seen fit to
keep General Shaler in office after the usefulness of the latter had
been destroyed because of the revelations on his two trials for
alleged corruption. Then the sum voted to the Health Department
by the Board of Estimates is absurdly inadequate. There can be no
efficiency until the health board has a competent head and a sufficient
sum to meet the sanitary requirements of this great city. There are
scores of rookeries, indeed whole blocks, in this cityj which should
be torn down and new and more wholesome dwellings erected in
their place. This would be a good thing for builders, and our citizens
generally would approve if these plague spots and fever nests were
gotten rid of forever. But the owners of the properties should be
reimbursed from the City Treasury.
 

The master builders have done wisely in organizing to protect
their interests. Hereafter they will meet the trades unions on equal
terms. The "boss" builders have been at a disadvantage when
they kept aloof from each other at a time when the various work¬
ingmen's organizations were combining—demanding better pay
for shorter hours of labor. Hereafter the employers will have
something to say in regard to the rules governing their relations
with their employes. Without their unions the men are at the
mercy of the employers in slack times. The employers are equally
helpless in good times against the workingmen when they are
themselves disunited.   It is understood that au effort will be made