684
 

The  Record  and  Guide.
 

April 30, 1887
 

Sir O.—^Yet I judge these industrial and social problems will be
worked out in Europe before they are in this country; for while
the land-owning class is losing power in the Old World, it is
gaining wealth and with it authorily in the New World. All land,
agricultural as well as urban, is beccmirg more valuable as time
rolls by in the United States, and the class which owns ifc will
continue to be a sonservative influence in the politics in the
nation, outside of the large cities. The Labor vote will not
amount to much in this country for years to come. But, of course,
it will have an infiuence upon the old parties which will try to
conciliate it by concessions in their platforms.

Mr. R.—But do you find any evidences that the ruling press of
Europe are conceding anythiug to the working millions ?

Sir O.—In to-day's issue of The Record and Guide is a letter
from a writer, whose initials will be recognized, in which are
stated some facts which show that the burdens of the State are
being thrown upon owners of city real estate and the capitalist
class—public education, art galleries, parks for recreation, the
opera aud the theatre, are all maintained by direct taxes upon the
wealthy. All travelers in Europe note the fact that the former
palaces of kings and royal parks are now kept for the inspection
and amusement of the populace. Practically they are no longer
the private property of the monarchs. An income tax is not toler¬
ated in the United States, though it is the most just of all ways of
raising a 1 evenue. But Englaiad has had an income tax since the
Napoleonic wars. Recently ifc has been 8d. on the £. Chancellor
of the Exchequer Gof chen, you will notice, proposes to reduce it
to 7d. Mr. Gladstone, when competing with Beaconsfield,
proposed remitting a portion of the income tax, supposing it would
be popular to do so. But his great Tory opponent beat him hand¬
somely at the great popular elections which followed. Bismarck's
bill to care for workingmen and women in tbeir old age would be
regarded as rank socialism in this country. But tbis subject is so
interesting that we must postpone its further consideration until
next week, when we will have something to say of the land specu¬
lation in the West and South.

Mr. R.—To change the subject to one of "contemporaneous
human interest," I ste that the dignitaries of tbe Catholic Church
are taking very diffeient ground toward the Knights of Labor
from that assumed by Archbishop Corrigan when he was disci¬
plining Dr. McGlynn?

Sir O.—When the difficulty first occurred, the New York daily
press took it for granted that the Catholic Church would frown
down the Knights of Labor and that his deposition would be the
end of Father McGlynn. But if you will refer to the files of The
Record and Guide it will be found tbat I took very different
ground. I said that the Papal hierarchy could not afford to quarrel
with the Irish American Roman Catholics, and that Dr. McGlynn
would be able to hold his own in spite of the Archbishop. I also
ventured to predict that the American Roman Catholic Church of
the future would have to be governed very differently from the
way in which that ecclesiastical organization was controlled in the
Old World. The environment of the Church in this country differs
greatly from its surroundings in Europe. Cardinal Manning's
recent statement on the subject shows how grave was the mistake
made by Archbishop Corrigan and the editors of the New York
press who applauded his action.
 

Home Decorative Notes.

—No taste need fail of gratification in the all-abounding patterns of wall¬
paper. Favorite colors in combination appear to be piiiks, browns, blues and
green; yellow has fully asserted its great resources from bright golden to
ruddy orange tints, and there is less fear than ever of introducing bright
colors, even for ordinary rooms—taste inclines to greater vividness.

—Crystal lamps, showing globes and chimneys in the same exquisite
medium, richly cut, are very much favored for dinner table decoration.

—Very pretty are the ci 6pe cloth chair scarfs showing India cashmere
designs and coloring in their deep border at one end.

—Japanese goods have become important factors in superior house decor¬
ation, and an article which, as the" basis of decoration, has made rapid
strides lately, is the Japanese leather paper.

—Extremely pretty frames for photographs are made of carved silver.

—The uses of cut glass are manifold, and range from pintrays up to talj
candelabra.

—For fireplace facings use sea green or blue green tiles or low yellow.

—The decided craze for antique furniture stlU continues, and the huge
Colonial chairs supplied with luxurious cushions are indeed worfchy of
admiration and possession.

—In this season of general trimming up and house cleaning it may not be
ami'S to remember that ammonia in water cleanses glass and paint much
better than soap does.

—From the display afc the stores everyone is led to believe that the reign
of brass ia to continue. Very elegant are the brass cabiaets forty inches high
with four or five shelves; polished brass dressing-cases with beveled glass
mirrors are extremely attractive; so also ai'e the brass chairs at $40 eacb.
The appearance of a room Is greatly enhanced by a brass easel; iu fact, the
designs and shapes of the various articles made of this metal seems endleiB.
 

Concerning Men and Things.

***

The work of changing a tender idyllic poem like Tennyson's "Elaine" into
an effective and picluresque play, was successfully done by Mr. Gr. P.
Lathrop. Mr. Henrv Edward's name was associated with his, but Mr.
Lathi op did the literary work and Mr. Edwards simply supplied suggestions
as to stage f ffects. The critics of the Tribune and Times sneer at this very
worthv effort, but it was highly appreciated by an audience composed
mainly of literary people and actors. Mr. A. M. Palmer is to be warmly
commended for his public spirit in going to the cost of testing a perform¬
ance of this kind, but he owes it to himself and the author to see if the
critics are correct in believing that the general public would not tolerate
what gave so much pleasure to an exceptionally intelligent audience. Mr.
Lathrop undertook an exceedingly difficult task, for the poetic glamour in
which the characters of King Arthur's court are surrounded is exceedingly
difficult to retain in a stage representation. Yet it was measurably suc¬
cessful, because so many of the actors were able to declaim Tennyson's
noble blank verse; but the chief credit must be awarded to Miss Annie
Russell, whose Elaine was an ideal personation, and deserved the heart}'
appreciation which it received from the audience. Mr. Salvini was a
picturesque and romantic Launcelot, but his foreign tongue could not do
justice to the noble rhythm of Tennyson's verse. Mr. Presbrey, Miss
Russell's husband, and the stage manager of the Madison Square Theatre,
is an enthusiast as to the art relations between emotion and color. He
affirms that every human passion and sentiment finds expression in corre¬
sponding hues and colors; and, undoubtedly, much of the charm of the per¬
formance was due to his staging of the piece. There was a subtle some¬
thing which impressed the audience, and this was conveyed in the groupings
posings and contrasts of color, all of which were due to Mr. Presbrey.
Despite the critics we believe that "Elaine" would be successful with the
general public if presented as it was, by Mr. Palmer, last Thursday after-
 

Mrs. Langtry is really improving as an actress. Her " Lady Clancarty "
is the best thing she has done yet, though it does nofc make any large
demands on ber histrionic abilities. Time' is beginning to tell upon her
beauty. Her face has now a worn and passion sated look. Her success on
the stage can hardly be called legitimate. It was due to her fame as a court
beauty, and then the suspicion of some improprieties in her life piqued
public curiosity. The play is rather interesting, but no one would care to
see it a second time. Mr. Charles Coughlan was not at his best as the hero
which required a picturesque, dashing and romantic rendering quite out
of his power to portray. Mr. Coughlan is of the modern French school of
actors, and is one of the best of his kind on the English stage to portray the
heroes of the recent Parisian drama. He made a powerful impression at
the Union Square Theatre in the various French reproductions of A. M.
Palmer : but achieved no special mark at Wallack's subsequently when he
undertook to personate the heroes of old English comedy. In the " Duke's
Motto" he also failed, thongh far inferior artists drew large houses,
because their style of acting was more melo-dramatic.

***
The Arbitration Committee of the Exchange was recently called upon to
render its decision as to the division of commission on a sale resulting from
the introduction of a client by one broker to another. The broker who in¬
troduced his client to the broker making the sale claimed a division of the
commission, but the sub-committee to whom the matter was referred de¬
cided against him. The committee held that there should be a prior and
definite understanding to this effect to entitle the first broker to a share of
the commission, and that in the case under consideration there was no such
understanding. This decision was rendered by the sub-committee of three
members, while the entire membership of the committee is fifteen, and .an
appeal has been made to the committee at large. The case has excited much
interest, and the decibion of the sub-committee is more or less unfavorably
commented upon in view of the fact that the natural inference would be
that the broker introducing the customer did so with the idea of securing a
commission for himself, and not with the simple intention of doing his fel¬
low-broker a good turn. It is also held by many brokers that a " prior and
definite understanding " would be unneccessary and impracticable in cases,
like the one under dit-pute, in which the client is introduced in the course
of the negotiations for a certain piece of properfcy, and, this property being
sold, he finally buys an entirely different piece of property about which
there could have been no " prior and definite understanding."

* "^ *
The bill legalizing betting on race tracks will undoubtedly go through the
Senate and be signed by the Governor. It is very generally believed that
this enactment has cosfc the leading horse men and bookmakers a heavy
sum of mcney. The lobby, ifc is said, long ago notified the racing associa¬
tions that the law against betting could be repealed if a certain sum of
money was raised. But the reputable associations decline to pay this leg¬
islative blackmail. Last year the police came to the aid of the lobby and
enforced the law so rigorously that those interested in horse-racing made up
the purse required to secure the legalization of betting on race tracks. It
is occurrences such as these which is inducing the public to regard with
favor every proposition to take away power from legislative bodies. There
la no way of bringing corruption such as this home to an irresponsible leg¬
islative chamber.

***
Theatrical people think the taste in dramatic entertainment is about to
change. Opera bouffe and Gilbert and Sullivan extravaganzas have had
their day, and the drama, especially the melo-drama, is likely to have a
revival. " Ruddygere" was a failure, nor is it likely that Gilbert and Sul¬
livan will ever score a hit equal to "Pinafore," "Patience" and th»
" Mikado." They can never do better, and the public will not tolerate any¬
thing inferior from their pens. Eccentric comedy is also likely to have a
eallfora time.