483
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
March 25, 1899.
THE ESTATE EXCHANGE.
ANNUAL MEETING.
The annual general meeting of the members of the Estate Exchange was held at the Auction Mart, Tokenhouse-yard, E.C., on Monday, Mr. Daniel Watney being in the chair.
The report and balance sheet for the past year were taken as read.
The Chairman remarked that he had an easy duty to perform, and proceeded to review the report and the principal items in the accounts, in some detail. Looking at the amount of the surplus, he was very desirous of utilising a portion of it for the benefit of the members of the Estate Exchange. With regard to the cost of the Register, £300, he thought it was not worth the price paid for it 40 years ago, and that the amount might be written down. He bore testimony to the usefulness of the Registers, and! the accounts showed the Estate Exchange to be in a very satisfactory position. He made a feeling reference to the demise of Mr. R. C. Driver and Mr. Christopher Oakley, and concluded by moving that the report and׳ statement of accounts tor the past year be received and adopted, and entered on the minutes.
Mr. St. Quintin seconded the resolution, and expressed an opinion that the value of the Register was fully maintained by the additional particulars being obtained, and Mr, Rushworth suggested that the word “cost” should be altered to “ estimated value.” The resolution was put ■to the meeting and carried.
On the motion of the Chairman, Mr. J. H. Oakley was duly elected a member of the committee. The retiring members of the committee, Mr. F. T. Galsworthy, Mr. Alderman Samuel Green, Mr. E. B. I’Anson, Mr. J. Bag-shaw Mann and Mr. Robert Reid, were reelected.
The auditors, Mr. P. St. Quintin and Mr. Alderman Samuel Green, were again asked to act, and were thanked for their past services.
Donations were voted to the Auctioneers’ Benevolent Fund and the Surveyors’ and Auctioneers’ Clerks’ Provident Association of ten guineas each.
A hearty vote of thanks was given to the Chairman for presiding, and the proceedings closed.
The case of “Richards v. London School Board” was heard at the London Sheriff's Court, Red Lion-square, W.C., yesterday, before the Under-Sheriff and a special jury. This was a claim for £550 compensation in respect of certain leasehold houses in Partiner-street, Southwark, acquired by the School Board for the purposes of new school buildings. The expert witnesses engaged were Mr. Edward Stimson (Messrs. Stimson and Sons, 8, Moor-gate-street, E.C., and 2, NewKent-road, S.E.) ; Mr. Percy W. Talbot, 289, Regenbstreet, W. ; and Mr. H. M. Ellis, F.S.I., 152, Cannon-street, E.O., for the claimant; Mr. Percy H. Clarke, F.S.I., 2, Lancaster-place, Strand; Mr. Herbert Dicksee, 64, New Kent-road, S.E., and Mr. Herbert Clarke (Messrs. Sales and Clarke, 11, John-street, Minories, E.O.), for the Board. Our report is unavoidably held over.
NOTICE
AN IMPORTANT FACT
to both Subscribers and Advertisers, is that the ESTATES GAZETTE has BY PAR the
LARGEST CIRCULATION
of any Journal of its kind among the numerous public interested in Real Estate transactions. It is recognised by the London and Provincial Press as the authority upon all matters pertaining to the sale and purchase of Land and House Property, and is frequently quoted as such.
The ESTATES GAZETTE is
to be seen in the coffee-room of every important hotel throughout England and Wales, and in the news or reading rooms of all the principal free libraries.
It can be obtained from the bookstalls of Messrs. W■ H• Smith and Son, of any newsagent, or from the
OFFICES :
6, ST. BRIDE STREET,
LONDON, E.C,
to also publish a Sunday edition. Which paper will be the next bo follow? for undoubtedly the war has■ commenced, and those who lag behind will be deemed to lack “ enterprise.” It is a sorry kind of enterprise, however, in our opinion, which makes men work seven days of the week, and, moreover, there is no necessity for it. The publications will not supply a gap, for no gap exists, there being plenty of Sundaj publications as it is.
* * *
Shareholders in the Rio Tinto Company are to be congratulated upon the dividend announcement which has just been published. Although the company has not yet received the full benefits from the rise in the price of copper the shareholders yet receive a dividend of 7s. per share more than they had at this time last year, w־hile the substantial sum of £50,000 is placed to reserve. In the whole year the shareholders receive 47s., and sanguine people are anticipating that the return for the current year will reach as much as £3 per share. This estimate, however, is based upon the maintenance of the price of copper round about the present figure, and it is just as well not to place too much reliance on this. The Mason and Barry Company also announces an increased dividend, the rate being five shillings per share, against four shillings.
* * *
British traders would do well to take to heart the remarks made by Mr. Worthington, the special Board of Trade Commissioner, who was appointed to enquire into the condition and prospects of British trade with South America. In the report which he has just submitted, Mr. Worthington deals with the trade of San Paulo (Brazil), which city, he points out, is the converging point of five railways with a total mileage of over 1,500 miles, and consequently an important centre which hardly receives the attention it deserves from British merchants. Mr. Worthington again remarks that where German houses have agents invested with full power, British traders are represented by agents who cannot act without reference to their firm in England. He also instances some cases where a British order was not carried out until after a delay of a year. The customer was driven to take a cheaper German article, which thereafter he found satisfactory.
. * * *
At an extraordinary general meeting of thb City Offices Company, Limited, held on March 21, the resolution which was passed on the 21st ult. for amending the articles of association was confirmed. The chairman stated that with the confirmation of the resolution the whole of the reconstruction of the company would be completed ; and he had every reason to believe that they would have in the future a career of continued prosperity.
* * *
The directors of the West Middlesex Waterworks Company notify that tenders were received on March 21 for £100,000 Three per cent. Debenture stock, repayable at par at the expiration of 25 years. The stock was tendered for more than three times over, and allotments were made at premiums ranging from £6 to £1 6s. per cent., the average being £1 16s. 9d. per cent.
* * *
At the weekly meeting of the London County Council on Tuesday, Lord Welby presiding, the estimate of the Council’s borrowing power provided in the Money Bill of 1899, amounting to £11,636,210, for the period from April 1, 1899, to September 30, 1900, was approved.
SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAYS.
To the Editor of the ESTATES GAZETTE.
Sir,—I was glad to see by the letter signed “ A Surveyor’s Assistant,” in your issue of March 18, that the “ Saturday half-holiday ” movement has not altogether been allowed to die out.
The suggestion offered by your correspondent is one which has its merits, but inasmuch as the idea of closing at one o’clock on Saturdays was brought forward by the principal of a firm of surveyors and auctioneers'of standing and influence, I venture to think, without in any way throwing cold water on the proposal of “A Surveyor’s Assistant,” that, in the first instance, it would be desirable that the secretaries of the Surveyors’ Institution and the Auctioneer Institute should be asked to bring the matter before the next meeting of their respective corporations. It would come with better grace, and be more in the proper order of things, if the concession were made by the principals themselves, rather than it should appear, or that it might be inferred, any pressure was being brought to bear upon them in the matter by the assistants.
I shall be obliged if you will kindly give this letter space in the next issue of your valuable paper.
Yours, etc.,
AUCTIO.”
P.S.—■I think I am right in saying that the principle has been already recognised and approved by the House and Estate Agents’ Institute.
perfect measure, it is true, but it is an instalment of reform which may lead to better things. It does promise some sort of system in place of existing chaos. The present vestries are, in many instances, unwieldy agglomerations of irresponsible mediocrities, and the sooner they are replaced by bodies with more power, weight and influence ׳the better. It is stated that there is no intention to deprive the London County Council of any of its power or dignity, but surely there are some powers of which the Council might be deprived with advantage.”
“The fact is,” the article proceeds, “that in this Bill the Tories have once more dished the Whigs. This is what is so annoying to the latter. While they are prating about what they are going to do, or babbling excuses, ‘ with bated breath and whispering humbleness,’ for past omissions, their opponents seize the occasion which opportunity and popular feeling present to carry through some measure which they themselves are afraid to tackle.” I do not quite know what “English Social Democracy” is, or where it is to be found, but I quite agree with the writer of the above in thinking that those gentlemen whom ׳the force of habit still leads one to call Liberals have been hoist with their own petard in the matter of the new Bill.
STYLO.
Cxtç Шсщя.
[SPECIALLY CONTRIBUTED.]
It is not everything that falls from County Court Judges that must be taken seriously. If their judicial decisions are of no authority, much less are their obiter dicta. His Honour Judge Stonor is as able a lawyer as any among those who preside over our minor tribunals, but he certainly was not “ minding his stops ” in “Mills v. Moore,” if the report of the case which came under my notice was correct. In the course of those ejectment proceedings the defendant declared that she had tried hard to get other rooms but failed, whereupon the following wordy war arose between the plaintiff and the Judge: — “ Plaintiff: Rubbish ! She could get rooms if she wanted them. His Honour: Am I trying this case, or are you ? Have you helped her to get another home? Plaintiff : No ; it is not my business. His Honour: It is your business, sir ; and if you were anything of a man you would do so. I’ll give the defendant a month, perhaps you will try and help her in the meantime.” Now it is obviously ridiculous to say that it is the “ business ” of a landlord to help his tenants in searching for other lodgings ; he would have enough to do if it were. I cannot even see that ׳either in equity, courtesy, or charity he is bound to do anything of the sort, and, to be very plain, Judge Stonor must, on this occasion, have , allowed ihis feelings to run away with him.
Bank Bate 3 per cent (changed Feb. 2,1899)
Next Thursday there is to be a meeting of Liberian Bondholders, convened at the instance of the Council of Foreign Bondholders. How many of the original holders remain, we wonder? probably only a few, as the loan dates back to 1871, and the fact that it has been in default since 1874 is not likely to have added to the lives of holders. The loan is only for £100,000, but the arrears of interest reach about £180,000. Envoys came to London some time ago, and discussed a settlement, but the terms were so wretched that the Council of Foreign Bondholders refused to listen to them. Negotiations, however, were not suspended, and we believe that at the meeting on Thursday the Council will have something to propose. There is no quotation for the Bonds, which, it may be mentioned, were issued at 85 per cent.
* * *
We are sorry to see the financial editor of the “ Globe ” recommending the amalgamation scheme put forward by the Phoenix Gold Mines Company. No other paper, we believe, has had a good word to say for it, and it is singular that our contemporary should express so little knowledge of the concern by commending the amalgamation to the approval of the various interests concerned. Point is made of the fact that the capital of the amalgamated concerns is only about one half of what that of the combined undertakings was before, but this does not render the scheme any the more inviting.
* * *
Among the many proposals for adjusting the possible deficit in revenue is one for imposing a special tax upon bank deposits. The “ Financial News” sees much hardship in such a tax, if agreed upon, and! we agree with our contemporary. Apart, however, from the hardship inflicted, we cannot see quite upon what principle it would be possible to make the tax effective; of course, it would have to be a graduated tax, but would it not be possible for a person to get the best of the Revenue officers by spreading his balance over one, two or more banks ? Say the tax was upon deposits of £50 and upwards, could not a person who had £100, say, divide it equally between two banks and so avoid the tax ? It would scarcely be possible to take every individual account and seek to trace whether” the depositor had a further balance standing at another bank.
* * *
In anticipation of the holidays there has been a great rush of new companies. The daily newspapers have been overloaded with prospectuses, and the poor country investor has had them served up at the breakfast table in dozens. We gather, however, that only a very few have met with any great response from the investing public, who prefer rather to pay ihe big premiums quoted for existing undertakings to acquiring shares in untried ventures. Of course, this is not always the right policy to pursue, but where any doubt exists as to the merits of a new company, the passing it by is by far the safest plan. Pursuing this policy, the investor would fight shy of the shares of Davis and Timmins, and of Richard Hill and Co., and of the Debentures of the Central Italian (M.S.T.R.) Sulphur Company. Nor is there anything very attractive in the London and Westminster Properties, Limited.
•£ * ^
_ Writing last week in this column we predicted a newspaper war as the outcome of the decision ׳of the proprietors of the “ Daily Telegraph ” to publish a Sunday edition. We have not had to wait long to see our prophecy fulfilled. The “ Daily Mail ” has thrown down the gauntlet, and has announced its intention
I always like to be scrupulously fair in my comments—valeant quantum valent. (This expression is copyrighted both here and in America). Perhaps, therefore, I ought to say that the report I saw was a short׳ one. Judge Stonor, of course, may have known ׳more of the merits than I do, or he might not have liked the language and demeanour of the plaintiff when in the box. It is always more than a shade of odds—I may be pardoned the phrase in the first week of the racing season—on a tenant as against a landlord nowadays. A certain class of tenants in fact know how to excite the sympathies of a judge or magistrate as well as the man or woman who, as he or she will say, “ knows something about the law,” and is aware that cant about having seen better times, extreme poverty, betting, and so forth, is much more likely to induce lenient treatment than the simple truth, which, in a great many cases, would be that the “actresses,” “racing men,” a׳nd “journalists” (I am sorry to say) in question are nothing more nor less than habitual drunkards and inveterate cadgers. To pass from a not very pleasant topic, might not Mr. Chamberlain’s Bill “ to empower local authorities to advance money for enabling persons to acquire the ownership of small houses in which they reside,” be described as a Bill for disestablishment and disendowment of certain landlords? The measure seems to me, to some extent, a socialist one ; but, to quote Sir William Har-court, “we are all socialists now,” so that is no objection to it.
From landlords to bailiffs is an easy—I should say, an uneasy transition. I observe that a few days ago a sub-bailiff, named Dickerson, was reported to his Honour Judge Edge, at Clerken-well County Court, for having accepted a bribe of 2s, to excuse a gentleman from service as a juryman. The defendant practically admitted the offence, and said that he had been ill and had a sick wife. Judge Edge declared that the case was a very grave one. He was glad to welcome any member of the public who would report any irregularities of bailiffs. It was not right to style a person so doing a common informer. It was clear that the defendant did accept the bribe, and was no longer fit to retain his position, and he would be fined 40s., and dismissed from his office. This is a salutary warning. It is not everybody, perhaps, who would be inclined to be so keen on such a fault as Dickerson’s as Judge Edge. To take 2s. and a drink to ‘let off” a juror—■well, you know, it is not shooting the Lord Chancellor, or blowing up the Bank of England. But no doubt there are bailiffs who commit very much more serious irregularities than this, and who can be “squared” to do or permit to be done almost anything. Such men require strict looking after. In dealing with them a common informer —he is as a rule rather uncommon, by-the-bye— is at worst a necessary evil.
Seething the kid in his mother’s milk ;hoisting the engineer with his own petard ; the expressions are good and classical. The idea is as old as the hills, and Byron was plagiarising from a Greek poet when he wrote of the “ struck eagle, stretch’d upon the plain,”
“ Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel He nursed the pinion which impell’d the steel.”
These sayings or quotations, and many more t׳o the same effect, were brought to my mind by reading in a paper, which styles itself the organ of “English Social Democracy,” d propos of the new Bill for the reform of the Government of London : —“ We cannot share in the severe condemnation which the .	.	. Bill
has met with in Liberal papers. It is not a