Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-01-17
,.vn1oRps AND RENTS.

now. DAYS of adversely, such as the wises
could not have foreseen, have beialler
her. insomuch that commercial disaster
and bankruptcy have overtaken many o.
our most enterprising and industrious
business men. The future prospects are
gloomy enough.
In this connection, / would desire to
speak Of the enormous expenses oil DOING
business here, more especially in regard
| TO the high rate of rents charged TOT
storehouses. The limited amount OF busi-
meas now done by the most prosperous
houses will not justify the payment oil
The same rents demanded or paid twelve
months ago Some landlords, seeing the
condition of business, have generously
| come forward voluntarily and made re-
ductions in accordance with the pressure
Of the times, but others demand to the
utmost farthng the same apount they
were receiving in prosperous days IL
Is 10 these persons / would refer. Will
NOT this course drive capital and good
business men away from our city IL
IL having this effect already. Many have
left. and others are making preparations
10 follow. Would it not be wise for those
who are property owners to adopt at
once different policy before they be
| dripen to a course which sooner or later
will be forced upon them
Twas residing at Louisville, KY, du-
ring the financial crisis of 1887 to 40.
At that time a majority OF tho business
houses were owned by wealthy individu.
ais. who we're demonstrated with and
urged 10 reduce rents to rates that mer-
chants could afford to pay under the ex'
isaiur pressure that prevailed at that
time. but they turned deaf ear to these
wise admonitions, disregarding the fact
| that the interests oflandlord and tenant
were mutual. They, however, made the dis
ooyery when it was too late that two
thirds of their most enterprising mer.
chants and capitalists had abandoned
their property and left for other parts.
The result was large proportion OF the
business houses, for time, were closed
I'M, and the grass actually commenced to
grow upon the business streets of the
city. Such, methinks, will be the case
here if landlords pursue this insane pol
lev. When prosperous times return
business men will be willing TO pay
rental in proportion to the degree OF their
prosperity.
Mr.. Editor, will you not give your views
upon this subject, so important to the
vital interests of our city? CIyITAs
The foregoing communication is from
one of the most liberal, as well as intelli-
gent, business men of this city. We have
expressed the view heretofore that land
lords had in strictness the same right to
charge such prices for the use of their
property as it was worth in the market,
Just on the same principle that planter
is not condemned for selling his cotton
for what it will bring, farmer his vege-
tables, a butcher his meat, grocer his
family supplies, merchant his dry
goods. a mechanic his furniture, his hats
or his shoes, or a physician, lawyer or
Iaborer his services. The law of supply
and demand is the law of trade and bust
ness, to which all must bend whether they
will or no. And no man any more de-
serves censure for demanding large
equivalents, when prices are high, than
his customers do for insisting on ppr-
chases at the lowest possible rates, when
the supply is overabundant and prices
are low. So far, therefore, as the right
and wrong of the thing is concerned, we
can blame no man for doing the
best he can with his own; provided
It is not done through the tyran'
nical exactions of a monopoly, the
unconscionable craft of dishonest usu-
rer. or the deceptions and frauds of
Wall street bull. Among ordinarily
honest and honorable men, and by law
which, reason as we mag, will inevitably
assert itself in the routine of transactions
wherein the interests of man and man
come in conflict, these things will readily
adjust themselves. Such law, with Its
control, can never be set aside by any
uniform rule of prices. For men will
not pay high rates when they can buy at
low. and it is no more to be expected
they will sell at low, when that which
they have to dispose of will readily COM
mand higher rates. If, therefore, the
landlords Of Memphis are charging only
what their property is worth, we see no
ground for censure whatsoever.
But, while we say this, we are fully
apprised that there may be great impoli-
CIV, and that it may be extremely unwise,
under certain conditions, and at time
of unusual distress and extraordinary
stagnation of business, that man should
exact as a landlord, the highest rates
possibly and temporarily to be obtained.
The owners of real estate in this city
have an interest in its growth, which they
will be ultimately compensated by pre-
noting, at no uncomfortable sacrifice.
They cannot afford to charge rents which
tenants cannot afford to pay. If they
do, their houses will stand idle Of neces
sity and, besides, the intrinsic value oil
their real estate will at the same time
largely diminish. They may gain little
presently by high rates, which tend by
so much to PROSTATE business, but they
will in the long run iDjure their
own interests and drive popula-
| ion, capital and business from
the city. They should certainly
consult common sense, in the adoption
of a liberal line of policy, under sucl