, 1873-05-04
NEW YORK.
The Moving Insanity Of May
- 1.-The Origin Thereof.
!. -
Tho Unsoundness Of Banks and
the Dishonesty Of
Bankers.
Ink as a Cause Of Enmity-'-Reminis:
cences Of Splendid
- !, -.. Dinner. ....:-':: ..
-..' .: 80. = -
Fechter's :: Success --- Tho New
Tribune Building. :

Tribune Building. r. =:
| :-:. ~.
| E{oDa 0ur Os,a Correspondent.
| =: NEW YoRK, May !, 1873.
II, ambitious to emulate Dante, should un-
dertake to write smother " Inferno,' I should
| condemn souls inthe highest circle OF suffering
to such diu1na1 mo7ings as take place annually
here On this never-to-be~forgotton, and always
to-be-detssted day.
-, - MOVING SCENES.
ALI this week, our unfortunate citizens hnvs
been engaged in :. gigantic game Of what chill
dren call puss-in-the-corner. They have
bean exchanging residences with one
another, according to their chronic
custom, and paying for the repu1sive
necessity by great expenditure Of convenience,
comfort, patience, and temper. The future
chronicler Of Mahattan will speak Of US as 3 peo
pie who, during greator part OF the nineteenth"
century, were afflicted With IN incurable lunacy,
which expressed itself in yearly mo7ings from
one part Of tho ialand:'to another. And tho
chronicler will be right. No human being Of
sound mind would be willing to undergo, every
twelve months, the annoyance and torment OF
changing his abode. How New Yo1ke1s do OK
can submit to the monstrous nuisance, is alto
gether beyond provincial diyining; bnt few
facts will explain its origin.
Binco 1840, real estate has been steadily ad-
vancing> here, and rents, Of course, have
been advancing along with it. Dwellings
have not at al increased In proper
ton to dwel1ers, and, consequently,
the prices Of private residences have s17el1ed
enormously. Landlords have alHaya been con-
vinced that they we're not getting enough, and
tenants that landlords we're getting altogether
too much Every spring, tenants denounce tho
rates demanded for houses as extortionate, whifa
landlords hold that, under tho circumstances,
they are lower than they ought to be. Tho
former insist TINT renta must go down !; tho lat
ter equally insist that rents must go up and
thus it happens that neither are willing to rent
dwelling for over year, which is usually
the shortest term. Tenants have folt sure for
yoare, At the return Of each May, that prices
must decline and Jet prices have regularly
increased In the face Of such discouraginE
facts, their faith keeps up, and, for this
reason, they prefer their annual noTings to
taking Leases, even il these could be obtained.
How long this idiocy will continue cannot be
predicted. No one can SEQ an end to it, and this
community has now grown 30 familiar with the
annual interchange Of abiding places, both by
confirmed habits and by inheritance. that it r1ny
prefer the abnormal to the normal condition OF
= GENERAL uSsoUNDNEss OF WALL STREET.
You may remember that, in my letter OF tho
29th ult., made reference to ce:tAin startling
disclosures which might be expected in some Of
| street. I mentioned. though not By name, .
bank in Nassau street, which had been great
sufferer By tho embezz1ament Of some Of its
ehief of Geers The confessed 9qlt Of T.n
Gtis No. IT Nassau stzeet), fully corroborates
the statements have mlde, and shows with
what extreme 1ooseness banking business is
dono hera-
Tho c.se Of the Atlantic Bank Qs there any.
thing unlqoky in the name: wonder y is not
exceptional BY any means. The majority Of our
financial institutions are 80 carelessly conducted
that Almost any Of their officers who wish to ba
dishonest can be so without the slightest hin
thrown in their way. through tho absence Of
proper safeguards; and yet, when each new
cmbezzlemeLt or forgery, or other crime, is dis
covered: much surprise il expressed, and the
Sa oeaoa Is Sds o. "0pdsa sha,
many men bearing excellent 1epu.atioona
are consumInate scoundsels socially .yeneered.
am no a1armist but am sure ii the o1act
pat Of the miamanaged banks and banking
houses in this city weEo generally understood,
there would be such panic as must inevitably
result in terrible crash, aud in widespread rgin-
Talk Of the: absence OF confidence! It Il =
real marvel to me that the public has any faith
left in tho banks and bankers Of the metropolis
You do not need inside knowledge for the de-
struction OF your trust. The simple reading Of
the newspapers from dAy to day is quite sufl-
cient to shatter confidence. Nobody seens in
couuptib1e; nothing seems safe.
To-day, man who nas borne not only STAIN
loss name but han bean for many yearB exalted
above his fellows, proves to have been lfe-long
villain.
Tomorrow bank, whose credit WAS never
questioned, c1osea its doors, and is discovered
not to have had dollar Of capital for quarter
Somebody inquiries ut his bankers Tor a special
deposit, aud finds thnt tho head OF highly
respectable house has stolen it, and fed to
Europe.
Tho gentleman who hzs cashed note to &C.
commodate his best friend, learns, to his amazo-
ment. that the friend has forged the name Of tho
maker.
Still, mon have faith in one another, in tho
solyency Of banks, and in the rectitudo Of bank
era. The more they are deceived, the moro they
trust and, the moro they trust, the more they
hro deoaiyed. The prove1bihl credulity Of women
daily credu1ity Of tho commercial classes in mat
tarB Practical
Who calls this "a age Of skepticism? It is:n
age OF supreme confidence rather,-a confidence
that cannot be crippled by adverse experience,
Or oyerthroWn by social earthquakes
JOURNALISTIC FOES.
It il commonly said that authors and publish
ars are natural enemies; but. in this city, jour
nalists sppeAr more nearly such. The higher
their poaition, the more cordial seems tobo thoir
dislike. Reporters and other eubordinates ara
often On vary good terms but the hssds of de-
partments, and especially the chiefs. generally
shor, not antipathy, a. least sovereign indif-
ference, to one another. hs7e been at numer-
ous entertainments at which, The leading editors
of tho leading newspapers have been present.
Ind, almost invariably, some Of them hare nos
been on recognizing terms.
THE MORTON RETo p131En.
The late James Gordon Bennett, Of the EerdN,
7orJ aeldom vent anywhere, his lifo being divid-
,ublio occasion IN .hich remember to have
zen him VAS At the dinner given by Sir Morton
oeto, at Delmonicos after the close Of tbs rebel
ion. Bauuoft then aahmed ont of n1aca nd