Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-03-28
silver and Real Estate.

Radicals Washington Letter to the Cinein.
natl Commercially
Although the silver law has not been
long in force, there are those in this eitv
who detect sigps of business improve.
ment on account thereof. l refer here
to such as opposed the measure while Il
was in a state Of agitation. Of course.
such as have been for it all the time i'm.
sgine they a trace a long line of good
10 its enactment. This is expected. But
that the enemies Of the measure should
acknowledge to benefcent results from
the craze" is an item worthy of a par
agraph. 1t is the opinion of real estate
met here, such as were not conspicuous
as advocates of the craze" that real
ectate has already felt the q~uickening in.
auences Of the law. All legislation since
the war has had a tendency to depress
realty, and the silver bill is the only en-
actment that may be said to point in an
opposite direction.
Yesterday a real estate dealer here told
mi that this branch of property ha5 at
last got to bottom, and might now be ex.
pected to gently tend upward. The ten.
dency would probably be very gentle in.
deed, but still 1t would be in an opposite
direction from that OF the past FIVE years.
For this joyful contamination, or rather
realization of postponed hope, he gave
credit to the silver law. Not only was
the effect felt in this city, where realty
has suffered extraordinary depression.
but he thought the whole country would
feel 1t sooner or later. He had not been
much of an advocate of silver, but if it
only checked the downwardness of real
estate, which it seemed to be doing, why.
then it was a good thing.
Generally speaking, 1 find that it is
the opinion Of real estate dealers that
this branch Of property in their particu-
lar localities has fallen lower, or rather
the per cent. Of depreciation and shrink.
age has been greater 10 the sphere of
their operations than in other cities.
For instance, a dealer in Nashville will
tell you that the depreciation of realty
there is unexampled, that it is lower
than since 1885. and that for each SUP.
posed bottom we reach there is still a
lower depth Of despair. Then, a New
York agent, being acquainted with that
which comes under his own eve, and
astonished as each forced sale reveals
to him the weakness of the market and
the frightening distance to bottom"
will tell you hat the metropolis is suf.
tering more than any other city. The
same story is told you in Cleveland, in
indianapolis, in Louisville, in all the
cities. But the result of my 90.
s~ervstion is that the thing has been
pretty general, and nearly equal at all
points. Of course there are found cities
where the decline is less, and favored
locations in all cities where the " shrink.
age" has been checked, but generally
speaking, all sections and all cities are
companions in this misery. The ques.
ton now among real estate men is this:
will the silver law help realty, and if
50, when and how muchY" And the an.
sWers beginning to come in are that sill.
yer is afording the long.looked for relief,
and hat this branch of property will
feel, and is already beginning to feel the
qnickening influences of two or three
millions of silver monthly added to the
circulation of the country.