New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-22

rup Fate or LOWER FIFTH ATENTE
The last thing 20 be expected of those who
ot various times and in various ways have tried
70 obtain the right to run street-cars through
Cifth-aye. was n final abandonment of the prof.
ect And therefore it is not in the least Sllr-
nrisinp TO hear that the enterprise is struggling
70 its feet again. Events have left no intell-
ccnt observer in doubt of the destiny of lower
Fifth-ave From Fourteenth-st. northward the
advance OF trade has been rapid and contn-
mons. and there is no sign of a desire to halt.
Above Forty -secOnd-st. the investment OF vast
sum of money in palatial residences, wlImn q
few years, as well as the existence IN thaO
ouarter of ecclesiastical and other institutions
which are not Of an acQuistive nature, inter-
noses barrier which the tendencies of trade
will less easily surInount. But the Fifth-ave.
that was known to all the world a generation
ago has undergone marvellous transformation,
and few years more will efface the last
veStige of the old order.
Tho present promoters of street-oar hne
in Fifth-avo. have permitted the assertion 10
be made that they have obtained the necessary
consents from propesy-owners below Forty
scventh-st., beyond which point they 90 not
vet wish to proceed. Declarations of this klhd
with reference to similar enterprises IN other
thOr0ughfares have often proved more sangulne
than accurate, and it is quite possible that there
will be an opportunity for further persuasion
in the present instance However that may be-
moreover, an act of the Legislature OF 1855
forbidding the occupation of Fifth-ave. for this
purpose must be either repealed or upset by the
IpOi0
A stubborn opposition at Albany might de1eat
or defer the project, but the fact remains that
every successive year wealens the position OF
those who have hitherto antagOnzed it. The
sentimental argument was once very strong,
and we might as well frankly acknowledge that
it i. about the only argument now left; but Ii
has become a poor defence.
Twenty years ago Fifth-ave. below Forty
second-st was an =" avenue of palaces" in the
language and belief of New-Y Orkers, and if we
rather exaggerated its glories it was, neverthe-
less the stateliest thorOughfare on the con-
tinent, and the millions who gazed upon 1t
shared with its residents the conviction that it
must be defended at every point against
commercial invasion. There are still left not
a few whom the progress of reconstruction has
continually grieved, and to whom the opening
of every smart new shop gives pang. But
the recent past is irrevOcable and the near
future mdisputed, and there is no wisdom in
refusing TO recognize manifest destiny, however
nwecome its acquaintance may be.
Perhaps not this year or next, possibly not
within this decade, will the last barrier OF con-
servatIsm be broken down, but he must be will
fully blind who doesn't see that the owners of
thirty blocks of shops and warehouses will some
day insist that sentiment is Improbable. We
are in no hurry to have that day come, and we
are still inclined to think that the present prof.
ect is supported by the gainful aspirations OF
the promoters rather than by the appeals Of the
populace. There has certainly been no loud
and general call for street-cars in any part OF
Fifth-ave., but the common rule is that tho
demands of travel are foreseen and supplied
before they become vociferous and insistent.