Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-12-07
GREAT LANDLORDS.
AsToR PROPERTY IN NEW WORK
 WORTH NEARLY s2oo. 100000.

gressive and Wait For Others to Lead
 We are all inclined to regard the great American landlord with disfavor. IIe is associated in our minds with the 1 idea of high rents, demanded the instant l they are due, with unfuifilled promises as to repairs and little improvements that would add so much to our comfort and with many other small annoyances that mako him the man terrible, ths man unfaithful, the man hostile.
 Through the obscurity of these preju- diees it is doubtful if many of us sec him clearly or judge him fairly. Ao- cording as we are near moving day OF not and as we secure repairs we are apt to regard him as a very disagreeable person, indeed, with few of the higher human attributes or else the reverse, md ill tho meantime we pay rent and tolerate him because he continues to ax- ist and the law protects him.
 Perhaps tho best example of the American landlord is Astor, or rather the Asters The interests of this famous New York family are so numerous and so extensive, so widely distributed and so varied in character, that as landlords they hold sway over all classes of SOS eiety, occupying every kind of struc- ture. Then, too, the Astors are typical in that no sentiment enters into the man agement of their properties, and, after all, this is true of the management of most real estate i'll this city.
 As landlords the Astors demand the market rate for rents, and they demand it tho first of every month or quarter, as tho case may Do. Sooner than make material concessions in the amount to be paid on lease the Astors will allow Q house to remain vacant, not one sea- son or year only, but two, three or moro years, and if then good tenant is not at hand the building will be al- tered, provided the condition of the neighborhood requires it. It is appar- ent, therefore, that the Astors get the figures they ask. These are not the high est paid, for the estates take no risks, but they are well up to the average.
 No one possibly requires more assur- anee of responsibility in tenants than the Astors. References as to character and financial standing must be forth coming if you would be an Astor tenant, and they must be more than paper ref erences, for they will be investigated carefully. If you are unknown or oan- net show who you arc and what you have got, and that you are fairly cer- tain of being able to meet the rent fer the term of the lease, do not try to rent an Astor heuse. You will be refused.
 As matter of fact, the Astor rent rolls, if one could secure copies of them, would bo an excellent commercial di- reetory, far more reliable within the limited sphere, perhaps, than anything ever attempted ill this city. Ninety-five per cent of tho persons whose names are on them pay the rent they agreed to pay on tho first of every month. Those on the rolls who do not disappear when their leases are up or before if possible. The Astors are not hard landlords, but they are very businesslike. and the dis possess proceeding is resorted to when over occasion demands.
 Though of Dutch stock tho Astors have no feeling of friendliness for the liquor traffic. The saloon keeper is not wanted, even at the high rates he offers, and neither is any other sort of tenant who is likely to clash with the police. From time to time, of course, persons not in favor with the authorities creep into Astor properties, but when discov- cred they are busted as quickly and as quietly as possible.
 So far as improvements go, the estates nre behind many of the other large landlords and host of the smaller ones. Up to very recent period the manage ment of the family possessions was ex- ceedingly unprogressive, and it is hard ly up to what might be expected of it yet. 1t is urged ill defense of this policy that various sections of the city i'll which Aston holdings are large are at present undergoing change and that alterations appropriate in character will be made later. That is the trouble with the Astors. They arc always backward in aiding change. Their conservatism holds them ill check, while smaller and weaker men tako tho risk, and often they stand i'll the way of progress by presenting immense blocks of property directly in the line of great improve ments. If changes are effected all around them, they will alter also, but they are always the last to do so
 In the matter of individual repairs, decorations and the like they arc not liberal, but they have the reputation of doing what they promise. Usually resi- dences are put in order before the new tenant goes in, and then the occupant has got to be very careful. It is not ex- pected by the estates that much money will be spent upon the house except ai long intervals.
 The Astors hold few tenements anc flats directly, though they own the ground upon which hundreds of such structures stand This kind of building is not popular with either branch oS the family, and they only have to dc with it so far as receiving leasehoid rents are concerned. Dwellings ill great number and comprising all kinds, from one bringing in hundreds yearly to one yielding thousands, and business and } office buildings and hotels are chiefly the income producers aside from tht leasehold properties.
 How much those rents amount to per haps only the Astors can tell but ths