Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-12-28
GREAT LANDLORDS.
AsToR PROPERTY IN NEW yoas
 WORTH NEARLY s2oo, ,ooo.o .ooo.

There Is No Sentiment In the Mans,..
 ment of This Vast Property-repante
 Must Face the nTusic-Not Very Pro
 gressive and Wait For others to Lead.
 We are all inclined to regard the great American landlord with disfavor
 lie Is associated in our minds with the idea of high rents, demanded the instant shey are due, with unfulflled promises as to repairs and little improvements that would add so much to our comfor4 and with many other small annovance. that make him the man terrible. tho man unfaithful, the man hostile.
 Through the obscurity of these nrein. dices it is doubtful if many of us sec him clearly or judge him fairly. Ao. cordlng as we are near moving day or not and as we secure repairs we are ant to regard him as very disagreeable person, indeed, with few of the higher human attributes or else the reverse. and Ill tho meantime we pay rent and tolerate him because he continues to ex- ist and t1o law protects him.
 Perhaps tho best example of kbe American landlord is Astor, or rather the Astors. 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 so- elety, 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 truo of the management of most real estate in this city.
 AS landlords the Astors demand the market rate for rents, and they demand 1t tho first of every month or quarter, as the ease may be. Sooner than make material concessions in tho amount to be paid on a lease the Astors will allow house to remain vacant not one sea son or year only, but two, three or more 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 we'll up to the average.
 No one possibly requires more assur. ance 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 erenees, for they will be investigated carefully. If you are unknown or can not show who you are and what you have got, and that you are fairly cer- tain of being able to meet the rent fer tho term of tho lease, do not try to rent an Astor house. You will be refused.
 As Q matter of fact, tho Astor rent rolls, if one could secure copies of them, would bo all excellent commercial di- rectery, far more reliable within the limited sphere, perhaps, than anything ever attempted ill this city. Ninety-five per cent of the persons whose names arc on them pay tho rent they agreed to pay on tho first of every month. Those on tho rolls who do not disappear when their leases are up or before if possible. The Astors are not hard landlords, but they are very businessliEe, and the dis possess proceeding is resorted to when ever occasion demands.
 Though of Dutch stock the 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 i'll favor with the authorities creep into Astor properties but when diseoy- cred they are busted as quickly and as quietly as possible.
 So far as Improvements go the estates are behind many of tho other large landlords and host of the smaller ones. Up to q 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. It is urged i'll defense of this policy that various sections of the city i'll which Astor holdings are large are at present undergoing Q change and that alterations appropriate i'll character will be made later. That is the trouble with the Astors. They are always backward in aiding change. Their conservatism holds them ill check, while smaller and weaker men take the risk, and often they stand in 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- denees 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 bo spent upon the house except Gt long intervals.
 The Astors hold few tenements and flats directly, though they own the ground upon which hundreds of such structures stand. This kind of building is not popular with either branch of tho family, and they only have to do with it so far as receiving leasehoid rents are concerned. Dwellings i'll great