Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-02-16
GREAT LANDLORDS.
AsToa PROPERTY iN NEW yosa
 WORTH NEARLY s2oo,ooo,ooo.

l Must race ehe Music-Not Very Pror
 gressive and Wait Tor Others to Lead. l We are all inclined to regard the great American landlord with disfavor lie IS associated in our minds with tbe idea of high rents, demanded the instant they are due, with unfulflled pronisas ss to repairs and little improvements that would add so much to our comfort and with many other small annoyances that make him the man terrible, tba man unfaithfuI, tho man hostile.
 Through the obscurity of these preiu. dices it is doubtful if many of us sea him clearly or judge him fairly. Ao. cording as we are near moving day OF not and as we secure repairs we arc ant to regard him as very disagreeabla person, indeed, with few of the higher human attributes or else the reverse. md i'll the meantime wo pay rent and tolerate him because he continues to ex. ist and the law protects him.
 Perhaps tho best example of the American landlord is Astor, or rather l the Astors. The interests of this famous New York family are so numerous and so extensive, so widely distributed and SO varied i'll character, that as landlords they hold sway over all classes of so. eiety, occupying every kind of strue- ture. Then, too, tho Astors are typical in that no sentiment enters into the man agemant of their properties, and, after all this is true of the management of most real estate in this city.
 As landlords the Astors demand the market rate for rents, and they demand it tho first of every month or quarter, as the case may Do. Sooner than make material concessions in tho amount to be paid on lease the Astors will allow a 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 tho building will be d. tered, provided the condition of the neighborhood requires it. It is appar. cut, therefore, that the Astors get the figures they ask. These are not the high. est paid, for the ogts3oa [: !3a but they are we'll up to the :. |, tli,e.
 No ono possibly requires more assur. anee of responsibility in tenants than the Astors. References as to oharactes and financial standing must be forth coming if yeu 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 oan- not show who you arc and what you have got, and that you are fairly cor. tain of being able to meet the rent fog the term of the lease, do not try to rent an Astor house. You will be refused.
 AS matter of fact, tho Astor rens rolls, if one could secure copies of them, would be an excellent commercial di- rectory, far more reliable within the limited sphere, perhaps, than anything ever attempted in this city. Ninety five per cent of tho persons whose names are on them pay the rent they agreed to pay on the 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 arc very businesslike, and tho dis. possess proceeding is resorted to when ever occasion demands.
 Though of Dutch stock the Astora have 10 feeling of friendliness for the liquor traffic. Tho 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 discoy cred they are busted as quickly and as quietly as possible
 So far as improvements go. the estates are behind many of the other large landlords and host of tho smaller ones. Up to q very recent period the manage ment of the family possessions WAS ex- ceedingly unprogressiye, and 1t is hard ly up to what might be expected of it yet. 1t is urged i'll defense of this policy that various sections of tho city iD which Astor holdings are large are at present undergoing a change and that alterations appropriate ill character will be made later That is the trouble with the Astors. They are always backward in aiding a change. Their conservatism holds them in check, while smaller and weaker men take the risk, and often they stand ill the way of progress by presenting immense blocks of property directly ia the line of great improve ments. Ifchanges arc effected all around them, they will alter also, blt they are always the last to do so.
 Tn the matter of individual repairs, decorations and the like they are not liberal, but they have the reputation of doing what they promise Usually resi- denees are put ill order before tho new tenant goes in, and then the occupant has got to be very careful. It is not ex. pceted by tho estates that much money will be spent upon the house except at long intervals.
 The Astors hold few tonements and flats directly, though they own tho ground upon which hundreds of such structures stand This kind of building is net popular with either branch Of the family, aud they only have to do !. Ia