Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-02-14
GREAT LANDLORDS.
AsToR PROPERTY IN NEW WORM
 WORTH NEARLY s2oo.ooo,ooo.

musb race th9 MusiC-Rot Very Pro,
 gressive and Wait For Others to Lead,
 We are all inclined to regard ths great'Ameriean landlord with disfayor. He is associated in our minds with tbe idea of high rents, demanded the instant they are due, with unfulflled promises as to repairs and little improvements that would add so much to our comfors and with many other small annoyanees that make him the man terrible, the man unfaithful, tho man hostile.
 Through the obscurity of these preiu. diees it is doubtful if many of us ses him clearly or judge him fairly. Ao- cording as we arc near moving day or not and as we secure repairs we are ant to regard him as Q very disagreeable person, indeed, with few of the higher human attributes or else the reverse, and in tho meantime we pay rent and tolerate him because he continues to ex, ist and the law protects him.
 Perhaps the best example of the American landlord is Astor, or rather the Astors Tho interests of this famous Now York family arc so numerous and SO extensive, so widely distributed and so varied in character, that as landlords they hold sway over all classes of SO. ciety, occupying every kind of struo- ture Then, too, tho Astors are typical in that no sentiment enters into the man. n8omont of their properties, and, after nll, 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 1t tho first of every month or quarter, as the caso may be. Sooner than make material concessions in the amount to be paid on q lease the Astors will allow 9 house to remain vacant, not one sea- son or year only, but two, three or more years, and If then a good tenant Is not at hand the building will be al- tered, provided the condition of the neighborhood requires 1t It is appar. ent, therefore. that tho Astors get the figures they ask. These arc not the high. est paid, for tho ces .5..2. bat they are well up to the average.
 No ono 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 mere than paper ref eEences, for they will be investigated carefully. If you arc unknown or oan- not show who you are and what you have got, and that you are fairly eer. tain of being able t0 meet the rent foE the term of the lease, do not try to rent an Astor heBse. You will be refused.
 As 0 matter of fact, tho 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 in this city. Ninoty-fve per eenEof Che persons whose names arc 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 tho dis possess proceeding is resorted to when. ever occasion demands.
 Though of Dutch stock the Astora have no feeling of friendIiness 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 ia likely to clash with the police. From time to time of course, persona not h favor with the authorities creep into Aston properties but when diseov- cred they arc busted as quickly and as quietly as possible.
 So far as improvements go, the estates aro behind many of tho other large landlords and hosto of the smaller ones. Up to a very recent period the manage nent of the family possessions was eX- eeediDgly nnprogressive, and it is hard iy up to what might be expected of it yet. It is urged in 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 ill character will be made later That is the trouble with tho Astors. They arc always backward m aiding change. Their conservatism holds them in check, while smaller and weaker mon take the risk, and often thoy stand i'll tho way of progress by presenting immense blocks of property directly in tho 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 Hko they are not liberal, but they have the reputation of doing what they promise, Usually resi- donoes arc put in order before the new tenant goas ill, and then the occupant has got to be very careful. It is not ex- poctod by tho estates that much monoY will bo spont upon the house except ct 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 net popular with either branch of tho family, and they only hayo to do