Semi=weekly graphic., 1898-06-18
GREAT LANDLORDS.
asToR PROPERTY IN NEW YoHs
 WORTH NEARLY s2oo.ooo, 900.

There 5s Ny sShtlfhelt li the Manage.
 meut Of This Vast preperty-renant,
 Must Tace the Music-Not Very Pro,
 eressive and Walt For Others to Lead.
 Wo are all inclined to regard tho great American landlord with disfavor He is associated in our minds with the idea of highyents, demanded the instant they are due, with unfulfIled promises as to repairs and little improvements that would add so much to our comfort and with many other small annoyance, that make him the man terrible, the man unfaithtui, the man hostile.
 Through the obseurity of these preip- dices it is doubtful if many of us sea him clearly or judge him fairly. Ao. eording as we are near moving day or not and as we secure repairs we are ant to regard him as a very disagreeable person, indeed, with few of the higher human attributes or else the reverse. md in the 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. 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, ciety, occupying every kind of struo. ture. Then, too, the Astors are typical in that no sentiment enters into the man. agement of their properties, and, after nll, this is true of the management of most real estate in this city.
 AS landlords the AsUors demand the market rate for rents, and they demand it the first of every month or quarter, Rs the case may De. Sooner than make material concessions i'll the amount to be paid on a 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 a 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. ance of responsibility ill tenants than the Astors. References as to character and financial standing must be forth coming if you would be an Astor tenant, md 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 for the term of the lease. do not try to rent an Astor house. You will be refused.
 As matter of fact, the Astor rent 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 ill this city. Ninety-fve per cent of the persons whose names are on them pay the rent they agreed to pay on the first of every month. Those on the rolls who do not disappear when their leases are up or before if possible The Astors ar not hard landlords but they are very businesslike, and the dis possess proceeding is Fesorted Co 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 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 are 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. eeedingly unprogressive, and 1t is hard iy up to what might be expected of 1t yet. 1t is urged i'll defense of this policy that various sections of the city in which Astor holdings are large are at present undergoing a 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 i'll 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 are not liberal, but they have the reputation of doing what they promise Usually resl denoes 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 &s long intervals.