The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-15
ECONOMIC FORCES
GOVERN GROWTH
New Suburban Dwellings, Models of Beauty and Comfort,
WITH Add % of New Yorks Suburbs
Man Made Restrictions Do Not
Prevail Long-Snug HarbOr
Has Found This to BE.
PROGRESS IS PREVENTED


the opinion expressed by the Spear But
ietiH. and It backs up this opinion by
giving examples in principal districts
in the city which have rec,ded In i'm
portance and value during tho last few
years.
Those who have the business Of
framing suitable provisions for the dis
trlcting' OF Manhattan says the ar
tlcle, "have a problem the Complexity
and delicacy Of which VIII staEger the
most expert In touch with the situation.
Not alon, Is there the danger that IN
making changes ~ a vital character In
powerful communities vast interests
may be placed in jeopardy, but there
exists the greater peril that the eco-
nomic development ~ the city Will he
throttled. However there Is this To be
said that laws. restrictive covenants and
all the artificial barriers must give way
before economic forces. Here II is the
Sailors Snug Harbor that asks the courts
to help 1t throw on restrictions a CEN
fury old in the disposal Of he property
embraced in the trust The Murray lin
covenant. though supported by immt nse
wealth and influence. must give way be-
fore commercial nect ssity The Column
bia College trustees ind n advisable to
permit trade 20 ,ncroach In their prop
critics formerly devoted 10 dwellings.
Nothing IL certain or permanent here,
with such tremendous increases IN pop
uation and wealth each year. Conn
munitles once populous die out and then
become populated again with n difforen,
character Of occupancy. Restrictions
are barriers to be overleaped
There are so many factors that help
10 make a community popular or un-
popular. Transit facilities. commercial
inventions influences Of fashion, build
ing improvements. Industrial growth
and what not. all these tend to fix the
character Of "a district and not the say
% OF particular law or restriction.
THE estimab.e gentlemen who are
heart and soul for dstricting say that
the rapid deterioration Of district
would be impossible II a scheme for dis
tricting were enforced. They are fond
OF pointing at the old wholesale section
as a horrible example of what the pres
snt anarchlstic lalssez-falrc system has
wrought They maintain that suitable
restrictions would have prevented fallen
values by preventing the use Of other
nelghborhoods for manufacturing. Yet
those In touch with conditions in this
district know the evil was wrought be-
cause the owners in the district refused
TO read the handwriting on the wall
Manhattan'S ski.ful manufacturers had
concentrated the manufacture OF ladies
garments for America right here In
New York city. and they demanded the
best of quarters that money could bring
The owners refused to adapt their hold
ings to the new conditions or build suit
abe structures To house these modern
business establishments. with the result
that the merchants sought new commu-
mites. Restrictions would only have
strangled temporarily this logica, eco
nomlc Development with the consequent
commercial stagnation.
'That only economic conditions can
fix the character of a district Is evil
denced by the decline OF the Sixth ave-
nue. shopping district Would distriCtlng
have helped in any way to maintain the
permanency of this street for retail
trade? 1t requires quite a stretch OF the
Imagination to believe that dlstricting
would have achieved that end. The un-
favorable transit conditions initiated
against the district. and it's very mac
feasibility contained the seeds OF It's own
destruction. Certainly the encroachment
OF factories on Sixth avenue cannot be
given az the cause, inasmuch as there
are q negligible number of manufacture
ing establi. hments on the avenue.
"There Is very little danger that fac
tories will encroach on Fifth avenue
because of the high rents which a high
class shopping district can command.
AS soon as a shopping district loses
its character through economic forces
1t would be setting the clock of time
back to maintain a restriction that viii
secure the permanency of the district
for that particular purpose. II WIS
not the encroachment OF factories on
lower Fifth avenue that sent the re-
tail trade uptown, but the inevitable
growth nOrthward Of the city Thirteen
years ago r. II Macy and h. Altman
located on Thirty-fourth street not be-
cause the shoppers were inConveni-
enced by the operatives, the mauufac-
turing establishments not having
reached that far north at that time.
but because of the choicer and more
convenient locations possible on Thirty
fourth street. The retail establishments
on lower Fifth avenue were simply
swept along by the rapid growth north
ward OF the city and were forced tn
choose central locations to hold their
patrons and prevent them from buy
ing In stores that possessed these CEN
trail positions,
at Ia unjust to compare Manhattan
with European or many OF the cities
Of America, where conditions are more
or less static and fixed. system OF
districting under such circumstances
presents advantages Of the highest i'm
portance, But In Manhattan, with lis
heavy increase OF population resulting
in a continual hux OF every conceivable
kind affecting the social and industrial
fabric. restrictions are more or less
valueless before the vast economic
forces at work"
RESTRICTIONS TO BE FOUGHT.