At the first meeting of the organizers of The Municipal Art Association of the City of Baltimore, it was stated that the articles and by-laws governing this new society had been taken almost bodily from those of the New York organization. It was argued that as they had been thoroughly tested and proved to be of great working value in New York, therefore they must of necessity be suited to the needs of Baltimore. In a certain measure this is true, but the reasoning is rather fallacious and misleading. The artistic conditions that prevail at the present time in the two cities are by no means the same: New York has a Metropolitan Museum, filled with the finest specimens of ancient and modern art, which is always open to the public, besides an Academy of Design, a Society of American Artists, an Architectural League and any number of galleries that are constantly instructing the people in what is being done by native and foreign contemporaneous artists—whether they be painters, sculptors, or architects. In Baltimore we have only the Walters’ Gallery,—a wonderfully fine collection of paintings, ceramics, and bronzes, to be sure, but one that is practically unchanging and that is open to the public for only a comparatively few days of the year,—and such small exhibitions of pictures as can be collected from time to time through the efforts and enterprise of Mr. David Bendann and the Charcoal Club—an organization that is far from being supported as it should be by those interested in the artistic development of the City.
General Felix Agnus forcibly voiced the feeling of a great many of the gentlemen who founded the new society when he suggested that the scope of The Municipal Art Association of the City of Baltimore be enlarged by such changes in the articles of incorporation as would eventually empower it to erect a public Museum, and to receive bequests in the shape of paintings and other works of art. We would go farther than General Agnus and suggest to the board of Directors that the New Art Association be not only empowered to collect funds to build a Museum, but a fire-proof, well-lighted gallery also, constructed especially for, and devoted solely to a yearly exhibition of works by modern artists. Until this is done Baltimore must of necessity remain more or less ignorant and provincial in all artistic matters. Galleries for such yearly exhibitions exist in every other large city of the United States, and that one has not been built here long ago is due, we are sure, not to a dearth of funds or taste, but solely to a curious lack of co-operation among those who have the power and the inclination to stimulate the rational development of a love for things of beauty.
We therefore hope that The Municipal Art Association of the City of Baltimore will not imitate too closely the objects and the by-laws of the New York Society, but will add these other two extremely necessary projects to an already praiseworthy program, and thereby render our citizens more appreciative of the artistic attractions they propose to offer them in the near future.
There is no spectacular display, either in the old world or in the new, to compare with the New Orleans Mardi Gras. But there has been too little care paid to the development of the floats and of the costumes of the mummers,—those which are directly under the control of the committee which is usually placed in charge.
We are always interested in art, and in the artist, and would suggest that our New Orleans friends might add greatly to the excellence of their entertainment by consulting men more of an artistic than of a business temperament in arranging their annual and unique displays.
The movements in the local security markets have shown a somewhat halting tendency of late. This is not unnatural, following the sustained upward movement and the broad and active buying which has marked the operations in stocks and bonds for several months. Operators and dealers are not disturbed that the market should rest for awhile, and confidence is easy where it is felt that the rising trend to values will again occur as soon as investors have been able to scan the field anew and to digest the conditions which affect the values of securities.
There has been no decline here, as this is essentially an investment and not a speculative market. Prices are not stimulated or advanced by stock jobbing operations and false rumors which so seriously affect values in speculative centres, but rest solely on the merits of the property which the security represents. There has been a slight shading of values in a few instances in issues which had been rapidly advanced by the strong public demand. This was notably the case in the shares of some of the new trust companies. The Continental Trust stock had an abnormal rise to $285 a share, representing a premium of $85 a share, as $200 a share will be paid in by the stockholders. Since the Stock Exchange permitted trading in the receipts of this company the premium has declined 25 points, as at the close of last week it was reported that the stock had been offered 110, with 100 the best bid. Citizens’ Trust shares have also fallen off from 57 to 49½, with declines less marked in the shares of the older institutions, and with many of them showing gains.
The announcement of the entrance into the local trust field of a new company with large capital and influential backing probably had some unfavorable effect on the stocks of the companies recently started. This new concern will be a strong bidder for business, and while it is expected to work in a field of development, it is not unlikely to receive some business which would have gone to the other companies.