The Sun.
London, England, 1826-12-22 00:00:00

STOCK EXCHANGE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,--Yonr sweeping denunciation of this day against - the
members of the Stock ExChange, as "rogues by the system of
the place, and pursuing dishonest practices all the year round,"
as well as your identifying them with an individual never respec-
ted or thought worthy of credit among them, and who is now
distinctly charged with the guilt of forgery, has been most Wien-.
sive to the whole body. That the system is bad in itself, and.an
incitement to dishonesty, is not a sufficient justification of such
wholesale censure directed particularly *against the Stock Ex-
change. In commerce, in common retail-dealing, not to men-
tion that " time bargains" in goods are as frequent, and lead to
as much fraud as those in the funds, the interests of the seller
and buyer are always, pitted against each other, and much ro-
guery and deception are daily practiced ;. yet because such things
occur, does any one think of calling merchants " rogues" by the
effect of the " system ?" Any man who knows the city
of LOndon is aware dud the list of those who act
,honourably in spite of it, is extremely numerous, and the same
may be said with no less truth of the Stock Exchange, and were
it decorous to quote names, in connection with such a subject, I
Could present you with a long list of exceptions to the rule which
you have made absolute. There are: men in the Stock Exchange,
who, during the course of a • long life, have confined themselves
strictly to the business of a broker, and, as their duty to
principals requires, have never made. any speculative bargains on
their own account. Yet this class, in your estimation, are con-

rounded with the lest. The businessofu stockbroker must exist;

it is useful and necessary for the public. hit fair, then, to stig-
matise indiscriminately all those who practise it ? Can the trade
Dr profession be named, where confidence must be reposed in
its members, where similar consequences do not occasionally take
!dace ?

The Stock Exchange is constantly, and as a matter of course,
reproached with its (rands on the public ;, but if those committed
by the publie.on the Stock Exchange were as promptly made
known, they would be found to init-uninber. them. lathe case
of a speculator nut of doors,, towhoM events prove adverse, there
it no mode of compelling payment, if he chooses to be dishonest,
while the broker, who transacted his business, and is made a de-
limiter by his deserting him, is expelled the Stock Exchange, and
;loses his means of livelihood. Numbers of young inexperienced
members are annually ruined from this cause alone.
It is the fashion also to exclaim against time-bargains as im-
aloral, as well as (by .an absurdity in our law) illegal. Some
time-bargains there must unavoidably be; and what is a loan
made to the Government but to take a certain quantity of stock
St a fixed period, the payment of the last instalment, when it
may be of far less or greater value than when the contract was
made? The Government is a seller, the subscriber a buyer for
time. It often happens, that individuals who 'seek to make in-
vestments in a particular stock arrive in tqwn when, the Bank is.
closed for a holiday, or when the books of that stock are shut for
the dividend. He must either make a "time-bargain" or be frus-
trated in his object ; yet, if the stock falls 10 per cent. in the in-
terval between purchase and payment, there is no law to compel
the fulfilment of his contract. The broker must pay the differ-
ence, or be declared a defaulter.

Time-ba►gaina in stock ought, undoubtedly, to be made legal as
weH as those in goods, and as the doing so would infallibly correct
much of the villainy practised oat of the house, it is to be hoped
that it might be followed by a corresponding improvement of
morals within it.

In the Article of false news, of which the Stock Excliange has
;Llways to bear the imputation, it may be afl:'►rmed without fear of
contradiction, that a very small number of tl e inventions set afloat
Originate in the Stock Exchange. We are the prey of a set of men
well known about 'Change, who having neither principle nor cha-
racter to lose, stick at nothing to gain their object. The utenibers
taken collectively, and with much certainly to answer for, , are
" more sinned against than. sinning." The object, of this letter
has been fulfilled if it convinces you that there may be
A " RESPECTABLE" STOCKBROKER.
• Capel-court, Dee. 21.