The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-10-14

to protect an agent do chdnGe against MS
customer enforccs the formers obligations
with peculiar rigor. A simple failure to
meet his contracts, although 1t may arise
from causes beyond his control, IA, for in
stance, n clients wlful default, subjects him
to the penalties OF fraudulent bankruptcy.
Moreover, not only Is tho market value OF
his post, which represents u largo sum,
standing pledge for the fuliilment OF his en-
gagcmcnts, but OF late years the board has
established common fund applicable to
the insurance Of customers against loss
through individual members A might
have been foresccn, however, this prccau-
| ton gave encouragement to dishonest spec
uatiOn, one party 10 transaction ccasing
to investigate the others solvcncy. Ac-
cordingly, such heavy calls were made up
on the fund mentioned that the Boursc has
lately been compelled to abandon this method
OF insurance.
1t IL the collapse Of these loyal efforts to
secure the broker and his honest customer
against INSCRIPTIONS spectators which has
prompted the present agitation for an
amendment to the code We may here point
out that I'm no other European state II the
most important class of stock operations ig-
norcd and rcpudiatcd by the law. 1t IL true
that in England an act was passed, during
the last century, which, with view OF
checking stock gambling, refused to rccog-
nizc time contracts. But this had long been
a dead letter when IL was expressly annulcd
by the statute OF 1860. which subjected all
the operations on the London Stock En-
change to the common law governing other
commercial dealings In Holland, where the
financial market has so long maintained n
character Of peculiar solidity, time sales,
although liquidnted it may be, by pay
mcnt of differences have never been stigma
tiled M wagcrs, but have been assimilatcd
by the courts to other mercantile transac-
tions. The same rule holds good Of Vienna
and Berlin, Of Frankfort, Bremen, and Ham
burg Even Belgium and Geneva which re-
produce most faithfully the French system
of Jurisprudence, have torn out this page
from the code of the First Empire, and
placed all the operations of the Stock En-
change under the shield Of the common law
The existing French legislation ON this
subject has come down from NAPOLEON J..
and there is no doubt that the military
chicftain had good ground for the antipathy
which hc prOlcs-cd for the stock Exchange
: When he was organizing his Boulognc cx
petition against England it is related that
he charged his Minister OF Finance to tax,
such measures with the Paris Bourse a.
, should attest the national faith in the sue
S cc-- of his enterprise 10y Il signal apprccia
e. tion Of the public funds To his profoun,
disgust, notwithstanding large purchase
1 ON Government account, the funds fell in
I stead 81 rising. We may cite another inter
, esting fact in the history of that epoch
= namely that the French funds dropped aftc
/ Austcrtz, and went up at the news @
a Waterloo, obviously because the formc
= event seemed to threaten protractcd wal
4 while the latter prc-agcd an era Of tran
= quillity and industry. The truth is that al
y through the epic of the First Empire tn
: Paris Boursc seems to have regarded TIA
r, great Captain as giant with feet OF clay.
" We need not say that the creator of III
Il Civil Code took care "a satisfy his grudg
y against the manpulators of the stock maj
l- kct. When the clauses affecting the Buur-
h were under discussion. NAPOLEON said
:. "A fall in the public funds proceeds frol
II time contracts, which are a species OF wag"
II and the law cannot tolerate wager n
lc cordngly for thrco-quartors Of centur
10 that class of transactions which, on ever
- stock exchange. must constitute the bulk
~ its operations, has been under the ban
j. France. The effect OF this proceeding h.
~ been To- assure impunty to many scandalol
O. exhibitions Of bad faith. and To place Il
ic practice Of ordinary fair dealing at a gric
'i- Gus disadvantage. Public opinion il now
ST clear on this point that of late years Il
To courts have attempted 10 discriminate VIII
OF they term legitimate Transactions that
OF to say, contracts which contemplated q
81 actual delivery Of stock, and To enforce III
ST species of agreement But it is found TIA
I'd such n distinction Is in practice extreme
GER hard to draw, and therefore ii i that Vc
NT general support is secured To- the mcasu
proposed by one OF the Lyons Deputies
of the last session, which will place time GO
nj tracts on the same footing a. cash sail
h. when this bill becomes n law W. may e
$ poet one anomaly presented 10y the Pan
oil Bour-o to cease. Hitherto no stock rN han
nj in the world has been moro favorahly d
ne tingu-hcd 10y the personal integrity of
ed official members, or more diScrcdlt"d 10y I
as shamclcss doings OF outside speculation.