Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1886-10-23
STOCK.GAMBLlNG
The New York Exchange Chieny an I'M
mense Betting Establishment.

The new lOIA EACuAhSe 80"
mense Betting Establishment
New York has no more entertaining
public exhibition than its Stock *
change. 1t is one Of the show places
Of the city. Thither goes the citizen
for amusement and thithcr he takes
his country acquaintance. The latter
IS at first uncertain whether he has
been brought TO a mad house or 10
Pandemonium. The idea that the mar
ket values of Il leading securities
should be determined by what appears
to him to tc a bowling mob Ct incnra-
bic ~lunatics is incomprehensible' He
can neither make head nor tail TO It,
He looks down a lofty gallery upon a
large uncarpctcd and unfinished hoor
filled with walking figures, the most OF
whom appear very angry and very I'M
mannerly.
What exhibitions they do make OF
themselves, to be sure, Two well
dressed men suddenly rush at each
| other, shake their fingers in one an
| others faces and shout, When appar,
emily on the point of clinching or
striking they stop, produce bits of pa
| per, and notes are inadvertently an
| appointment for a settlement else
where. Again, without any visible
|proyocation, a number of figures
| cluster about a given point, gesticu,
| lating, Scrambling and pushing for all
| the world like a flock of hens when a
handful of grain is dropped among
| them. A moment more and the circle
is broken, its members joining new
| combinations. When a score or two
| Of these scrambles are going on at the
| same time the effect upon the unac-
customcd spectator may be imagined
10 the initiated there is nothing
mysterious or unintclligiblc in all this
clamor. The participants are simply
buying and selling stocks. The two
administrative individuals have dis.
cusscd and closed a bargain. Instead
of an appointment for a meeting, with
pistols for two. their memoranda con-
lain nothing more than the terms OF
their agreement. The volcanic cluster
was formed about som one who
wanted to purchase or to sell a block
of a certain stock, and whose an
nounccment of that fact brought about
him a crowd Of eager dealers with OF
fers or bids, as the case might he.
When a sale is made the particulars
ares at once secured by telegraph agents
who fash the transaction all over the
country, and the price Of n stock is
fixed for the time for m entire nation.
In that apparently rough-and-tumble
way transactions a%ggrcgating hun
drcds Of millions Of dollars a day are
effected.
The Exchange is simply a biz bazaar
for the sale of stocks and bonds. II
nothing was to be said against it en-
cept its tu~multuousncss and the seem
inc lack of dignity among its members,
criticism would have in it but an indlt'
ferent target for its shafts. But much
graver questions grow out OF its exist
cncc. Is it a harmless institution? Is
it a public blessing? Is it a public
curse?
As a great central mart for currcn'
securities it would be mobjcctionablc
| There is no reason why bonds auC
shares should not be publicly dealt in
and in large quantities, as well as DIR,
: goods, as well as corn and cotton an'
: beef and kitchen vegetables. If th'
!, Stock Exchange was intended for, o
= restricted to, the bona iide buying o
: bonds and shares. not a word could b
l Justly said against it, But is that it
. business? Unfortunately no. Its chic
! occupation is wagering ulon stocks
! it, members, while going through tn
6 form of buying and selling, simply be
u their money, or somebody elsc's money
! upon the rise or fall Of the shares the
:, select, as they would upon the shifting
u of cards or dice. The Exchange, Will
: having a share Of Legitimate business
is chiefly an immense gambling cstai
= lishmrnt.-N. \. Herdid.