New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-18
ANTIQUITY OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE.
CORRESPONDENT NEATLY OARvES TWENTY
nyE YEARS OFF ITS AG


TO the Editor Of The Trib une.
Sir: / sec by your Journal OF today that 'ne od
fable about the founding of the Stock Exchange IN 'o2
* still alive. When the story was Invented no one
can tell but it has occasionally appeared Tor le lat
.h,r,v vears No one ever heard of 1t while the
or cina members Of the Board OF Brokers were awe
and active and it would probably not now exist haa
not the Exchange caused stone TO be placed In one Oh
it, rooms bearing this erroneous statement Ihere Is
. docnnent as Won state bearing date in 1899. which
shows an agreement between brokers in New YORK as
IN the rates OF commission but there Is no evidence
Of any society or association OF brokers III consequence
of it. and still less Is there evidence OF 'he cou"S
Of suoh en- alleged association for the next twenty-five
years at the end Of which the Board OF Brokers dld
..ouv heetn 10 exist All tho brokers named in the
document were real-estate brokers or merchandise
brokers' and incidentally they sold stocks wheh tney
had them to dispose OF. Not long Delofe ,''s ''o
United states had adopted Constitution and set "oV
eminent in operation; the securities, therefore OF e
country had advanced very much and were good
,nacu,s+ive purcbases The quantity, however, was
not large and in few years the whole OF the exsuhg
obligations was in the hands Of investors
II should be recoected that at this time there were
no canal stocks, no railroad securites' no sai'e "
manufacturing enterprises and only four or nVe Ohs
IN the United States. There nothing therefore,
for brokers TO deal In broker in each of the three
principal cities could probably have handled all 'a'
re now call stocks from 1905 till 1872 Then specnia
tion revived. Not line in any newspaper. hoI
paragraph In any book not sentence IN any io'or'
ins,ates the existence OF Board OF BroKers OF any
organization equivalent TO it before 1S12 ana care
ful search Of the directories. each OF when IN loSe
early DAYS gives Of all societies, fails to Snow any
sucb h,dy The reason is obvious 1t did not exist
II did not then meet under tree as some oil te al
berents to the fable declare, nor In house. ~ uiu
not meet at all .. T.,
We have some information concerning STOCKS III
1892 derived from The Diary" daily paper pun
Nsbed nv John London. "The stock Exchange ONCE
.ova one advertisement @is opened at No. % Wall
Street for the accommodation Of the dealers III socK'
and in which public sales will be held daily at hoon
as usual In rotation by A. L. B. d Sons, j. Pparu'
McEvers Barclay, Corlandt Fcrrers, Jay sutton
These were auctioneers, Of course, the first being
Anthony T. Bleecker John Pntad very
public spirited man, afterward the founder Of the New
York Historical society. The stocks dealt In were
half shares" whatever they might be; per cent
3 per cent, New-York Bank, Tammanial tontine
Scrip Frary, Banckers Query bankers certificates
North Carolina surplus and registered debt. 80 far
rs appears by "The Diary this combination OF
suctoneers did not hold together long, for the ad-
vertisement discontinued There was a
very good reason. Sales had been stopped. On
March %, q notice read "A meeting was held at
Cores Hotel on Wednesday last March 21l Of the
merchants and dealers in stocks. when they came to
resolution that after the 21st OF April next they would
not attend any sale Of stocks public auction, and also
appointed "a committee to provide proper room for
them assemble in, and to report such regulations
relative TO the mode Of transactng their business
as in their opinion may be proper" The document
Of the 18th OF May Is undoubtedly the agreement thus
made, and 1t Is possible the brokers hired
Leonard Blocker the I'd of May declares that he
intends devote himself entirely to the purchase
sale Of stock on commission His place was at No
45 Great DOckst. On the Sd OF August he removed
to No. 10 warl'st, i've doors up from Queen-st,
prevails.
What became Of the association What except the
same fate that betel the Wine and Spirit Traders
. Exchange the Naval Stores Exchange, the Hay Ex
change the Sugar Exchange, and the score OF other
exchanges that have been begun In New York since
1880! They died because they had no business. so
did that.
several years ago asked MIR. Ely, the secretary of
the Stock Exchange what proofs there of the ex
istence the Board OF Brokers In the last century
lie replied that the Stock Exchange was not public.
that ii was private association Of gentlemen and that
they obliged ~ exhibit their records for the
qualification Of outsiders. Mr. Ely has no other proof
than the document Of May. 1899. Henry w. Poor
is tho historian of the Exchange. He did not assert
to me that the Of Brokers existed behre the war
1872 but said that the speculation consequent upon
thst bad caused the dealers together and
make better organization In 1877. The following is
taken from Longworth's New-York Directory for that
year:
"rne brokers Of the New-York Exchange Board
meet every day at IL O'Clock for the transaction Of
business. The following Is u list Of members VIZ: :;
Leonard Bleeckor, Benjamin Butler, Leonnrd A.
Blcecker, William q. Bucknor James and John
Blocker. Benjamin Huntingdon. Israel foote. Phi.
Kearny, A. n. Lawrence Co., Gordon S. Mufnford,
r. II. Nevins. Sexas Nathan Isaac G. Ogden q Co..
Prime. Ward Sands, Blocker a Lehert,. samuel j.
Beebee Davenport a. Tracy. a. N Clifford Co..
Bernard Hart, Andrew stockholm, John Roc. F. "A.
Tracy. J. q. Warren, w. II. Robinson. W. Robinson.
Smith a. Lswton II. Post, jr., and Henry Ward
This notice does not appear In the directories OF
1915 1915 and therefore conclude in the absence
Stock Exchange was In 1917, and that II Is now
seventy i've years old. Instead Of hundred II any