The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-26
ELECTION THE CAUSE.
OF THE CoUNTRY's INCREASE OF
BUSINESS.
NEW Y0RK'S STOCK EXCHANGE
AND WALL STREET DEALS DIS
CUSSED By MR. III. II. BURRAs.

stock Exchange Seats Worth SOL 900.
will BE Worth More Within the
| Next Few Years-Thc Business of
the Exchange So Great That BrOk-
ers Hardly Can Handle It-SOme of
the Recent ConsOIida lions of Capt.
tal-Rfch Men GenerOus-i.arge
Fortunes Not Likely to Be Broken
| Up.
Mr.. II. K. Burras, a prominent broker
| of New York, who also is well known in
Savannah through his visit here, is reg
istered at the De Soto, having come down
on a combined pleasure and business
trip.
Mr.. Burras was seen yesterday by
a Morning News reporter and talked in
terestingly about the recent events and
present tendencies of New York's business
world, especially of the financial center
Well street and it's operations. Mr.. Bur-
ras is well qualified to speak authorita-
lively on this subject, as for thirty years
he has been in the brokerage business,
and, since 1875, a member of the Stock
Exchange
business that has taken place in New
York recently, said MIR. Burras, may be
gathered from the fact that seats in the
exchange which three years ago sold for
$4,000, now sells for $4,000, having gone
up during the past year.
THE reason for this advance is to be
found in the immense and constantly in
creasing volume of business be-
| ing transacted by this country. This n
crease is due to the effects of the Spanish
American War, which aroused in all other
nations a profound respect for Americas
wealth and resources; and helped also to
wake the people themselves to their con-
dtion and power.
THE very recent increase of business Is
| to be found in the result of the last nat
ional election. which, by overthrowing all
fear of Organism, created business CONT
dence, and brought into circulate capi-
| tai that had been held out because of the
fear of a change in the administration.
Mr.. Burras thinks that the volume of
business win shortly be increased large
~ over even the present colossal amount,
and says the cause is to be found in
the large and increasing demand for
American goods all around the world,
and the consequent large credit balance
in our favor in Europe.
| When asked how this would affect +he
Stock Exchange, he said that it would
make the seats all the more valuable
and he confidently expects that
within few years the seats will be
worth $4,000. When Mr.. Burras Joined the
exchange in 1870 seats sold for $1,000 At
present the seats cost in addition to the
Sol'Oo' $1,000 initiation fee. The purchase
OF seat carries with it, however, $lO-
w worth of insurance in case of death
which is paid out of a gratuity fund now
aggregaing nearly 100000, and which is
raised by assessing each of the members
OF the exchange $40 upon the death of
any member. AS the present membership
Of the Exchange is 11,OOO, it can be seen
readily now the gratuity fund would
grow.
''At present." said MIR. Burras. "the
Exchange is doing the greatest business
IN It's history, its operations often includ-
ing the handling of 100000 shares a dav
so large is the amount of business that
brokers' are scarce, in fact they can't he
hao 10 attend to all the business offered.
and many of them have worked them
serves SICK trying to handle more work
than really they could successfully do
Inc Stock Exchange membership con-
sists of three classes of brokers Mr.
lar broker" so called from the amount
OF MS commission, who does a general
moor business for other houses; the spe-
clalst' VINO makes sales of partic1r al
stocks; the room trader who does a gem
eral business ON his own account-in fact
speculates for himself, and the stock
broker proper, who buys and seels on
commission ana carries the stock for his
customers" --S
While admitting that the average brok-
er is under constant strain, Mr.. Bur
ras said that the business life of the
profession is about as long as that of
any other trade or occupation. He also
exploded another theory held by
many people, that the successful man in
business affairs, finance especially, is the
person that comes from the smaller
towns, or the country, and that his sue
cess is dependent in a large measure
upon the fact that he has not been
brought UP in the rush and struggle and.
therefore enters upon his work with a
1resh brain and nerves that are unim-
paired. The ranks of the brokers. said
Mr.. Burras, are recruited from the ofIce
men, bank clerks and brokers' clerks AMI
the successful ones are usually those that
have spent many years in some such ca
pacity
While admitting that many of the
wealthy men of the city had come from
tOWhS anu were, SO 10 speak, self
made, he said that they had started in to
make their fortunes so early in life that
, they might be classed as natives of the
city.
In discussing the recent enormous COM
bination of fortunes Mr.. Burras said thai
1t would benefit both the producers and
the consumers, as it enables the trust
to manufacture goods al a lower pri-
and being freed from destructive comDe-
tition by reason of the control of the
market, to sell them at a low price. being
satisfied with a reasonable profit on the
invested capital.
The only one of these combinations OF
capital that has had much effect on Wall
street, he said, are the fedora ed steel in
J dustr'es with the enormous capital Of
N,l000C00C0. The magn tude of this
combination staggered Wall street for
awhile and affected speculation in a
marked degree by reason of the stocks.
which were by this deal taken out of the
} market.
Among the railroad men in the street.
he continued, there is excellent Z el nr.
The roads viii be run in business p-'nci-
pies, and the outlook is that the stock
holder will have a better show during the
coming year than ever before.
To the question whether the accumu-
ation of such enormous fortunes by any
one man or family did not have a ten
dency to cause unrest among the poorer