New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-06
dr. .Stedman'S History of the Nesc-
York Stock Exchange,

-.r NETWORK STOCK EXCHANGE Its His.
- It's Relation 10 American Finance AT ths
ortset Of the Nv ,ntieth Century. Edited by
Edmund Clarence Stedman. Ia Three Volumes
Nj / 4to, PIP XIV. Us Stock Exchange His
toricai Society.
:, .be year 1892. under n buttonnood tree. In
,-or+ Of wbRt is now 10. go Wall-st mum
NJ the hes. business 1sen of New-York made
e,-,u!e agreement, which read as follows:
@7re. the subscribers brokers for the purchase
,,s sale Of public stocks, do hereby solemnly
,,ornise and pledge ourselves to each other that
:, viii not buy or sell from this date. for any
larson whatsoever, any kind of public stock at
.xe rate than = Of l per cent commission on
he specie value. and that we viii give a prefer
.,ce TO each other in our negotiations In testi-
ANY whereof we have set our hands this 18th
a.v OF May at New-York 1872 Leonard
Pfseker. Hugh Smith, Armstrong & Barnewell,
samuel March, Bernard Hart. Sutton & Hardy.
rentanin SeiXas. John Henry, John A Harden
,-ook Samuel Beebe. Alexander Zuntz Andrew
n BARCLAY, Ephraim Hart, Cuban McEvers. G..
\ Bleeker. Peter Anspach, Benjamin Winthrop.
Iobn Ferrers. Isaac NJ Gomez. Augustine H
7,xreuce John Bush. Charles McEvers tr
pob,nson & Hartshorne, David Reedy." This
as the beginning of the New-Yorl5 Stock Ex-
change.
There have been innumerabe technical works.
.+sastical pamphlets and mere romances writ
ten about the street" but it has remained for
rduund Clarence Stedman to present to the
r6rld the first complete and correct history of
,ss Buttonwood Exchange. now known as the
ysr.York Stock Exchange, the doings of which
ssrs been such an important factor in the life
NJ. only Of The United states. but. of the world
g, large The beginner in business laughs at
hut quite often makes a venture in, Wsll Street
,s he progresses fl years his ideas regarding
me great financial. centre Of the country broaden
ana eventually he realizes the fact that Wall
Street IS not, as sometimes pictured the home OF
The Evil one. Foolish men come into Wall
Street borrow money. and. with their mowned
funds. buy stocks when they are dear. selling
them when they arc cheap because their banks
ers call the. loans They lose. and curse Wall
Street Itis ot.the fault If the street. Yet
wall Street gets the blame. Mr.. Stedman, in
This exhaustive work does not attempt to tell
people how 10 mako money 10 might say as
Baron RothsehiId said How can know why
stocks fuctuate2 If knew ] would make
fortune His book was not prepared fo@ the
PURPOSE Of giving tins on The market II is a
history. pure and simple
To find the pulse Of the nations business one
must 60 10 Wall Street. and If one wishes to be
well Informed regarding the progress Of cor
poration affairs a study Of the fluctuations on
the stock Exchange is necessary. on the Stock
Exchange arc represented the shares Of the
large and the small railroad and industrial con-
cerus Of the United States. These shares go up
snd they go down. al times manipulators be-.
come masters of the market. and for a brief
period advance o.. reduce prices at Will, but in
the end the measure of value prevails. and the
ups and downs of security prices reflect as
Faithfully the course of business in the country
does the barometer the changes in the
weather. a faithful history OF the Stock Ex-
change, therefore, is faithful record Of the hap
penings in the great business world of this
country. There IS no man in the United States
better qualified to SET forth such a record than
Mr. stednan is. for there is none better informed
as to both The old and the new. days of Vail
Street His book was originally to have appeared
IN two volumes, but as work upon it went forward
unexpected masses of material accumulated, and
the publication as now planned Will run TO three
volumes The second OF these win shortly be
brought out and the third is well in hand. In
addition to the pages written by Mr. Stedman
there are some contributed by other authorities.
It was the desire to deal in government Sc.
curities which represented the debts incurred
by the Continental Congress and the separate
OoOnleS, IEaL actually was Responsible LOT lile
first organization Of stock brokers in this city.
At the start they worked in the street, but
in 1893 they conducted their operations IN the
Tontine Coffee House, the New-York Tontine
Coffee House Company having been chartered,
with 203 subscribers at $500 each, for the
purpose of a merchants exchange. ct is In
teresting to note that at the present time a
seat on the New-York Stock Exchange costs
$4,000 or noreD From the beginning transac-
lions IN securities and commodities increased
rapidly, keeping pace with the growth Of the
general banking business Of the country, but
the real development Of the New-York Stock