The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-30

but hastened back on Monday morning
 to assure everybody that he was guiltless l of wrong because he was away. He had l apparently forgotten the position he had | taken In the case of MT. Havens
 It remains to be seen whether his as-
 sociates will take the same forgetful view. l The chances are they will, for the board 1 of governors of the New York stock ex-
 change is notoriously given to favoritsn I and to tyranny. It is a law unto itself It l is composed of forty members out of a 1 total of close to HOO and has arbitrary | authority. It is in a sense self perpetu- l ating and has been so long in absolute l control of the exchange that it is virtual 1 ly a despotism. The stock exchange is l in point of fact a club and every man 1 becoming a member thereof signs his life away as price of admission. He goes in with his eyes open and if he doesn't want l to bind himself to the rules regulations l and bylaws, there is no law compelling l him to become a member If he elects l to give away his rights to a selected l few fellow club members, he does so with
 a full knowledge of what he is doing. l And then if these selected few choose to l still further concentrate their power in committees who in turn delegate author I ity to a secretary or president, there is 1 still no good ground for complaint on ] the part of members. As a matter of fact, l the entire actual power of the 100 mem | bers of the stock exchange is vested in l the president and secretary backed by | the charmen of two or three committees,
 and of these Mir George Ely, secretary l is most powerful. He is the czar of the
 stock exchange just the same as Speak l CT Cannon is czar of the house of rep 1 resentatives at Washington. He is czar I because the organization behind him wants a man to represent their concern l trated authority. MT. Ely represents the l New York stock exchange in most mat | ters requiring an expression or action l This policy of centralized action has | developed narrowness in the Stock EX- l change which is responsible for much l of the ill-will of the public. Under it's | operation has grown up in the body or | the exchange and as an organization 1 contempt for the public and for public opinion which is reacting upon that in- | stitution in a most uncomfortable way. l It is taking shape in an active move 1 ment for the regulation of the eXchange l and for bringing it within the authority l of the law. Heretofore it has been
 law unto itself, as before stated, and has resisted every effort looking to out l side supervision or inspection or US meth | ods of doing business.
 It has listed securities and by that
 means invited confidence and has persist l ently refused to give the public thus roped l in any knowledge of the value of the l stuff thus sponsored. Tn scores of in l stances the stock exchange has been used l by interruptions individuals and corpora 1 tions and combinations to unload wofth- l less stocks and bonds on the public and 1 at the same time the exchange has arro- | gantly denied responsibility. As an un- 1 incorporated association or club 1t has l held itself to be free from almost every 1 kind of outside restriction. It is now l in danger of being obliged to open It's l doors and to yield to growing demand 1 that it put itself in a position where 1t l can be held responsible for the securities traded on under its protection and by its consent
 If has been remiss in innumerable in l stances in the matter of insisting upon reports from corporations whose securi- | ties are dealt in on the floor and in that
 regard keeping the public blinded to facts it has a right to know of through the ! machinery of the exchange.
 By remorselessly crucifying A. O. Brown & Co.,, the board of governors expect to put themselves and the Stock Ex- change right with the public and with
 Albany and Washington. The erstwhle
 great house Is surely scheduled for the sacrifice. There exists possibility, how ever that the members thereof will re- fuse to allow themselves to be thus held up to public obliquy. There is hint that they intend to make fight for l their lives.
 1 Their friends say they know too much I and that if they are pushed to the wall l they will make the Stock Exchange look l like a financial and commercial abbat- l toir-that if their honor is to be tram
 pied in the mud others will be dragged 1 down. Every member of the firm may
 be classed as a sport" They are all | high rollers and big gamblers, in the ] broad sense of the term, and they resent l the attacks which have been made on the house. They insist they have not in- ] tentionally violated the rules of the ex- 1 change and that if given a fair show will
 work themselves out.
 i The intimation Is further conveyed that l if they are not given a fair show and l that if unsportsmanlike advantage is 1 taken of them for the purpose of sav- i ing the face of the exchange there will l be some awful doings In Wall street. l It is an even bet that the bluff wins 1 out and that some means will be found l to smooth matters out It may be they l are too strong and too influential to be l disciplined and that if the Stock Ex- 1 change wants a horrible example for | purposes of parade they will have to ! look elsewhere and find weaker material. | As to the stock market in general it
 may be said that the power of money | still prevails regardless of outside bus | mess conditions or of the political out 1 look. Iteis now acknowledged that com mercial and industrial improvement has
 been disappointing in its extent and vol
 ume and that the real excuse for the bull movement in stocks Is to be found in cheap money. The banks are still extending favors to the stock gamblers in Wall street and at the same time discriminating against borrowers of the
 mercantile and manufacturing classes Earnings in every department of activity , are far below normal and are apparently not likely to improve the last half of the year. How high the market leaders will be able to move up stocks seems to be matter entirely within their own
 pleasure. Wall street appears to be about the only spot where idle banking capital can be used to advantage, hence 1t seeks