The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-04-02
CHANGE BUSINESS
ON BETTER BASIS
Several Failures to Result in
More Close Enforce
ment of Rules.

That the three recent failures Of men,
bers OF the Salt Lake Stock & Mining ex-
change will result in clearing the atmos-
phere, as It were, and placing the bust
ness of the exchange upon better basis
than has obtained for some time Is the
belief of members genrally, who yester-
day expressed them selves upon the sub
5ect. At a meeting Of the membership coisl-
mittee OF the exchange held yesterday
afternoon a call was made for every
member to render q statement of MS
financial condition. This was done, not
because there is apprehension that there
ere others whose situation is 'shaky, put
as a means of re-establishing and main
tanning confidence.
The membership committee of the board
of governors has the right TO require any
member TO make financial statement at
any time, and il is now recognized tnat
the calling for such statements from al
members at not infrequent intervals
would be an excellent procedure, ana II
will probably be carried out
LAS a matter of fact" said one promi-
nent member yesterday, the eXchahsS
as an organization has all the rules and
provisions required for protecting mem
bers and the public from just such ran
lures as we have had lately. 1t is only
1axity In enforcing the rules that has
1naCe losses possible. For example, every
member has the right to demand the cash
or a certified check before he delivers
stock which has been sold. And when
seller or buyer is executed the STOCK
and 80 per cent of its total value must
be deposited. 1t is failure to strictly
xnforce such rules which leads TO trouble.
"Seller" Privilege Abused.
Some brokers favor abolishing the sell
sr and buyer privileges, so called. but
hbolshing them has been tried hereto
fore without satisfactory results There
are ways of evading such prohibition, and
as long as stocks are dealt in futures
will, to some extent. be a feature or the
GRADING. II is abuse of the privilege
which results in evil. With enforcement
of the rules we have, the abuse would De
RtrtuGIiy eliminated.
sIn times of depression the seller priv
1ege especially acts as safety valve
Anyone who has closely watched the &C
zion of the market will have noticed tndt
slumps are always arrested by brokers
covering their shorts, long before 1t would
be done by public buying. This was par
REGULARLY noticeable in the recent declines
of the Tintics. Had it not been for the
short interests there is no question that
Colorado and Iron Blossom, for example,
would have gone much lower than they
did Trouble was caused by many OF the
Brokers continuing to short While the
STEADY advance has been under way.
s'It will be noted that the brokers are
She ones who a.. suffering at this timei
Il is not the &c. The public, or
portion OF ii, was caught in buyers when
prices were going down. / do not believe
that futures should be abolished, but l
DO contend that every broker who cares
Tor his own reputation or for the welfare
of his customers will discourage the reck-
less use of those privileges, and L hold
that the exchange rules governing them
should be strictly enforced. With that
done our exchange business will be upon
O sound footing and there will be STEADY
increase of public trading.