Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1913-06-26
%/WY RILL woman ever be-
O0A come a member of the
NV New York Stock EX-
changer"



PRACTICALLY no." says James
B. Mabon, president.
Profound silence overspread the as
semblage of captains Of finance in the
luxuriously appointed library Of the
Exchange building in Wall street
when the question was put. Grizzled
veterans of the financial arena pic
tured handsomely gowned, vivacious
woman pulling and Juggling in the
midst of a couple of hundred perspir-
ing species of male on a hot summers
morning when panic holds the upper
hand They didn't say it, but their i'm
mobile features seconded Mr.. Mabon' s
resonant MOI"
Most of them have wives and daugh-
tiers and sweethearts, and perchance
they lacked the courage to blurt out
an equally emphatic "Yes!"
Women Considered Unified.
James B. Mabon, president OF that
great organization, the financial pulse
of the United States, was not there to
challenge. William c. Van Antworth,
an active member of this monetary
court, volunteered TO plump the query
fairly to Mr.. Mabon. He did, and Mr..
Mabon, without the suggestion of hest
tation, ruled feminines from the run
ming"
Seemingly it was the consensus of
opinion that woman is temperamental
Iy untitled for the battle of dollars as
1t is played in Wall street. The Ex-
change has never been called to pass
officially upon the question. Men who
have weathered typhoons where the
financial flood was seeking to destroy
their fortunes, sweep away their
homes and plunge their loved ones in
to want, display little sentiment. Their
silent but none the less certain YER
dict could not be misread: woman
has no place in the sorry, bitter and
bargaining struggles OF Wall street
She sssSsn't the physical fitness nor
the mental characteristics to navigate
daily that maelstrom Of dollars and
gain safe harbor without paying the
penalty of mentality wrecked upon the
shoals of mercilessness.
Yet there are Exchange members
and prominent men and women In al
most every walk of commercial life
who are championing her claim to MT
ness for seat an Change. They are
as outspoken in commentator OF her
executive and financial ability as is
Mr. Mabon in his opposition.
Woman is represented in almost
every walk of commercial and profes-
sional life She is at the head OF 81
gantic industries; she is the confiden-
tial adviser to men who risk millions
daily upon securities. She is the buffer
between men of immense fortunes and
great business cares and the general
public. Financiers of unquestioned
Judgment have been known to ask her
advice before eonsummating deals in
volving great sums. But she is barred
from the greatest money-chang1ng in
stitution in the United States-the
New York Stock Exchange.
Never Has Sought a Seat.
The Exchange has never had an ap-
.plication from a woman for member
ship. Seemingly, the pit has never ap-
pealed to those feminines who have
brains and the money with which to
purchase a seat. Women have dealt
on Change. but they have been con-
tent to let men fight their battles-to
hermit the broker to execute their
orders and collect his commissions
Further than that woman has never
ATTEMPTED to project herself into the
innermost circles of inside finance.
But of her most ardent champions
who admit they believe her fitted for
the nerve-racking, health-wrecking bat
tie of the pit, are George W. Hurry OF
the firm OF Henry Clews & Co., Mrs.
Alma Webster Powell, who says ''wo-
men are more fit for Stock Exchange
work than men," Nine. Alice de la
Ruelle. government inspector of labor
An France. who believes there should
be full equality of sexes, and Mrs.
Jacques Futrelle, wife of the author
who lost his life on the Titanic.
Mrs. Futrelle's argument as to wo-
mans qualification is decidedly the
most novel Nervousness Is woman's
natural state" she says. She would
he quite at home on the floor OF the
Exchange. She can go into Mysteries
one minute and be perfectly recovered
and calm the next. Can man? No!
RI A man gives himself up to his
nerves he Is i'll for weeks.
II do not see why woman should be
haired from membership on Change
lust because of her sex. II women sue
coed in getting the ballot they will be
citizens with the same right as men.
II woman like Mrs. Hetty Green, for
instance, should apply for a seat on
the Exchange, 1t seems to me her APP
plication should be acted upon favor
ably. Even II she never appeared on
the floor. she should have the right
to own a seat.
II do not like the idea of men hold
ing out against women just because