The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-01-30
STOCK EXCHANGES HALO,

o4V - Cu1AkV 1A1 OS~Ac S'N- -
spirit OF Wall street, q dream is evi
deneed by the eloquent words which
William @. Van Antwerp, ono OF Tho
governors Of the exchange, used In hi'
recent address 10 congress. Mr. Var
Antwerp said:
Heresies and schisms come and go;
man-made laws appear and disap-
pear, but the human heart does not
change, and IN the last analysis We
come 10 know that only righteousness
exchange know this today better
than We ever knew 1t before. and We
intend to live by 1t through the
years. We shall make many mis-
takes, no doubt, but we shall stick
TO our standards and rejoice In
them, and some day-mark my
words--ths great market place will
earn the admiration and respect OF
the whole people.
we are determined to show our
critics by our deeds that the stock
exchange means something vital and
vitaDzing in America, that Il is an
important adjunct OF the new Wall
street--a broad highway from ocean
to ocean, doing its utmost to meet the
needs of happy and prosperous
land.
The actions and transactions of GER
tain members of the New York ex-
change through q long series of years
brought legitimate institution into
such disrepute that 1t came to be re-
Carded as America Monte Carlo.
When the enemies of Wall street re-
ferred to the stock exchange they
barped obstreperously on gambling in
stocks" "stock jobbing'' and "Wall
street gamblers as If the exchange
served no useful OF honest purpose.
As matter of fact and truth, the
stock exchange continues to be a grow
ing necessity. The listing of stocks
aud bonds and their sale is essential
TO the business of industrial, municipal
and other corpora tiops. Big business
could not be conducted without some
srIcb institution as the New York stock
exchange. But it must be admitted that
the evils which have arisen in carry.
ing op the legitimate business OF the
exchange have profoundly prejudiced
the American people They have be.
come confirmed IN their belief that
stock exchange transactions do not DIFF
fer from gambling transactions. This
is vital error which has been fos
tered by demagogues and by the un'
thinking who accept catchpenny phrases
for political wisdom.
The disposition evinced by Mr.. Var
Antwerp undoubtedly represents the
disposition of majority of the mem
bers Of the stock exchange, and yet
they have permitted the evils of thai
institution TO grow apace without suf
ficient energy of opposition. 1t is II
be hoped that the spirit of reformation
is not merely moral paro1ysm like
that to which the English people, &C
cording to Macaulay, are subject every
seven years.
"We know of no spectacle so ridlcu
Ions as the British public in one OF
its periodical fits of morality saic
Macaulay. "Iu general, elopements
divorces and family quarrels pass Will
little notice. We read scandal tall
about it for a day, and forget it. Blu
once in six or seven years our virtu
becomes outrageous. We cannot suf
fer the laws of religion and decene
TO be violated. We must teach tn
libertines that the English people ar
preciate the importance of the domesti
ties. We reflect very, CON
pIacently on our own severity and con
pare with great pride the high standar
of morals established in England wit
the Partisan laxity. At length our angc
is satiated. Our victim is ruined an
broken hearted. And our virtue goe
quietly to sleep for seven years more.
IT is to be hoped that the desire u
amendment which Mr.. Van Antwcr
has voiced has something more stab
and permanent in it than the fickl
emotionalism described by the great e
Sayist