El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-11
STOCK BROKERS
PENNILE5S NOW
Many Clerks, StenogTaphers
and Bookkeepers Are
Thrown Out by War.

war has played havoc In wall street
That crooked thoroughfare. with
river al one end and a cemetery at the
/ other is only a wrath OF its former
self While il would be an eNaggera-
tion to say that grass is growing in
wall street, there has been great diff
ference in the place since the stock
exchange closed a month ago
People still pass frequently along
I Broad and Wall streets, few men
stand in the open space at Broad street
and Exchange place, and the cabbies
still browse on the stand before the
stock exchange. but all is not as it once
Nobody seems to be in a hurry. There
is no shouting and gesticulatiou from
windows. giving quotations and orders
to waiting brokers in the street One
receives the distinct impression that
the sidewalk pedestrians are walking
TO kill time.
The War Has Done II.
But now and then man or woman
passes by whose faces one can tell
they are people without jobs Because
Of the war in Europe. which paralyzed
the markets Of the world, hundreds Of
men and women in Wall street-boOk
keepers, clerks and stenOgraphers-are
out Of employment. watching their
small savings dWindle away. facing
some Of them, the prospect Of going
hungry ere long
The brokers declare that they are
no better off than the employees they
have discharged How could we help
ourselves demanded one broker I'VE
did not wish TO turn off men ana
women we had trusted, in some cases.
Tor years. But what recourse have we
Ny firm is a small one. yet with the
help reduced to a minimum and my
partners and ] doing most OF the book
Keeping. the offices expenses are 500
aQaF. W lLn no new business Of any
sort, that means our net loss is 500 a
day, or $1,000 a month. Besides that
nave the interest TO pay on my seat
on the stock exchange / bought mine
Wnen business was good and paid
$4,000 for it. All this counts up.
am living on my savings None OF the
brokers In the street are any better
OF than l am and many Of them are in
much worse plight
Some Hold Their Stats.
DlIIeI enI llrmS nave pursued differ
enr policies in dealing with the unique
SITUATION presented by the shutting off
or speculative trade Some firms
which feel sufficiently prosperous. have I
retained all their help. But in the
majority Of cases there has been at
least partial reduction OF the staffs Z
me newer employees We're given q
weeks or two weeks salary and dis
missed with the promise they would
be given tIrSt chance at their old posi-
uons when business was resumed.
Again some firms expect their en-
p-oyes 10 report at the offices every
morning as II business were going on,
WnlLe few Of the firms are paving Z
them 70 stay away from the offices and !
get the benefit Of a real vacation
me same state Of affairs prevails &
now more or less in the shipping trade /
W lIh little or no steamship traffic and I
Importation at a sraudsti7I there Is
nothing shipping employees can do anv
more Inan stock brokers clerks
The Only Prosperous Ones
almost verybody down town claims
20 be losing money One must stop
~ rev street 20 observe isolated cases I
OF prosperity, all the more striking
Tor their rarity These are the Put
and CalI' men and they are the only
ones OF the financial district who know
prosperity The dealers on the stock .
eAGnanse' the consolidated exchange D
anu the cuED market are forbidden TO
trade, which leaves a free market for
the irregulars on New street
And the sudden prosperity thar has
come come 70 them IS proof that even in !
ZINES or financial stress. there is con- ]
siderable minority of dyed in the wool i
SPECTATORS who Will take any risks /
purely for the love Of the game.
But the pinch Of hard times bears
most heavily on the small fry rather I
imam on the firms employing them or
on the independent broker. 1t is the
lnulVldual stenographer or clerk who
~ losl tne JOB. that means food and
sleHer' perhaps for more than one
W 10 IS bearing the bruur OF the actual /
suffering
job Hunters Many.
81 ~ 81 - -lu hunters are seen IN j
me region OF Wall street. but not many
any man or woman with strength OF I
-nlnd realizes that il is futile % trv TO /
ma work In Wall street in such times J
only those hopeless ones who have :
-Fleu and failed. drift back again 7
-ramplng the streets. waiting YEARLY at
doors haunting Hobbies Of big office /
buildings, searching for some old ac-
lualntance who may have for them I
me long sought word OF cheer.
Their plight is becoming well nfgh I
2 hopeless one A month has passed
and the end is further off than the
beginning The suffering or the Wall
street employees is none the less real
because they are not the kind 70 join
he bread lines or organize demonstra-
ions belore the citv haI