The mirror., 1916-12-14
.C@

CdIl easily SlSIldl C1clT Sales anu
purchases, in the deaf and dumb
language, to their assistants in the
open windows above them. The
National City Bank, reputed to be
the largest and most progressive
bank in the country, is situated
just around the corner on Wall
Street from Broad Street, while
other large banking houses occupy
the buildings for several blocks
further east on Wall.
This, then, is the center, or hub,
of the well-known and epoch max
ing financial district of the new
world, familiarly known as Wall
Street. AS is the case with Lom-
bard Street in London, England,
and the Boulevard Houseman in
Paris, France, the street is simply
significant of the district at large.
We have said that the New York
Stock Exchange Building was situ-
ated on Broad Street near Wall.
What is this organization? How
did it originate and what functions
does it perform? These and a hun
dred other similar questions every
one who is not familiar with such
matters will ask at once.
The Stock Exchange in New
York was born of the necessity for
men having stocks, bonds and
other valuable securities for sale,
of having some common meeting
place, where they could meet at
stated times and subject to known
rules, to do such trading. just as
in the early days, the farmers came
to the town market on certain
specified days in the month and
there sold their produce to the
townspeople, who in that case were
the purchasers, so the brokers,
who now represent their clients
and who wish to buy and sell mar
ketable financial securities, used to
meet in similar manner, at first
without very much formality, to
do their trading for their clients.
With the increase of wealth dur
ing the past century-that is, since
the beginning of the industrial age
which age began with the in
vention of steam power during the
latter part of the eighteenth GEN.
tury, there followed quickly the
adoption of machinery for manu-
featuring purposes where formerly
the same work had been done
by hand, and with the final adapta-
tion of electricity to means of
transportation and communication,
the era of the joint stock company
came into being, and with it's ad-
vent the market place for it's
securities, stocks and bonds be-
came more and more important
institution, until finally the mar
ket itself was incorporated by the
state legislature and endowed with
certain well-known and defined
powers. Under it's charter of in
corporation a certain definite num-
ber of memberships were allowed
it and the par value of each such
membership was fixed, whatever
that amount might be. 1t was to
be managed by a board of gov
ernors, whose duty it was to for
mulate rules for the protection,
not only of it's members in their
reciprocal trading, but also for the
protection of their clients the
dear public %
Whereas, during it's infancy Sc
curities of every conceivable kind,
from the wildcat mining promo
tion to the gilt-edge railroad bond,
were bought and sold on the floor
of the Exchange, as time went on.
the necessity for discrimination
grew more and more urgent, until
at the present time only those
stocks and bonds which are we'll
seasoned and dividend-payers are
allowed to be listed" and dealt in
~, kho Evohoruo I>x, 10 ,oooooLo.o