The study of any form of economic development, like the study of sciences and philosophies, requires infinite patience. But the “man in the street” is bored to death by such methods; he wants to take a short cut to his conclusions; merely tasting the Pierian spring he hurries on to judgments6 that are superficial, haphazard8, and often crude and blundering. And yet at bottom this4 man, a good citizen with an open mind, invariably wants the truth. He may be too busy to dig it up himself, but he knows it when he sees it, and once he has grasped it he has no patience with those who seek to turn him from it. To this average man, who holds in his hands the balance of power in America, I venture to say something about markets.
The first thing a man asks when he wishes to buy is “the price.” Every minute of the day, all over the world, that question is on men’s lips. As it is a necessary prelude9 to all forms of trade, it follows that everything that enters into the making of prices becomes at once of primary importance. The more scientific the price, and the nicer and more accurate the making of it, the better the bargain for both buyer and seller and for trade generally, bearing in mind the distinction between prices, which are temporary and move rapidly—and values, which are intrinsic and move slowly. The price of a thing is what you can get for it; the value is its real worth to you, and hence it cannot be defined or measured, since a thousand considerations may enter into it, such as caprice, sentiment or association. If real values could be determined10, they would necessarily be identical with prices, but as they cannot be ascertained11 in ordinary commodities of trade, prices5 become the really essential considerations and values the subordinate ones. Let us see, then, how prices are made, for this is one of the reasons why exchanges exist.
If you want to buy, let us say, a piano, you go to the dealer12 and ask the price, and as he is the only person in the neighborhood who deals in pianos, you must either accept his offer or look elsewhere. But to look elsewhere takes time and labor13; dealers14 in pianos are widely separated; moreover, there is no open competition among them such as you would like, and so finally when you have bought you feel perhaps you have not secured your money’s worth. You would have secured a much better bargain, no doubt, had there been twenty dealers in the room competing with each other, and a still better bargain had their number been fifty, or a hundred, or two hundred, because that would mean competition, and the more competition there is, in close contact and governed by rigid15 business rules, the more certain the approach to a perfect price. Everywhere in the world fairs and other gatherings16 of merchants are held at periodic intervals17 because people demand them in their effort to secure proper prices by competitive bidding and offering. One of the first travelers to penetrate18 the heart of Africa found among the natives this phenomenon of trade,6 showing that it is instinctive19; indeed, it may be traced to the earliest known period in the history of any people. If you arise before daybreak in London and go to Billingsgate and Covent Garden, or in Paris to the Halles Centrales—Zola’s “Ventre de Paris”—you will find there the modern type of these markets in their utmost perfection.1
This is why Exchanges exist, not only Stock Exchanges, but market-places of all kinds: Buyers seek the largest market they can get in order to obtain the lowest prices; sellers, in order to obtain the highest prices; and so it was learned long ago that economy of time and labor, as well as a theoretically perfect market, could be best secured by an organization under one roof of as many dealers in a commodity as could be found.2 Bear in mind that this result, moreover, is best accomplished20 when the organization is so controlled by rigid rules of business morality as to insure to every one who does business there, great and small, rich and poor, an absolutely square deal. In such a market every purchase is made with the most thorough acquaintance with the conditions involved. Each dealer, each broker21, each speculator, strives to obtain the best knowledge7 of the supply and demand, and the earliest news that may affect it, and each buyer or seller has an equal and a fair opportunity to profit by the resultant effect on the market of all these various agencies. The larger the body of brokers23 and traders, then, the more accurate the standards of value thus created. It is a pity you could not have bought your piano under such conditions.3
Demagogues have set the agricultural classes against Wall Street and against Exchanges, but producers everywhere, in default of exchanges, are forming quasi-exchanges of their own. Every day we hear of combinations, Farmers’ Alliances, rural co-operative movements, etc., each designed to regulate the market for eggs, butter, potatoes, and such things, and each having for its purpose the very functions which govern a Stock Exchange in its own field—namely, the establishment of a fair price under the nearest possible approach to ideal conditions. It is now proposed in Congress that the Department of Agriculture shall collect and transmit to the agricultural districts by telephone and telegraph all available information concerning price movements, markets, and centres of supply and demand, this again embodying8 the essential functions performed in its own field by a great exchange.
In practice, of course, there can be no exchange to deal in perishable24 products of the farm, and this is a pity, because if such an exchange were practicable we should hear less of our old friend the cost of living. Why? Because at present the market for these commodities is controlled by commission dealers and by middlemen. The producer and the consumer are alike at the mercy of these people; the price is fixed25 by them; the number of bona fide dealers actually bidding against each other is limited, in many instances there is no competition whatever; the producer and the commission dealer are, moreover, widely separated; the man who sells has few sources of information, and it is the business of the dealer who buys to see that he gets none; the small producer therefore has to submit to a great inequality in price, and often to downright cheating. There is no standard. There are no rules governing the dealer, and no high-minded board to enforce his honesty. Naturally this sort of thing contributes to the cost of living, since the commission dealer, on his part, regulates his profits just in proportion to the ignorance, cupidity26 or remoteness of the farmer, while the middlemen, of whom there are sometimes three or four, apply the same9 iniquitous27 processes to the ultimate purchaser—who happens to be you or me. Every thinking man knows that this is rank economic error.4
A friend of mine owns a thousand-acre farm in the Shenandoah Valley, where he raised this year 10,000 baskets of peaches. He decided28 to seek one buyer, and he found him in the person of a Baltimore canner, who went down to Virginia, inspected the crop, and contracted for the lot on a basis of $1 for firsts, 70 cents for seconds, and 40 cents for thirds, delivered at Baltimore. Shortly after, the market was flooded with peaches from Georgia, and the Baltimore man, seeing that the crop would be plentiful29, promptly30 “welched” on his trade, basing his action on the absurd contention31 that “firsts” should be three inches in diameter, although as every one knows peaches of this size are almost never to be had. This action threw all the grower’s peaches into third class, which delivered at Baltimore would have netted him about 10 cents a basket.
In desperation he looked elsewhere, West, North, and South, only to hear the same monotonous32 answer from commission men, “we won’t buy, but we will handle your crop on a commission of 10 per cent.” Meantime the crop was ripening33. To make10 matters worse the railroad levied34 a prohibitive price, and refrigerator cars were not to be had. Finally there was nothing left but to ship by express and trust to the commission men to treat him honestly. The final accounting35 showed that on his first shipment he netted 5? cents a basket, and on his second, 15 cents, not counting the expense of picking, packing, and hauling. So much for the producer. The consumer fared no better, for he had to pay $1.25 per basket for this fruit; one of this producer’s friends actually purchasing a portion of this very consignment36 at that rate. The difference therefore between 15 cents and $1.25 contributes some food for thought as to the cost of living.5
Now contrast this experience of a grower having no exchange facilities with that of the Western farmer who deals directly with a Grain Exchange. The farmer can sell his crop, even though it has not been planted. Whenever he sells, and under whatever conditions, he enjoys the authoritative38 establishment of a price, fixed as clearly as matters are fixed in law. Moreover, the price at which he elects to sell is the best price, the fairest price, and the most scientific price that human agencies can arrive at, because it is made11 by world-wide competitive bidding at the hands of skilled men in Chicago, in New York, in Liverpool, in Berlin, in Odessa, and in the Argentine, all competing by cable and telegraph. Think of the confidence he enjoys, and the liberty of action; think, too, what it means to him to know that the Exchange through which he deals is a body of honorable men, governed by rules, bidding publicly under one roof.
But, you will say, this is all very well in its application to a grain or cotton exchange, but how does it apply to the Stock Exchange? You concede that scientific price-making for commodities like grain and cotton is highly necessary, but you do not see that the same necessity exists for stocks and bonds. You feel, no doubt, that the one has to do with food and raiment and is therefore indispensable, while the other merely serves to stimulate39 speculation and gambling, and hence is altogether unnecessary. Now, in order to explain the error in this point of view, let us first see how bits of paper, called securities, came into being.
Long after Europe had emerged from the dark centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, the needs of states and governments impelled40 their rulers to resort to credit, and it was discovered that the simplest way to do it was to12 issue securities, that is to say, certificates of the debt. Next, it was found that in order to insure success for these operations, a market was required. Intermittent41 or temporary sources from which credit could be obtained was not enough; constant sources of credit were essential, and, as these constant sources lay in the savings42 of the people, public markets in which investors44 could tell the value of their investments from day to day followed as a natural course.6
As time went on—necessarily the evolution was gradual—it was learned that companies having to do with all forms of business enterprises might also be formed on the same basis. The development of the world’s business outgrew45 its infancy46 days of private partnerships47, and corporate48 organization of necessity took their place, now that the discovery of credit, through the use of securities, had pointed49 the way. This corporate organization, which combines the small13 savings of thousands into large sums and gives to the masses an intelligent directing force at the hands of highly trained experts, depends for its existence on the sale of its securities.
In order to understand that there can be no industrial progress without the issue of securities let us consider the locomotive engine. When in the early 1800’s it became apparent that this contrivance could be used to operate an entirely50 new method of transportation, people looked upon it, at first, as an interesting but quite useless contrivance, because to build railroads was an expensive undertaking51 and nobody had enough money to finance it. The inventor’s genius was not sufficient; another power was necessary to take it out of purely52 scientific hands and give it practical impulse. That power was credit; the way it was obtained was through the issue of securities, and the way securities were made popular vehicles of investment lay in providing a daily market for buyers and sellers.
As a natural result, organization followed. Capital was consolidated53, the rights of owners were established, a great impulse was given to various new forms of inventive genius and powerful commercial enterprises of all kinds sprang into being. With this development the market-places or Stock Exchanges without which capital could not14 have been enlisted54 kept pace. It was found that transactions in the securities which represented the people’s money should be rendered easy, quick, and safe, and that the very essence of the Exchange’s functions consisted in protecting the people who were the actual owners of the enterprises by rules that would insure this result.
If we look about us to-day we find in all the great centres of the world Stock Exchanges at work in this important field. We find that just in proportion to the confidence which a country feels in the strength and uprightness of such a market, so enterprise goes forward with vigor55, and so the national wealth increases. The success of one enterprise in its appeal to public credit through the medium of the Stock Exchange invariably leads to another; thus commerce and industry develop. Securities in America alone, aggregate56 the enormous total of forty-three billion dollars.7
Now, as our country’s entire physical properties are valued at one hundred and thirty billions, it is15 apparent (after making allowances for securities that are held by holding companies and hence are duplicated in the foregoing estimates) that the nation’s securities represent more than a third of the nation’s wealth. Again, almost two million people are owners of these securities. The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin published Dec. 26, 1912, official statistics for 247 of the large corporations. This tabulation57 revealed the fact that the stock of these 247 corporations alone was owned by more than a million stockholders, and it is therefore quite safe to infer that the number of shareholders60 in all American companies approaches, if it does not exceed, two million. I think it will not be disputed that where two million people own a third of the nation’s wealth, they are entitled, just as the farmer is, to a perfectly61 constructed price-making machinery62 that will enable them to invest their savings, or sell their holdings. Having learned the difficult lesson of saving their money and the still more difficult one of increasing their surplus capital by judicious63 investments, are not these people entitled to the safeguards afforded by a Stock Exchange? “There is no other way in which true prices can be made,” says Mr. Horace White. “If the quotations64 so made are not precisely65 the truth in every case, they are the16 nearest approach to it that mankind has yet discovered.”8
Think a moment. Until the last century property and trade were so insecure that, if a man saved money, he had to hide it, or lend it through money-brokers at such usurious rates as would compensate66 him for what he lost in bad debts. When Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary in 1776 no such word as “investor43” was known to the English language in a financial sense. There were pirates by sea in the old days and brigands67 on land. “Sovereigns and nobles,” says the editor of the Economist4, “extorted loans only to repudiate68 them; governments supplied their needs by debasing the coinage, or by issuing worthless money.”9 To-day all this is changed by banks17 and Stock Exchanges. Yet, despite these great inventions, capital is and always will be timid, and the small investor particularly must be protected and safeguarded in every possible way.
These small investors, no less than the large ones, require great convenience and promptness for their operations; they live in such widely remote parts of the country as to necessitate69 the placing of full reliance on prices made by the Stock Exchange; they must have the most accurate information; they must know that their brokers are working to obtain the best knowledge of supply and demand; they want prices fixed by the most scientific competition and by the largest possible number of competitors—brokers, speculators, and investors alike; they require a market in which they can sell and get their money at once; above all things they must know beyond peradventure that they are dealing70 with reputable men who uphold a fine standard of honor. These are added reasons why the Stock Exchange exists.10
18 If it did not exist, there would be no standard market for a large part of the country’s material wealth, indeed, as we have seen, a very great deal of this wealth could not have been created at all. At the risk of repetition let me say that the investor on the one hand, and the patent or the railway on the other hand, have nothing in common. Left to themselves, they would never meet; they would be useless, because resources and money must be brought together in order to create wealth. A primary function of the Stock Exchange is to bring them together, and by standardizing71 prices, create values. Similarly, the investor, without the Stock Exchange to guide him, would have nowhere to turn for a fair price secured by competitive bidding. He might turn to his local banker, or to individual and unorganized brokers, and trust to their honesty to invest his savings for him, but the local banker and the isolated72 broker would then be in the same position as the commission19 dealer and the middleman who played such havoc73 with that peach crop. It is painful to conceive such a situation.
Worse than that, without a Stock Exchange to create standards and define the difference between good and bad investments, very many simple people would be at the mercy of an army of dishonest promoters and bucket-shops, for the modern invention of securities has brought with it dangers and pitfalls74. The United States once swarmed75 with these bandits—they are now rapidly being driven to cover—but they still ply22 their trade in other countries, where they flourish as “banks” or “investment” companies. These chaps, to quote the editor of the Economist (London), “have bought a lot of rubbish, usually called ‘bonds,’ from shaky industrial concerns or from half bankrupt states and municipalities of South America. They have bought, let us say, the 6 per cent. bonds of the Yoko Silk Company in Japan at 60, which they sell you at 90, the 5 per cent. bonds of the Brazilian Province of —— at 55, which they sell you at 75, and a few other similar bargains. They tell you that if you spread your risks scientifically over different countries you will be perfectly safe. You perhaps do not realize that none of these securities which you are advised to buy are quoted in the London Stock Exchange.20 If they were the game would be impossible.” Which is only another way of saying that if there were no Stock Exchanges to uphold worthy76 enterprises and discourage bad ones, there would be no limit to the frauds practised upon gullible77 investors. And if this is true of a tight little island like England, how doubly true it is in a great country like ours where investors are so widely scattered78.
The foregoing pages will serve to show the inquirer that what is happening in commerce, is happening in the securities which represent that commerce. Because commerce goes on expanding, securities must necessarily keep pace and the Stock Exchange must perforce grow in importance. That much maligned79 individual, the speculator, now regards the whole world as his field and is eager to enter foreign markets wherever there are opportunities. In 1910 more than three billion dollars of British capital were invested in American railways alone, returning one hundred and twenty-five millions annually80 in interest and dividends81, to say nothing of the English millions in our lands, mines, and industrial enterprises. We too are large holders59 of foreign securities, and the list of such holdings increases yearly. But it may be accepted as a fact that this enormous mass of corporate securities would not21 have found ownership had there been no Stock Exchange to market them, and standardize82 them, and establish daily prices for them, and give them the certificate of character that makes them ideal collateral83 for obtaining credit.
Dr. W. Lexis, of Gottingen, like all other economists, recognizes the fact that Stock Exchanges are economic necessities. Here are his opinions:
“The existence of a broad, continuous market is an economic necessity in the modern scheme of widespread investment of capital. Even though the market-place is largely filled with speculators, it is plain that the greater the number of traders in securities, the greater will be the facility for buying and selling any quantity of securities. The stock market is a powerful aid in floating new issues of public securities. The speculative84 market takes them at once and keeps them in the floating supply until they have shown their value. The stock market also renders a useful service in giving a continuous guide to the success or failure of industrial undertakings85, and the worth of their securities. The more speculators there are trading in any particular security, the greater is the opportunity to learn the real conditions of the undertaking. Private investors, from a study of the speculative market in the securities they own, receive in this way a continuous market opinion on the condition of the corporations in which they are shareholders.”11
Another great service rendered by the Stock Exchange is the means it affords of readily transferring22 securities from hand to hand. To appreciate the importance of this fact you have but to think of the difficulties and delays that attend the transfer of other forms of property that do not enjoy Exchange facilities. Real estate, for example, is a most excellent form of investment. But suppose the owner of real estate wants to sell in a hurry, what then? There is no large organized market, there is no way by which through competitive bidding, he can place a correct estimate of the importance of current events upon the price of his land. In the urgency of his needs he may easily be misled by “smart” or unscrupulous advisers86, and this risk increases in direct proportion to his remoteness from large market centres.
The holder58 of securities listed on the Stock Exchange is quite differently situated87. He is altogether independent. He knows the price of his holdings every hour of the day. He is exposed to no fraud, and at the mercy of no rumor88 and no unscrupulous dealer. He has positive assurance that in case of necessity, at a moment’s notice, he can obtain at the prevailing89 price the value in cash of every Stock Exchange security in his box. The ticker gives him instantaneous quotations. All the newspapers publish authorized90 prices for his benefit, and, as we have just23 seen, these quotations are not a one-man affair, but the combined judgment7 of thousands of experts, bulls and bears, bankers and brokers, speculators and investors, all over the world, bidding and offering against each other by cable and telegraph and recording91 the epitomized result of their bidding in the prices current on the Stock Exchange. Such a man knows, moreover, that the price thus established is not merely the opinion of all these minds as to values to-day, but that it represents a critical look into the future. He knows, indeed, that financiers everywhere have in mind prospective92 values rather than present values, and so he acquires a double advantage in regulating his own action by the light of the superior knowledge thus freely given him. The importance of this “advance information” cannot be overestimated93, and furnishes us with another reason why Stock Exchanges exist.
In 1906, for example, business conditions in this country were the best ever known. Good crops, big earnings94, and general optimism prevailed. But Stock Exchange securities did not advance in the last half of the year, because trained financiers began to foresee the first signs of trouble ahead. In the early months of 1907 this knowledge became more general, and a severe decline took place, notwithstanding the fact that the business24 of the country at large continued to be excellent. “What is the matter with Wall Street?” was the question in the press and on the lips of the uninformed, but Wall Street, or rather the Stock Exchange, was merely fulfilling its function as a barometer96 and foretelling97 the coming storm.
At the height of the autumn panic, on the other hand, when the press was filled with dire37 forebodings and the ignorant layman98 was frightened out of his wits, securities stopped declining and began to rise because the Stock Exchange mind saw that the worst was over. The brightest financial students in the world then began another process of discounting the future; the barometer plainly foretold99 the end of the disturbance100. And all this information—a fundamental law of price movements which indicated clearly when the trouble was coming and when it had ended—was given gratis101 to the world in the daily published quotations of Stock Exchange securities.
In another chapter I shall describe the method by which the Stock Exchange protects its patrons, the public. As this is of particular importance in connection with the matters just cited, I call the reader’s attention to the remarks of Prof. S. S. Huebner, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania.
25
“Importance must be attached to the protection and safeguards which organized Stock Exchanges give the stock and bond holder, in regulating brokerage transactions and maintaining a standard of commercial honor among brokers.... In this connection it should be remembered that the constitution of nearly every Stock Exchange defines the object of the Exchange as follows: ‘Its object shall be to furnish Exchanges, rooms and other facilities for the convenient transaction of business by its members, as brokers; to maintain high standards of commercial honor and integrity among its members, and to promote and inculcate just and equitable102 principles of trade and business.’ No person can be elected to membership until he has signed the constitution of the Exchange, and by such signature he obligates himself to abide103 by the same, and by all subsequent amendments104 thereto. The value of this organization becomes apparent when we take account of the gigantic frauds perpetrated upon innocent investors through advertising105 campaigns by persons unaffiliated with any recognized Exchange, or by certain members of unorganized curb106 markets....
“All Stock Exchanges provide for the arbitration107 of disputes which may occur between members, and if both parties are willing, between members and their customers. They also prescribe rules governing the nature of contracts, the making of all offers and bids, the registry and transfer of securities on the transfer books of the corporations, and the conditions upon which securities may be listed upon the Exchange for trading purposes. Practically all stock Exchanges also require that all transactions must be real, and that no fictitious108 or unreal transactions shall be permitted; that discretionary orders cannot be accepted by brokers; and that every member of the Exchange must keep complete accounts, subject at all times to examination by the governing committee or any standing95 or special committee of the Exchange, and under penalty of suspension, no member26 may refuse or neglect to submit such accounts, or wilfully109 destroy the same. Nor may any member, under pain of suspension (a serious penalty, involving not merely the loss of the rights and privileges of membership, but also the stigma110 attaching to the member as a factor in the business community), be guilty of ‘any conduct or proceeding111 inconsistent with just and equitable principles of trade.’”12
One of the most important functions of the Stock Exchange is, as we have seen, the almost automatic ease with which it directs reservoirs of capital into channels of usefulness in the world’s industry and commerce. The layman may feel that this use of the Stock Exchange does not affect him as an individual, but it does, and vitally. Every merchant and every manufacturer, great and small, all over the world, is directly benefited by it. One may see, for example, securities of railway equipment companies quoted for weeks at a low level. This shows that the business of these companies is not profitable, and it serves to discourage owners of capital from undertaking new enterprises in that direction, because the securities of such companies cannot be sold. Moreover, it shows investors, as plainly as words can tell, that this is an unsafe and unprofitable form of investment.
27 Reverse the situation, and lines of industry are revealed where high and advancing prices of securities indicate a rising tide of business, with an outlook for large profits in the future. Capital then takes hold cheerfully; there is a market for the new securities and a proper basis for fresh commercial development, because investors and speculators have learned from the published daily quotations of these Stock Exchange securities that there is good warrant for the flow of capital into such channels, and that a reasonably safe return will follow an investment in them. In commenting upon these functions of the Stock Exchange, Mr. Conant says: “Through the publicity112 of knowledge and prices, the bringing of a multitude of fallible judgments upon this common ground, to an average, there is afforded to capital throughout the world an almost unfailing index of the course in which new production should be directed.” Through the mechanism113 of the Stock Exchange, therefore, the public determines the direction in which new capital shall be applied114 to new undertakings. In this way our great railways were built, our Western country opened to progress, and our vast industrial undertakings made possible.
“The stock market acts as a reservoir and distributor of capital, with something of the same efficiency with which a series of well-regulated locks and dams operates to equalize28 the irregular current of a river. The hand of man is being stretched out in the valley of the Nile to build great storage basins and locks, and the waters which flow down the great river may be husbanded until they are needed, when they are released in small but sufficient quantities to fertilize115 the country and tide over the periods of drought. Something of the same service is performed for accumulation of capital by the delicate series of reservoirs, sluice116 gates, and locks provided by the mechanism of the stock market. The rate of interest measures the rise and fall of the supply of capital, as the locks determine the ebb117 and flow of the life-giving water. The existence of negotiable securities is in the nature of a great reservoir, obviating118 the disastrous119 effects of demands which might drain away the supply of actual coin, and preventing the panic and disaster, which, without such a safeguard, would frequently occur in the market for capital.”13
Some day, no doubt, the United States will become a great creditor120 nation, as England is, and then the field of these operations will be extended to other countries. When that time comes we shall take a hand, through the machinery of the Stock Exchange, in the development of new and immense fields of human endeavor just as London does to-day. To what extent could capital exports of such tremendous economic significance continue if so useful and so indispensable an institution as the Stock Exchange were abolished or interrupted? It was Burke who said that “great empires and little minds go ill together,” and so29 it is with great markets and little critics. There can be no worthier121 purpose in the commercial world than the upbuilding of a great centre of credit designed to finance material enterprise, enrich the world, and extend the benefits of civilization to new lands and new people, based upon the credit supplied by the banker, the money provided by the speculator and investor, and the safeguards afforded by the Stock Exchange. And yet, curiously122, the greater the effort in these directions, the greater the criticism. Just in proportion to the perfection with which all these agencies equalize prices, economize123 time and effort, and protect the public, so they seem to attract attention, comment, and attack.14
In Wall Street, according to this viewpoint, everything is tainted124, sinister125, reprehensible126, covetous127 and unscrupulous, just as it follows the onward128 march of invention, science, and progress.30 This sort of criticism will not, of course, continue. The man in the street—the average layman to whom I have ventured to address this chapter will learn sooner or later—in point of fact he is learning now—that the questionable129 practices in Wall Street which started all this hubbub130, and which were a natural and a human accompaniment of the slowly developed technique of this or any other business, have now been effectually stopped. It has been a very long time, for example, since Jay Gould ran his printing-press for Erie certificates, and that incident cannot possibly happen again. The Keene type of manipulator has gone, never to return. “Corners,” too, have seen their last day on ’Change, and so also have other artificial impediments in the way of natural supply and demand. It has been years since the Cordage scandal, and the Hocking Coal incident marked the end of that form of manipulation. Yet there are persons who talk of these things as though they were daily occurrences, overlooking the fact that the New York Stock Exchange, by its own efforts put a stop to the evils complained of, and will never tolerate their return.
McMaster in his “History of the People of the United States” tells us that in the early days in New England public sentiment was so aroused31 against the legal profession that lawyers “were denounced as banditti, as blood-suckers, pick-pockets, windbags131 and smooth-tongued rogues132.” At that period in our history feeling ran so high against banks and bankers that Aaron Burr was only able to procure133 a charter for the Manhattan (Banking134) Company by resorting to the subterfuge135 of naming it, in the Act, “a Company to furnish the City with water.” No doubt all this rancor136 and hostility137 seemed a very serious matter to the lawyers and bankers of those days, just as the criticism of to-day strikes home to members and friends of the Stock Exchange.
The lawyers made many mistakes a century and a half ago when the code and its practice were imperfectly understood in this country; so it was with the early history of banking; and so in our time Wall Street and the Stock Exchange have made the mistakes which any gradually developing form of enterprise must make. But these mistakes are dead or dying, and, in their place, no doubt, there will come a better understanding all around. When that day dawns the thoughtful American will realize that the particular r?le which the Stock Exchange plays in promoting all forms of commercial endeavor is a boon138 such as no country in the history of earlier days ever enjoyed. He will contemplate139 his country’s progress32 with pride; he will rejoice in its capacity to outstrip140 other countries; he will acclaim141 its advancement142 toward the proud position now held by England, the banker and the clearing-house of the world. And he will learn—this thoughtful citizen—that material achievements like these cannot be attained143 without a market for capital and a market for securities.
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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economists
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| n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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economist
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| n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人 | |
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utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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prelude
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determined
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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13
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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14
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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15
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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17
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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18
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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19
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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20
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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21
broker
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| n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排 | |
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22
ply
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| v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲 | |
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23
brokers
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| n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排… | |
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24
perishable
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| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
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25
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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26
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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27
iniquitous
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| adj.不公正的；邪恶的；高得出奇的 | |
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28
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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29
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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30
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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31
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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32
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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33
ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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34
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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35
accounting
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| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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36
consignment
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| n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物 | |
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37
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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38
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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39
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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40
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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42
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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43
investor
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| n.投资者，投资人 | |
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44
investors
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| n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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45
outgrew
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去式 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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46
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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47
partnerships
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| n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系 | |
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48
corporate
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| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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49
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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50
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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51
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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52
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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53
consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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54
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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55
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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56
aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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57
tabulation
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| 作表，表格； 表列结果； 列表； 造表 | |
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58
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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59
holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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60
shareholders
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| n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 ) | |
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61
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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62
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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63
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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64
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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65
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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66
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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67
brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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68
repudiate
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| v.拒绝，拒付，拒绝履行 | |
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69
necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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70
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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71
standardizing
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| 使合乎规格，使标准化( standardize的现在分词 )； 规格化 | |
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72
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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73
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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74
pitfalls
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| （捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误 | |
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75
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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76
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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77
gullible
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| adj.易受骗的；轻信的 | |
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78
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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79
maligned
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| vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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80
annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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81
dividends
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| 红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金 | |
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82
standardize
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| v.使符合标准，使标准化 | |
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83
collateral
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| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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84
speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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85
undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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86
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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87
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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88
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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89
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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90
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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91
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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92
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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93
overestimated
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| 对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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95
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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96
barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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97
foretelling
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的现在分词 ) | |
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98
layman
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| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
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99
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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101
gratis
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| adj.免费的 | |
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102
equitable
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| adj.公平的；公正的 | |
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103
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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104
amendments
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| （法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案 | |
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105
advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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106
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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107
arbitration
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| n.调停，仲裁 | |
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108
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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109
wilfully
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| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
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110
stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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111
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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112
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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113
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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114
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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115
fertilize
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| v.使受精，施肥于，使肥沃 | |
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116
sluice
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| n.水闸 | |
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117
ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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118
obviating
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| v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的现在分词 ) | |
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119
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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120
creditor
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| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
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121
worthier
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| 应得某事物( worthy的比较级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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122
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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123
economize
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| v.节约，节省 | |
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124
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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125
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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126
reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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127
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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128
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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129
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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130
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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131
windbags
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| n.风囊，饶舌之人( windbag的名词复数 ) | |
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132
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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133
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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134
banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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135
subterfuge
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| n.诡计；藉口 | |
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136
rancor
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| n.深仇，积怨 | |
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137
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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138
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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139
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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140
outstrip
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| v.超过，跑过 | |
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141
acclaim
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| v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞 | |
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142
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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143
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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