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STOCK EXCHANGE 92 STOCKHOLM railway securities, and other exchanges throughout the country are regarded as the convenient market for certain well- defined securities in which the local cap- italists for one reason or another have interested themselves and their com- munities. The stock exchange, as the institution is viewed in the modem sense, may be said to have had its origin at the period of the creation of public debts in the seventeenth century under the system which has since continued to be em- ployed. The incorporation of the East India Company in London is an early example of the raising of public money for corporate purposes through the me- dium of the Stock Exchanges. In the first quarter of the eighteenth century speculation in the South Sea Company in London habituated the public to in- vesting in such enterprises. In that pe- riod in London trading was conducted through independent brokers who re- sorted to certain well-defined localities but who were not formed in a corpo- rate union. Concentration of business caused the erection of the London Stock Exchange Building in 1801. The mem- bers of the New York Stock Exchange had to wait till 1865, before a building was erected to house them independently. The Civil War added greatly to the de- velopment of the New York Stock Ex- change, and operations largely in that period centered round the competition of capitalists interested in the New York Central railroad and the Erie railroad. Since that time to the present the busi- ness on the exchange has been an ac- curate reflection of the business trend throughout the country. From 1869, the date of the completion of the two trans- continental railways, speculation in the shares of these railway companies grew. James Fisk, Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, Cornelius Vanderbilt and their asso- ciates began to attract national atten- tion by the importance of their trading through representatives on the exchange. The crises, the booms, the panics, the tides of prosperity and their reactions have had their reverberations in the exchange which has served as a mirror indicating the steps in the business prog- ress of the country. The great under- takings in the direction of railway build- ing led to frequent issues of securities on the New York Stock Exchange, though the increase of business was not always uniform. The panic of 1893 and the panics that preceded and followed it led to curtailment of business in New York. The year 1898 was marked by a financial recovery that was reflected in a considerable development in the New York Stock Exchange, In that year the rich harvests of the United States coin- ciding with a period of great scarcity in Europe, the increase in exports and in manufacturing threw into relief the great volume of America's available wealth and fostered confidence in the potentiality of the country such as had never before been known. Capital be- gan to pour into enterprises of all kinds and industrial shares began to multiply on the exchange. In 1901 the renewed confidence added greatly to the volume of speculation, and records of every kind in Stock Exchange history began to be surpassed. Purchase of stock companies by other companies which pledged their credit to raise funds began to be the rule. The movement ended in the Northern Pacific corner of 1901 when rival specu- lation forced its shares to the price of $1,000, the stock only a little previously having never exceeded the $100 figure. The unstable figures could not last and a tremendous collapse of prices followed. Recovery was speedy, however, and prices rose rapidly. The events leading up to the comer educated speculators to the possibilities which the rivalries of pur- chasing companies might bring about. In recent years the volume of business done on the New York Stock Exchange has greatly exceeded that of other ex- changes. The membership and methods of busi- ness in stock exchanges are now limited by strict rules. Minimum commissions in New York are one-eighth of one per cent on the face value of securities bought for outside customers. Only se- curities listed by the committee can be dealt in. The prices of seats have ranged from $9,000 to more than $100,000. Penalties for breaches of discipline in- volve expulsion or suspension for stated periods from the privileges of the Ex- change. Fraud, fictitious sales, and ac- ceptance of smaller commissions than those indicated in the rules, are among the offenses most guarded against. A plan of clearing Stock Exchange trans- actions on the system of a bank clearing house is a modern development in America, though used in Europe, and particularly in Germany, since the middle of the last century. STOCKHOLM, the capital of the king- dom of Sweden; on several islands and the adjacent mainland, between a bay of the Baltic and Lake Malar; in a sit- uation that is accounted one of the most picturesque in Europe. The nucleus of Stockholm is an island in mid-channel called "the Town"; on it stand the im- posing royal palace (1697-1754) ; the principal church (St. Nicholas), in which the kings are crowned; the House of the