The Stock Exchange is located on the west side of Broad street, just out
of Wall street. It is a fine white marble edifice, with a portico of
iron, painted flashily in black and gold. It extends back to New street,
with an entrance on that street. There is also an entrance on Wall
street. It contains the "New York Stock Exchange," "The Mining Board,"
and the "Government Board."
During the spring and summer of 1871 the internal arrangements of the
building were very much improved. The refitting cost the brokers
$60,000, but they now have the handsomest establishment of its kind in
the world.
The main entrance is on Broad street, and from this the visitor passes
into a room, the larger portion of which is separated from the Broad
street end by an iron railing. This is "The Long Room," and during the
day it is almost always filled with a noisy and not over-nice crowd. It
is the scene of the irregular sales of stocks. Any one who can raise $50
can purchase a season ticket to this hall, and once admitted can sell and
purchase stocks without being a member of the Regular Board. This
arrangement has nearly put an end to the sales of stocks on the side
walks, and has given a tinge of respectability to the class known as
"Curb-stone Brokers." A dozen or more different stocks may be sold here
at once, and the sale may be continued as long as the seller sees fit.
There is no regular organization of the brokers operating here, though
these men control the bulk of the sales made in the street. They are
noisy and seem half demented in their frantic efforts to make sales.
The "Stock Exchange" occupies the main hall, which is on the floor above
the Long Room. This hall is one of the most beautiful apartments in the
city. It is seventy-four feet long, fifty-four feet wide, and fifty-two
feet four inches high. Its lofty ceiling is arched and decorated with
bright red and buff penciling upon a sky blue ground, while the walls are
relieved by broad square pilasters, painted in brilliant bronze, with
tall windows and arched tops rising between, and other spaces between the
columns covered with drapery in more subdued colors. Up to a few feet
from the floor the painting is in a dark-hued bronze. The coloring is in
the Moorish style throughout, and the effect of the whole is very fine.
At the north end is the platform for the desks of the Vice-President and
Secretary, and on each side of this is a black board for recording the
quotations of the session. On the same platform is the desk and
instrument of the stock telegraph operator. At the south end of the hall
is a light gallery capable of holding 200 persons, for the use of
visitors. In connection with the hall are several committee, cloak and
ante-rooms. In the centre of the ceiling is a huge ventilator, beneath
which is suspended the lighting apparatus, containing 100 burners. A
chamber five feet in depth underlies the hall and the adjoining lobby,
and in it are laid pipes for conducting warm air.
[Picture: THE STOCK EXCHANGE.]
At the base of the walls is an open iron grating covering the apertures
of a shaft leading from the engine-room. Through this shaft warm air is
forced into the hall in winter, and cool air in summer, thus securing
perfect ventilation.
The Stock Exchange Board is an incorporated company, and is the only
lawful association in the city for the transaction of business connected
with stocks. It consists of 1050 members, but the control of its affairs
is vested in a council of forty members, together with the President,
Secretary and Treasurer in their unofficial capacity. The admission fee
is $5000, and a seat in the Board becomes the absolute personal property
of the broker, who can sell or otherwise dispose of it as he would of his
watch or his coat. Candidates are admitted by ballot and with great
care, the object being to secure the exclusion of all but men of known
integrity, for the Board requires the most scrupulous good faith in the
transactions of all its members. Four black balls will prevent the
admission of a candidate whether he wishes to enter by purchase or
otherwise. Candidates must submit to a close scrutiny of their previous
lives, and must show a clear record.
There are two daily sessions of the Board, one in the morning and the
other in the afternoon. The securities offered at these meetings are
divided into two classes, the Regular and the Free List. No stock or
bond can be dealt in until it has been rigidly examined by a committee,
and found to be a _bona fide_ security.
At half-past ten o'clock in the morning, the Morning Board is called to
order by the First Vice-President. The Regular List, which is made up in
advance of the meeting, must always be called, and called first. The
Free List may be called or not at the option of the Board. The Regular
List consists of 1st. Miscellaneous Stocks. 2d. Railroad Stocks. 3d.
State Bonds. 4th. City Stocks. 5th. Railroad Bonds.
The session opens with the reading of the minutes of the previous day.
Then comes the call of the Regular List. The call of Miscellaneous
Stocks awakens but little excitement. Bids follow quickly upon the
announcement of the stocks, and the transactions, as they are announced
by the cries of the brokers are repeated by the Vice-President to the
Assistant Secretary, who records them in the journal, and they are also
recorded by a clerk on a black board in full view of the members. Where
there is a doubt respecting a sale or purchase the Vice-President
decides, and his decision is final, unless reversed by the votes of a
majority of the members present.
[Picture: THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE BOARD IN SESSION.]
The call of railroad securities brings the brokers to their feet, and the
real business of the day begins. Offers and bids, shouted in deep bass,
high treble, or shrill falsetto, resound through the hall, and in a few
minutes the jovial-looking brokers seem to be on the verge of madness.
How they yell and shout, and stamp, and gesticulate. The roar and
confusion are bewildering to a stranger, but the keen, practised ears of
the Vice-President at once recognize the various transactions, and down
they go in the Secretary's book, and on the black board, while the
solemn-vizaged telegraph operator sends them clicking into every broker's
office in the city. High over all rings the voice of Peter, the keeper
of the gate, calling out members for whom telegrams or visitors have
arrived.
The other stocks awaken more or less excitement, and when the Regular
List is completed, the Free List is in order, and the Vice-President
calls such stocks as the members express a desire to deal in. Then,
unless there is a wish to call up some stock hastily passed over on the
call of the Regular List, the session closes.
At one o'clock, the afternoon session is held, and the routine of the
morning is gone over again. The transactions of both sessions are
carefully recorded in the Secretary's books.
The Vice-President receives a salary of $7000 per annum for his services,
which are not light. The Secretary and Assistant Secretary, and
Roll-keeper do the rest of the work of the Board. The last named keeps a
record of the fines, which yield an exceedingly large revenue to the
Board. The brokers are not the most dignified of mortals in their
meetings, but are very much given to disorderly conduct and practical
jokes. The annual dues of the Exchange are but fifty dollars, but the
average broker pays at least ten times as much in fines. To interrupt
the presiding officer during a call of the stocks subjects the offender
to a fine of not less than twenty-five cents for each offence; to smoke a
cigar within the Exchange costs five dollars; to be absent from special
meetings is to incur a fine of not more than five dollars; to stand on a
table or chair is punishable with a fine of one dollar; to throw a paper
dart or ball at a member during the session of the Board costs ten
dollars; and other offences may be punished with fines assessed by the
Vice-President at any sum between twenty-five cents and five dollars.
Each day a list of stocks to be put in the market is made out, and no
others can be sold during the sessions. The Board can refuse to offer
any particular stock for sale, and a guarantee is required of the party
making the sale. The members of the Board are men of character, and
their transactions are fair and open. They are required to fulfil all
contracts in good faith, however great the loss to themselves, on pain of
expulsion from the Board, and it is very rare that an expelled member can
be reinstated.