CHAPTER XV 
THE COMMISSION HOUSE 
Importance of the Commission House.—The head offices 
of New York Stock Exchange stock brokerage firms are for 
the most part confined to the Wall Street district, although a 
considerable number of firms are located entirely outside of 
New York City. But owing to the establishment of a huge 
network of private wires reaching out from the commission 
houses of Wall Street to their branch offices and correspond- 
ents in all parts of America® Stock Exchange brokerage offices 
are now to be found all over the nation. The Stock Exchange 
of today is a national market, meeting national needs and avail- 
able for instant service to Americans over our whole vast 
national area. 
Since it is through the commission houses, whether their 
head offices in Wall Street or their branch or correspondents’ 
offices scattered from upper Manhattan to California, that 
orders from the American investing and speculating public are 
relayed to the Stock Exchange floor, the commission broker’s 
office is an integral and extremely important part of the whole 
Exchange system. Indeed, much of the most difficult and 
necessary work of marketing listed securities is done in the 
hundreds of commission houses all over America, and even 
abroad. We must therefore give some time and attention to 
the problems, the methods, and the typical activities of the com- 
mission house, if we are to gain an adequate conception of the 
work and true significance of the Stock Exchange. 
Almost everyone has seen the outside of a commission 
' See Chapter II, Figure 2.