CHAPTER XVI 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STOCK 
EXCHANGE 
“What Is the Stock Exchange?”—Before considering in 
detail the administration of the Stock Exchange, 1t 1s necessary 
to answer a common question, concerning which considerable 
confusion exists—“Exactly what is the Stock Exchange?” 
The term “Stock Exchange” is commonly and correctly em- 
ployed to denote: (1) the building at Wall and Broad Streets 
where trading in securities takes place; (2) the association of 
brokers and dealers which owns this building and conducts 
trading operations inside it. But in addition, the term “Stock 
Exchange” is also often used in a loose and utterly inaccurate 
way with reference to almost everything and everybody in the 
Wall Street financial district, including not merely many types 
of banking establishments and corporation offices, and indeed 
the whole machinery of the money market located there, but 
also fly-by-night promoters of worthless securities who may 
hire an office for a few weeks between City Hall and the 
Battery. Sometimes these gentry are suddenly impelled to seek 
a healthier climate over the Canadian or Mexican border, while 
the permanent and legitimate financial houses and institutions 
in the Street remain to inherit the odium of their swindles and 
misdeeds. At most, the Stock Exchange is only a part of what 
is known as “Wall Street.” It must not be confused with the 
large number of enterprises, companies, and individuals, both 
legitimate and illegitimate, which are located in its immediate 
neighborhood. 
The exact purpose of the Stock Exchange (using the term