456 THE WORK OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE 
Other regulations limit the Exchange member, whether a 
specialist or not, in acting as both broker and dealer in the 
same transaction. 
The Commission Law.—The Constitution provides a 
schedule of minimum commissions for Exchange brokers, who 
may charge more but never less than the stated rates. Ex- 
change members are also strictly forbidden to “split” or rebate 
part of their commissions with non-members; while Exchange 
members may share commissions with other Exchange mem- 
bers, the Constitution also provides definite minimum scales 
for such cases.?? 
These minimum commission rates vary somewhat accord- 
ing to the class and character of security handled, subject to 
minimum charges for small amounts. The commission rates 
are scaled up and down according to the higher or lower market 
prices of the securities bought and sold. 
In general, New York Stock Exchange commissions, 
amounting as they usually do to only moderate fractions of 
1% of market values, are well below the similar commission 
rates of the other leading stock exchanges of the world, and 
ridiculously small compared with the 25% and 50% commis- 
sions sometimes obtained in the commercial field. That this 
has always been the case is attested by the minimum rate of 
14 of 1% mentioned in the original New York brokers’ agree- 
ment of 1792?*—a rate, incidentally, considerably in excess of 
the brokerage commission rates in the Exchange today. 
Infractions of the minimum commission rate have always 
been severely punished by the Exchange, on the basis that cut- 
ting commissions below the minimum rate would be unfair to 
houses adhering to the rule, and would in the long run deprive 
the public of a uniform cost for the services of the market. 
A century and a quarter of experience has completely con- 
firmed the opinion of the original brokers under the historic 
21 See Appendix VIII. 
2 See Appendix VIIIc. 
2 See Chapter III, p. 63.