458 THE WORK OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE
more fundamental differences between British and American
business.
The Circulation of Rumors.—Still another cause for con-
stant vigilance by the Exchange authorities lies in its provision
regarding rumors :*
The circulation in any manner of rumors of a sensational character
by a member, in any case where such act does not constitute fraud
or conduct inconsistent with just and equitable principles of trade,
‘san act detrimental to the interest or welfare of the Exchange.
In spite of occasional assertions to the contrary, this rule
s enforced unsparingly and without favor by the Exchange.
Yet its enforcement is from the nature of things difficult to
effect, and of course can be carried out only with respect to
members of the Stock Exchange. More than this the gover-
nors can hardly do, for they have no authority to regulate the
-onversation of everyone even on Manhattan Island, let alone
other apprehensive and talkative sections of the inhabited
world.
Rumors, as a matter of fact, never start on the floor of the
Exchange but outside it; yet, since their effects are principally
felt in the stock market, the opposite is commonly supposed.
The tense and imaginative atmosphere of Wall Street is pecu-
arly liable to magnify trifles into bonanzas or catastrophes—
but we must remember that the Stock Exchange and Wall
Street are not synonymous. A rumor widely circulated by
word of mouth (and in the press also, for that matter) some
years ago concerning the supposed shaky financial condition of
an old, conservative, and deeply rooted business house in New
York, was, after a painstaking study, finally traced to a well-
meaning but inaccurate trade publication in another continent.
The amazingly swift and accurate news service of the New
York financial district, its impartial news tickers and keenly
analytical financial press, have, of course, vastly reduced the
ability of artifically circulated rumors to affect security and
Ibid. (Rules, Chapter XIV, Sec. 4).
