ADMINISTRATION OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE 467
advantage to the public.”® The morale which exists on the
floor of the Exchange is not a condition isolated from and un-
related to the prosperity of the nation. It is a national asset,
and performs economic services of profound benefit and sig-
nificance to all classes of our population. Any disruptive and
weakening force exerted upon the organization or standards of
the Exchange would consequently constitute a drag upon the
economic progress of the United States.
But the danger to the public from an incorporated Stock
Exchange would not be merely general and abstract. Apart
from the profound public harm, as outlined above, a constant
liability of personal and individual injuries would likewise
ensue. Why should the investing public, it might be asked, be
compelled during years of litigation to make contracts for large
sums through their brokers with a possibly unscrupulous mem-
ber, whose very solvency might easily be impaired while his
case unavoidably hung fire in the courts? Yet this would be-
come a disquieting possibility were the present summary powers
of the governors crippled by incorporation of the Exchange.
In this, as indeed in other respects, the interest of the public is
consequently much more adequately protected in its dealings
in the Exchange under its present régime, than could possibly
be the case under an incorporated Exchange. It has nothing
to gain and a very great deal to lose by incorporation.
Not a Profit-Making Organization.—The Stock Exchange
is quite unlike the typical business partnership or corporation.
It has never sought or obtained any special franchise from the
state. It is not a “monopoly,” for it is in active and sometimes
unsuccessful competition with other markets. It is not run
for a profit, but simply as a facility to its members and their
customers. Financially speaking, it only aims to pay its ex-
penses. Its members’ income is derived from their personal
business, and not unnaturally they are best satisfied when their
dues to the Exchange are lightest. Corporation laws, which
TW Ibid. pp. 294 and 557-558.
