Some years later, the premises being too small, it was proposed to build other and far larger premises, sufficient to meet the ever-increasing demands of the institution. In 1881 an extraordinary general meeting was held, with a view to forming a company to undertake the construction of premises to house the “Sociedad Bolsa de Comercio.” But the company was not formed until 1883, when it acquired the site on which the Bourse now stands; and its official inauguration took place two years later. Since then the Commercial Exchange has enjoyed a period of continued prosperity; it is to-day the first commercial centre of Latin America. It exercises a great influence over the commercial and economic life of the Republic. It is the sole establishment of its kind, having judicial powers, open to all mercantile transactions, and establishing, under the stress of supply and demand, the prices of the products of labour or commerce. Having the power of fixing the value of merchandise by quotations of paper-money, it is, more than any other institution, liable to exceed its functions; but it bears within itself, in its admirable organisation, the means of repairing its own errors and of remaining the faithful regulator of prices and values. The most eloquent commentary upon the importance of the operations effected by the _Bourse de Commerce_ is the simple enumeration of their value at various periods, for we then realise the enormous development which they have achieved in a period relatively short. In 1886 the total of the business done was $173,000,000 paper, £34,600,000 face value; in 1887 it was $254,000,000 (£50,800,000); in 1888 $432,000,000 (£86,400,000); in 1889 $469,000,000 (£93,800,000). The total value of all business effected, liquidated or not, cash or credit, during the years 1890 and 1891, amounted to $18,000,000,000 (£1,584,000,000) and $7,000,000,000 (£616,000,000), respectively.[92] [Footnote 92: The values before 1900 are face values, as the actual value of the piastre note fluctuated. They must not be taken as actual values any more than in the case of Indian rupees.——[TRANS.]] These figures, in their simplicity, cover the history of an interesting period of the financial life of the country. The wave of speculation which turned all men’s heads began to rise as early as 1887, and in 1891 was at its greatest height; it then crumbled into foam, having shattered the most deeply-rooted of banking houses, compromised the national credit, changed brilliant illusions into melancholy realities, and sown desolation and ruin in many a home. After the catastrophe the total value of business done rapidly fell, and we see it falling violently from one year to another——from the $18,000,000,000 of 1890 through the $3,376,000,000 of 1895, to the $835,000,000 of 1900; a year which experienced a condition of affairs which was destined to produce a beneficent influence upon the economic life of the country.