Two or three years later, the Stock Exchange, becoming overwhelmed with
business, had little time to consider its own domestic affairs. The new
company boom of 1824-5 added immensely to the scope of Stock Exchange
business, and though, as is usually the case, a crash followed the boom,
it left the Stock Exchange a much more important institution in the eyes
of the public than it ever was before. For one thing, the newspapers
began to publish a daily account of its transactions. The mania and
panic of 1825 were repeated in 1835 and again in 1845, the cycles
lasting just a decade. The boom and collapse of 1835 were connected with
foreign loan issues, and in 1845 was the great railway mania.
In the middle of the century, in 1850, the number of members of the
Stock Exchange was only 864, and the annual subscription was only £10.
The Official List at that time contained the names of fewer than 300
securities; until 1843 it had been published not daily, but only twice a
week. Soon after the middle of the century, the Stock Exchange was
entirely pulled down and rebuilt. During the operation the members found
a temporary home in the Hall of Commerce, which is now Parr's Bank, in
Threadneedle Street. They assembled in their new building in March,
1854. Much agitation arose in 1860, both inside and outside the Stock
Exchange, in favour of the fixing of a uniform scale of brokers'
commissions. There were many meetings of members, but no more came of
the agitation than has come of less serious attempts since.
The Companies Acts of 1860 and 1862, establishing the principle of
limited liability, had naturally an important effect on business, and
the speculation to which it gave rise aggravated the crisis of 1866, the
Overend-Gurney crash. This cataclysm led to the passage of Leeman's Act
designed to prevent sales of bank shares of which the seller is not
possessed. The legislature recognised the distinction which exists
between bank shares and all others, because of the delicate nature of
banking business--depositors, seeing the shares falling, rush to
withdraw their money, and thus spread ruin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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