The price paid for memberships in recent years has varied widely with the condition of the times and the state of the stock market. In the halcyon days of December, 1905, and the opening months of 1906, there were several transfers at $95,000, the high-water mark. Following the panic of 1907 seats declined in December of that year to $51,000 and rose again in 1909 to $94,000. The only dues are $100 annually, together with $10 voluntarily paid by members to the heirs of each of their deceased colleagues, but this amount is, under the regulations of the Exchange, limited to $150 annually, the balance, if more than fifteen members die in any one year, being paid out of reserve funds. The sum of $10,000 which thus accrues to the heirs of deceased members is, of course, much cheaper than any other form of insurance. The Exchange is enabled to maintain it by the $10 contribution as described, and the general fund is kept intact because the 1100 members actually contribute $11,000, of which the extra $1000 is set aside as a reserve, which is prudently invested. If we accept the fallacious argument that a thing is worth just what one can get for it, there can be no argument as to the value of Stock Exchange memberships, but that is not the way to approach the subject. It may be said with certainty that no matter how much has been paid in the past, or how much may conceivably be paid in the future, a purchaser who devotes to his business the same time and labor that he would devote to any other business in which a similar capital was invested will always be able to earn a good return. Those awful periods of stagnation will appear now and then, and accidents in the shape of losses will occur and return again to plague him, but, nevertheless, the hard worker will find no cause for complaint when he sums up, let us say, a five-year average. This is demonstrated by the fact that it is only on rare occasions a Stock Exchange member changes his vocation, which is another way of saying that memberships are held at high prices because holders are prosperous and will not sell.