It does not occur to the uninstructed spectator that mighty forces are here at work in establishing values; that the object of the Stock Exchange is to safeguard investors; that it is the one unobstructed channel through which capital may flow from sources where it is least needed into those where it may be most beneficially employed. The casual onlooker often gives no thought to the high standard of commercial honor that is maintained here; he does not realize that his own affairs, whatever they may be, would face a serious situation were this very important part of the modern mechanism of business to suffer interruption. And so it sometimes happens, in his hazy and nebulous impressions of the Stock Exchange as gathered from the visitors’ gallery, that this man’s mind is fertile ground for the seed which may be sowed there by every genteel humbug, demagogue, or quack whom he chances to meet. It may be admitted freely that the facilities afforded by Stock Exchanges, like all other great public utilities, are sometimes foolishly or dishonestly abused, but by no stretch of the imagination can such abuses attain to the mischief done by those who would deceive people into the belief that the Stock Exchange, because it deals with large affairs in a large way, has some improper quality about it. Many minds, many hands, and many hours of patient labor have been bestowed on the making of the chronometer which is a vital part of a great ship; yet a child may “put it out of business,” and destroy the ship’s company. That these observations apply to the New York Stock Exchange need not be elaborated when we consider that one third of our nation’s wealth is represented by its securities; that there are two million owners of them; and that, through the widespread publicity of Stock Exchange quotations the world over, all these owners are given gratis the epitomized judgment of experts as to the value of those securities each day and their prospective value in the future.[97] The Stock Exchange is open for business from 10 A.M., to 3 P.M., and on Saturdays from 10 to 12 noon. The broker reaches his office between 9 and 9:30 A.M., looks over his correspondence, makes a mental note of the general status of the firm’s affairs, glances at the morning’s news that is rapidly reeling off the ticker, reads the prices cabled over from the London Stock Exchange which has been in session four hours, and thus in a general way acquaints himself with what may be expected at the opening of the New York market. The two-dollar broker and the specialist do not concern themselves greatly with such matters, and frequently they go directly to the floor without stopping at their offices.