The quotations of exchanges have been judicially determined to be their own property, which may be sold under contracts limiting their use. In addition to supplying its own members in New York City with its quotations, the Stock Exchange sells them to the telegraph companies, under contracts restricting the delivery of the service in New York City to subscribers approved by a committee of the Exchange; the contracts are terminable at its option. This restriction would imply a purpose on the part of the Exchange to prevent the use of the quotations by bucket-shop keepers. But the contracts are manifestly insufficient, in that they fail to cover the use of the service in places other than New York City; if corroboration were needed it could be found in the fact that the quotations are the basis for bucket-shop transactions in other cities. In such effort as has been made to control these quotations the Exchange has been hampered to some extent by the claim that telegraph companies are common carriers, and that as such they must render equal service to all persons offering to pay the regular charge therefor. This claim has been made in other States as well as in New York, and the telegraph companies have in the past invoked it as an excuse for furnishing quotations to people who were under suspicion, although it was not possible to prove that they were operating bucket-shops. Recent decisions seem to hold that this claim is not well-founded. We advise that a law be passed providing that, so far as the transmission of continuous quotations is concerned, telegraph companies shall not be deemed common carriers, or be compelled against their volition to transmit such quotations to any person; also a law providing that if a telegraph company has reasonable ground for believing that it is supplying quotations to a bucket-shop, it be criminally liable equally with the keeper of the bucket-shop. Such laws would enable these companies to refuse to furnish quotations upon mere suspicion that parties are seeking them for an unlawful business, and would compel them to refuse such service wherever there was a reasonable ground for believing that a bucket-shop was being conducted. LICENSING TICKERS