The number of people who play publicly at games of chance is very small compared with the number of people who gamble in mercantile transactions. And whereas the former are diminishing, partly from compulsion, as in the case of Germany of late, and partly through the more enlightened state of the human understanding as regards the immorality of this kind of amusement, the latter appear to multiply in proportion to the general increase of wealth, the ever enlarging fields in which public securities are dealt in and commercial transactions are negotiated, and also in proportion to the facilities afforded for speculation generally. The latter part of this sentence should, however, be qualified by the remark that the spread of wealth enables younger and less experienced persons to engage in speculation in a larger proportion as compared with the whole community than formerly. The difficulty of living and the ambition not to fall below the standard maintained by the well-to-do, tempt numbers of young men to endeavour to increase their income by speculation. And moreover as regards Stock Exchange speculation it is unfortunately much against the interest of the stock broker to make public the failure of his clients, hence it is seldom that the wholesome warning of publicity deters others from entering the arena. Outsiders entering upon speculation with professional dealers in the Stock markets make two mistakes on the threshold. Firstly, they commence upon unequal terms, the effects of which adventitious favourable influences have never more than compensated for, in the long run. Secondly, supposing the terms were permitted to be equal, the outsiders’ stakes would be too large a proportion of their means. The losses incurred by speculators as a body have always been upon such a scale as to dispose of the theory advocated by some persons that the mere charges of commission, contangoes, and the “turn” are the only obstacles to success.