Before the invention of the telegraph, a house of straw could paint up its name, make a show with a few thousand pounds, and enter into very large commitments for good or for bad, as it might turn out. Shipments to a large extent could be made, and if all turned out well, a house might thus, by a stroke of luck, be established to occupy, perhaps, an eminent position. On the other hand, if the first operations resulted in ruin, it was worth the risk, and a fresh start was made probably somewhere else under a new title. Such instances being multiplied in all the great commercial centres, it is easy to understand how markets could be glutted, prices raised to a fictitious level, and all the links forged into the chain which snaps at once, when the tension upon credit has gone beyond a certain point. Matters however are changed in this respect, and are changing from day to day. So small is the expense of obtaining information, compared with the risk of signing a contract with a house of straw, or of doubtful respectability, that the electric wire serves accurately enough for the purpose of ascertaining the position of a new customer who may present himself at a large establishment to do business. A most salutary effect is thus in process of being worked out. The great thing in commercial affairs is to keep out the weak speculative element, and to drive them into subordinate positions to work their way up in a legitimate manner, to become principals. The means of obtaining information now is so considerable, that if a man signally fails, almost the only hope for him is to change his name. In some instances this has been done, and followed by astonishing success, although the way it was achieved would, perhaps, hardly bear close investigation. So far, we have referred more particularly to the altered character of modern influences upon commercial markets, and we have done so because the changed conditions which affect the value of one commodity in the markets of the world more or less affect all; but, as we are specially writing with reference to Stock markets, we only propose to touch upon other markets in passing. [Sidenote: THE EXTENSION OF LONG WIRE TELEGRAPHY.] The net work of telegraphic communication, in Europe at least, is now, in the year 1874, so far complete that, when a pressure of business is felt by the sub-marine telegraphic companies, the complaints of delay are not frequent. The long wires are also multiplying rapidly. The progress that has been made in telegraphy was made known to many for the first time by the circumstances being published, that the Shah of Persia’s first minister at Teheran was aroused out of his sleep early one morning, during the visit of his royal master to England, to reply to a message which, to the minister’s astonishment, he discovered had a few minutes previously been dispatched by Dr. Siemens, an operator who had been expressly established for the use of the Shah in Buckingham Palace.