The year 1914 has no precedent in Stock Exchange history. At the present time (1915), when the great events that have come to pass are still close to us, even their details are vivid in our minds and we need no one to rehearse them. Time, however, is quick to dim even acute memories, and Wall Street, of all places, is the land of forgetfulness. The new happenings of all the World crowd upon each other so fast in the financial district that even the greatest and most far-reaching of them are soon

The Stock Exchange is in the second century of its existence and in that long period of time (long relatively to the number of years during which Stock Exchanges have been known to the world) it has been forced to close its doors only twice. The first occasion was the great panic of 1873, the after effect of civil war when trading was suspended for ten days; the second came with the outbreak of the world War in the close of July, 1914. These two remarkable events differ profoundly in the gravity

During the same morning on which the momentous action of closing was taken the Committee of Five met and elected the President of the Exchange as their Chairman. The acute crisis was over, the danger of a cataclysm had been averted, but the situation that remained was big with problems full of menace and uncertainty. Just what effect the closing of the market would have was a matter of doubt. On all previous occasions when the facilities of the Exchange had been inadequate, or had been shut off,

The fact that the Stock Exchange closed on July 31st and did not reopen fully until December 15th, might lead to the supposition that the question of reopening was not taken up before December. Far from this being the case, the truth is that reopening began to be discussed immediately after the institution was closed. Within twenty-four hours of the closing the minority, who had not been at first convinced of the wisdom of that action, joined with the majority in urgently advising that the Excha