CURRENT TOPICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6647, 20 November 1899, Page 2

CURRENT TOPICS.

♦ One of the most, striking London stock scenes in a melodrama played exchange, by Mr Bland Holt in Christchurch, depicted the " hammering" of a defaulting member of the Stock Exchange. According to "M.A.P." the ceremony, though exceedingly short, is impressive beyond belief. Men whose nerves have stood the strain of gigantic gambles, where tens of thousands depended on the one turn of a card, have said that whenever they i heard the preliminary knock of that hamI mer, their blood ran cold, and they felt themselves trembling all over. Yet the process is simple enough. The head waiter ascends a kind of rostrum and strikes the desk before him with a small hammer like that used by an auctioneer. His words are few. " Gentlemen," he says, " I have to announce that Mr So-and-so is unable to meet his liabilities." The matter is over amd done with in one minute, and in itself there is no apparent reason for its solemnity. "To understand the effect," Mr T. P. O'Connor tells us, " you must first have some idea of twhat the Stock Exchiwige is like. It is a vast building ; when you first enter it, you almost feel as if it wore as big as St Paul's. Into this vast space are gathered some two or three thousand men. Many of them are shouting at the very top of their voices, and your impression is, indeed, that all are shouting together." The men with the.loudest voices have the advantage, for they are heard in every corner. Just at the hour when the voices are howling their loudest, and when the building is most crowded, one hears the fall of the hammer on the rostrum, and within three seconds, almost by magic, dead silence reigns through the vast building. It is the sudden chaaage from the noise and hubbub to perfect stillness that is so awe-inspiring. Then, when tlie announcement has been made, business goes on as before, exceft that little knots of men here and there discuss the event, make guesses at the liabilities, and ask each other who has been 'struck.'" "M.A.P." was moved to these reflections by the " hammering " of Mr Reginald Barker, a young and daring speculator. He was one of the very first to see the possibilities of the South African maxket ; and while men who had been on the Stock Exchange for forty years before he was born, failed to see what was coming, he was sjieculating boldly and constantly, with the result that at one time he stood to gain no less than £400,000. In a few years he had lost all his money, but was not discouraged. Again he won a fortune and again lost it, and finally, a few weeks ago, when rumours of war sent South African shares down almost to zero, he waa left with about £800 to meet deficiencies amounting to £20,000. Mr Barker is not more than thirty-five years of age. It is many years since the A "waii * Stock Exchange was so disscabe. turbed as it was during the first days of October. It seemed to have awakened suddenly to the fact that there was danger ahead. There seemed to be a growing fear of British reverses, which had a disheartening effect at the outset, and men began to circulate lists containing the names of people who were • considered "shaky." It was the first real war scare for a decade. The Fashoda trouble, tlie Jameson Raid and the China embroglio brought depression for a few days only, and the reaction followed immediately in each I I

case. In October there was no reaction, and the alarm was, in consequence, the more, serious. Speculators saw that if prices continued to fall, they would only create fresh, losses for themselves by holding their stocks, and there was a general rush to sell. So far, the actual panic seems to have been averted, in spite of the British reverses. Business men in London have probably begun to'realise, by this._t.ime, that every trade in tha country is not going to he ruined, and that, commerce and industry must go on as be»y fore. It is not at once obvious why trouble; in South Africa should affect shaifes in purely Home concerns. It seems absurd' that the outbreak of war should Bend down the price of shares in Barnum's Circus Company ; but, in reality, there is no cause for surprise in that. War means a strain on th& money market. London and other banking centres have to send thousands of pounds; in gold to the seat of war, and money becomes scarce. The rate of interest, therefore, rises, and speculators have to pay tooheavily to make their business altogether lucrative. At the same time; the scarcity of money causes ihe takings in most trades to fall off, and the prices of commodities rise, while the people have actually less money to spend on luxuries and amusements. A panic on the Stock Exchange is not always caused by this state of affairs ; it is more often due to the fear of impending depression. The Stock Exchange is really itiore sensitive than a barometer, t and not so reliable. A whisper of trouble Aroad is sufficient to send speculators rushing\to sell their stocks, for what they dread is a^gold famine. That is why "Barnums" and " consols " fell in sympathy when trouble was brewing in the Transvaal. A curious list of recentrwomen's bequests lately published by chabitable the London " Times " affords; bequests, interesting evidence of thereadiness of women to enrich charities. They have shared with men iai the increased wealth of the country, anct they are inclined to use much of thear goodl fortime in the advancement of philanthropic; causes. During the past 4£ht years, out of ten and a half millions of personalty over which 150 ladies have exercised testamentary powers, they have bequeathed no than £2,696,000 for religious or charitable objects, or more than 25 per cent. Within.' the same period, 310 men, who left behind! them £65,489,000 in cash, distributed only £7,423,000 in charity, or Hi per cent of the' total sum. Women are, therefore, if judged! by their wills, more than twice as charitable» as men, and a writer in an English magazine* has tried to discover the reason oi the difference. Women, he says, have quite askeen a perception as men of the value of mouey, and, owing to their long-continued position as trustees, are more disposed tn thrift. They are not really more religious, though they are more amenable to the influence of religious teachers, and are mora disposed to make their lives conform to the teaching in which they believe. But they have done little towards the conversion of the world, and, considering their equal opportunities and their delight in argument* they have contributed strangely little to tha supply of theology. Nor are women as a sex the more charitable of the two, at any rate not to the extent of being twice aa charitable. They are more moved by the sufferings of individuals than of classes, and less inclined to support the great impersonal charities such as hospitals or educational institutions. They have founded neither universities nor hospitals for both sexes. One of the main reasons for their great bequests is that they have fewer family claims upon: them, most of the women who leave greab sums to charities being rich old maids or wealthy widows who are childless. They also believe more strongly in the effect both of laws and of money than men do. They always want the thing they disapprove of. to be prohibited by law, perhaps because they have less regard for individual freedom, and they believe in money as a power for good with a confidence which men are unable to entertain. If only, they think, suchi and such a Society had money, what a different world it would be. Men shake their heads, and ask whether churches have been most effective when most loaded with wealth or whether the greater works of philanthropy, such as the emancipation . of slaves or the prohibition of torture, have owed much to the very rich. —

In the Lyceum last evening Mr W. W. Collins lectured on "The State and the Criminal Class." He contended that tbe idea should be rather to reform than punish, and that a better classification should be made. At tlio Inclusion of tbe lecture Mrs Cunnington made several suggestions. There was considerable discussion. Sale of watches, clocks, spectacles, jewellery, etc., -20 per cent under pawnbrokers' auction prices at Chirks and Co's, Jewellers, 148, Colombo Street, opposite Recce's. Special — ■. 20 short wind Watcrburys l Js 9ii lhcli, U.J English Levers from 19s td io c-js ; Lu.ckj 2s 6d. A present cf tw.i )>"'' "by v.* t -.• £doz teaspoons to evcrv t ■■• 'i' v .r of vy 18ct. £1 ls '-eddinj; m*.<j, !.••:.- v y : ••■ :i : - ■: at the prico in ivcv.* &.'•!■• J. 'i;i< ;-., .• lings in the i) uijccii' '<!:•';; <;, ; i ; ' . gold chains, otc. Vi.-.it '!>" "■■ • >'• ;•'■*•' Open to-n»ght unii! U v.O v.*:!-. "'X ■ ■ , Oeweilen, i^