er of
doubt. On all previous occasions when the facilities of the Exchange
had been inadequate, or had been shut off, an unregulated market had
established itself in public places and proceeded uncontrolled. Thus
during the Civil War, when the volume of speculation had completely
outgrown the limited machinery of the old Board of Brokers, a
continuous market developed partly in the street and partly in a
basement room called the "Coal Hole" and flourished during the day,
while in the evening it was continued in the lobby of the Fifth Avenue
Hotel. This market did more business than was done upon the Exchange
itself, and a few years after the War, many of its members, who had
organized into the "Open Board of Brokers," were admitted to the Stock
Exchange in a body. The suspension of business in 1873 was too brief
to allow of the formation of a market such as the above, but, while it
continued, cash transactions for securities were being carried on
every day in the financial district.

Would results such as these obtain on this occasion? Much depended
upon the length of time before the Exchange could re-open, but this in
itself was a problem for which no one could venture a solution. Again,
a vast volume of contracts made on July 30th had been suspended. How
long could the enforcement of these contracts be successfully
prohibited, and above all how long would the banks and financial
institutions which were lending money on Stock Exchange collateral
refrain from calling loans when they were deprived of any measure of
the value of their security? Over its own members the New York Stock
Exchange might exercise a rigid control, and it could safely be
assumed that the other Stock Exchanges of the country would cooperate
with it, but numberless outside agencies existed such as independent
dealers unaffiliated with exchanges, and auctioneers, any of whom
might establish a market. If declining prices were made through media
of this description, and the press felt called upon to furnish them to
the public, the closing of the Exchange might not suffice to prevent
panic and disaster.

Oppressed by these considerations, and by an appalling sense of
responsibility, the new Committee of Five began its labors in the
morning of July 31st. The first step decided upon was to communicate
with the Bank Clearing House Committee. Mr. Francis L. Hine, President
of the Clearing House, was invited to meet the Committee of Five which
he did, a