s, 'What are Exchequer?' The answer may be, 'Forty and
forty-two.' That is, the party addressed will buy L1,000 at 40
shillings, and sell L1,000 at 42 shillings. The jobbers cluster round
the broker, who perhaps says, 'I must have a price in L5,000.' If it
suits them, they will say, 'Five with me,' 'Five with me,' 'Five with
me,' making fifteen; or they will say, 'Ten with me;' and it is the
broker's business to get these parties pledged to buy of him at 40, or
to sell to him at 42, they not knowing whether he is a buyer or a
seller. The broker then declares his purpose, saying, for example,
'Gentlemen, I sell to you L20,000 at 40;' and the sum is then
apportioned among them. If the money were wanted only for a month, and
the Exchequer market remained the same during the time, the buyer would
have to give 42 in the market for what he sold at 40, being the
difference between the buying and the selling price, besides which he
would have to pay the broker 1s. per cent. commission on the sale, and
1s. per cent. on the purchase, again on the bills, which would make
altogether 4s. per cent. If the object of the broker be to buy Consols,
the jobber offers to buy his L10,000 at 96, or to sell him that amount
at 96-1/8, without being at all aware which he is engaging himself to
do. The same person may not know on any particular day whether he will
be a borrower or a lender. If he has sold stock, and has not
re-purchased about one or two o'clock in the day, he would be a lender
of money; but if he has bought stock, and not sold, he would be a
borrower. Immense sums are lent on condition of being recalled on the
short notice of a few hours."

The uninitiated wonder that any man should borrow L10,000 or L20,000 for
a day, or at most a fortnight, when it is liable to be called for at the
shortest notice. The directors of a railway company, instead of locking
up their money, send the L12,000 or L14,000 a week to a broker, to be
lent on proper securities. Persons who pay large duties to Government at
fixed periods, lend the sums for a week or two. A person intending to
lay out his capital in mortgage or real property, lends out the sum till
he meets with a suitable offer. The great bankers lend their surplus
cash on the Stock Exchange. A jobber, at the close of the day, will lend
his money at 1 per cent., rather than not employ it at all. The
extraordinary fluctuations in the rate of interest even in a single day
are a great temptatio