Mr. R. Yorke, on Tuesday, moved for the appointment of
a Royal Commission into the "origin, uses, objects, present con- stitution, customs, and usages of the Stock Exchange;" and "whether such usages, &c., are in accordance with the principles which should govern public policy." We have discussed the proposal elsewhere, as one which may effect good, though not the good its supporters hope for, but must mention here, that although Mr. Stanhope, speaking for the Board of Trade, re- sisted the measure, and although Sir Stafford Northeote expressed his dislike to it, still it was accepted by the latter on behalf of Government. He expected a defeat, and moreover, it is stated, had been informed by the Stock Exchange that the Governing Body of that institution did not object to the inquiry. It will probably enable the best members of the Society to make some much-needed changes in the direction of stringency. At the present time, if a dealer speculates to win a fortune in a week without funds to pay his losses, he is banished the Exchange, and that is all. He does not even meet the fate of a " welsher" on a small scale.
