opposition to Mr Koswick's Share Bill that while many long paragraphis, taking up nearly the whole of the memorial, are dé- voted to proving that short-sling is cora- parativ. ly innocuous, that 'bolling' is the greater evil and that the Bill is entirely directed against short-selling, the memo- rialets find very little to say about the much-talked-of impediments which the Bill will place in the way of legitimato busi-
ness.
They doubtless found when they endeavoured to reduce their objections to writing that the most of them were ground. less. Only three injurions effects are al- leged. The first is that the new ordinance changes a contract of sale on time, from an executory contract to be satisfied by the delivery of any share and subject only to an action of damages for non-delivery, to a bargain by which the property in the exact shares mentioned is transferred from
the date of the contract and the risk shift- ed, the contract being fulälled only by the delivery of the precise shares whose numbers are given therein. Now what does all this mean but simply this that after the Bill becomes law, when a man purchases shares he purchases ac- tul and not fictitious property, that his contract is a burgain and nos a grumbling bet. That is just the main object of the Bill, and, to say, as the patitian goes on to do, that more trouble is likely to ariau uut of such legitimate trans «ctions than out of gambling transactions is to talk pare non- aense. All that this first objection amounts to, strippel of lawyers' verbosity, is that when a buys shares from B he enters into a genuine bargain and must take care that the person he deals with is sound and reputable, so that he may rest satisfied that he will got what he bargained for when the contract matures, The phrase used in the memurial, risk shifted,' is delightfully vague, and moant to impress the signa- tories as something very serious. It would be edifying to hear Me Francia explain what he means.
The second objection is that the new Ordinance will interfere with what is known as arbitrage business, which consists in speculating on the differences between abare quotations in different markets, Now, in the first place, this species of business is not large, is decreasing and is confined to one or two operators. In the second place it is not true that the Ordinance will prevent a men from buying shares in London or Shanghai or Manila and selling them at once in Hong. kong, taking advantage of any local improvement. Even if it were necessary to wire out numbers, the extra cost with a good code would be comparatively smail – $16 at the most, and if the margin did not amply cover this the business would be worthless. Bat it will not be necessary to wire numbers. This business is generally carried on by well-known operators who have trusted agents in Hongkong or in the place where they wish to sell, and these agents would have little difficulty in carry- ing through the transaction by an exchange
of shares. And even a roundabout pro- | cess of sale need not be resorted to. It a man in Loudon has real shares to sell, his agent in Hongkong can make out a preliminary contract leaving the number to be filled in on receipt of letter, and such a contract would, we believe, be perfectly valid.
The third objection is the old Brown, Jones and Robinson objection of Mr Whitehead in regard to the re-se ling of shares, coupled with the frivolous complaint about a man having to bok into his ledger to see what shares he has. All that need be said about this feeble objection is that if the repeat- ed re-selling of the same shares during a long contract is somewhat checked, the sellers and purchasers forced to be more careful with whom they deal, and the time of contract shortened, the Bill will do a great deal of good. Long contracts and un- limited re-aale during the interval is an in- jurious species of speculation, and if it is made more risky the thanks of the commo- uity will be due to Mr Keswick.
We compared the adjustments' in the value of shares made by the action aud reaction of 'bulls' and 'bears' to the prin- ciples of equalisation on which Robin Hood, Rob Roy & Co. acted. But the 'bulla' and 'bears' are of a worse class, for they rob the poor to give to the rich-to give to them- selves. The commerce of the world would be on a very insecure basis if it was de- pendent on the operation of thes: free- booters for its ragulation. Regulation must come from a more intelligent interest by ahareholders in the concerns in which they invest, from more frequentand more detailed accounts and reports by directors and from the elimination from the governing boards of all suspected of trafficking in the shares of the company they direct, or of profiting by such trafficking.
74