CO129-416 - Public Offices - 1914 — Page 325

words "null and void to all intents and purposes"

would be preferable to the word "illegal".

321

There appear, however, to the Board of Trade to

be substantial objections to any such Regulation for

restricting dealings in shares of companies.

As pointed out in the letter from the China

Association of the 24th February, the expense of

telegraphing a variety of numbers of shares when the

sellers of the shares live in London, or elsewhere at

a distance, would in many cases be prohibitive.

Any such proposed Regulation would prevent a free

market in shares and increase the difference between

the buying and selling prices because it is essential

that dealers should be able to enter into contracts

for the sale of securities which they have not at the

moment under their control if there is to be any free

market with a narrow margin between the buying and

selling prices.

The effect of the proposed Regulation would thus

be to hamper legitimate trade and honest transactions,

and it would also place the British brokers at Shang-

hai at a disadvantage in competition with Chinese

brokers.

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