Just as the interests of the proprietors of the Stock Exchange are in the hands of a body of Trustees and Managers, so are the interests of the members under the control of a Committee, which is called the Committee for General Purposes. The Managers provide and maintain the market-place, and thus make profit on the proprietors' capital; the Committee presides over the dealings in the market, and, of course, makes no profit in any way. It consists of thirty members, elected by ballot annually. Sometimes the election is exciting, when, for instance, the policy of the Committee on any point is questioned, but more usually it is a very formal affair. But exciting or formal, a few of the ballot-papers handed in by the members are, strange to say, always spoilt. The member of the Stock Exchange is prone to give vent to his feeling of admiration or indignation for the benefit of the scrutineers even at the expense of losing his votes altogether.

To be eligible for the office of Committeeman, one must have been a member for at least five years. The office is and always has been honorary, but now and again it is suggested that the Committee should consist, at least partly, of paid experts. Its duties are arduous, and it frequently has to settle points of the most delicate nature, whereas it is frequently complained that it does not consist of the best or most experienced members of the Stock Exchange, who do not see in the honour and dignity of the position sufficient inducement for the sacrifice of the time its duties involve. However, generally speaking, the members are held in high esteem, and seldom, indeed, does it occur that there is even an expression of disloyalty to the dictates of the Committee even on the part of those who most desire its reform.

It is questionable whether throughout the whole world any body of men so constituted is endowed with more important functions or with more arbitrary power. The Committee can make practically any additions to or alterations in the code of rules, which was originally based on the deed of settlement of the Stock Exchange. Those rules have become more drastic than the law of the land. Practices which would be perfectly legal, although not very reputable, constitute a contravention of the rules of the Stock Exchange which would bring dire consequences upon any member who indulged in them. Members have been expelled the House by the Committee under the rules for an offence of which the law of the land would not take cognisance. The rules of the Stock Exchange, as administered by the Committee, are a code of honour rather than a code of law.

In the course of administering this code of honour the duties of the Committee become exceedingly varied. It holds an ordinary meeting every Monday, but special meetings may be called at an hour's notice, only seven members out of the thirty being required to form a quorum in the ordinary way. Its fiat may go forth censuring, suspending, or expelling a member—expulsion, of course, meaning the loss of his profession, practically the end of his career, and probably ruin. Or its fiat may go forth in mild protest against smoking in the House a few minutes before the regulation time, or, as the temptations of the 5th of November approach, appealing to members to desist from firework displays in the House. With the Committee, of course, rest the admission and re-election of members. It decides whether the House shall be closed on any day except the usual holidays—there is always the excuse of structural alterations, and, as everyone knows, building operations can be carried on much more readily on a fine summer Saturday than during the dark frosts of winter. It decides all disputes between members; arbitration amongst the members themselves is encouraged, but they frequently refer to the Committee as a last resort. From its decision there is no appeal. To have recourse to the law courts without the permission of the Committee—which is, of course, granted in special cases—probably means the loss of membership by the member, who at the very outset undertakes to submit absolutely to the Committee and its rules. The Committee may summon any member before it and demand information; its power is inquisitorial. It fixes the days of settlement of the various transactions which take place in the market, and it decides what stocks or shares shall or shall not be quoted in the Official Price List, which emanates daily from the Stock Exchange under the Committee's superintendence. The principal officers of the Stock Exchange responsible to the Committee are its Secretary, the Secretary of the Share and Loan Department, the Official Assignee, the Deputy Official Assignee, the Manager of the Settlement Department, and the Manager of the Buying-In and Selling-Out Department. The nature of their duties will become clear as we proceed.

Thus it will be seen the Stock Exchange is governed under a system of dual control—that of the Managers representing the proprietors on the one hand, and that of the Committee representing the members on the other. It is the system of a proprietary club. In its efforts for the good order and government of the House, the Committee has no funds that it can expend. It may make representation to the Managers, but it can do no more; although there is every sign that the Managers are always reasonably willing to accede to these representations. At the time of the imposition upon unauthorised clerks of those badges of which mention has been made, there was much delay in issuing them, and the story went round that whilst the Committee had declared their necessity, the Managers refused to advance the money to provide them. That was probably merely a playful little suggestion, but it serves as an illustration of the drawbacks of dual control. This dual control is, however, gradually becoming abolished under the operation of the rule which compels every new member to hold one or more shares in the Stock Exchange.