ABSTRACT
PERHAPS the most important event which ever affected the Stock Exchange as an institution was the inquiry into its constitution and customs by the Royal Commission, which was appointed in 1877. Not only was that event of much historical interest from the Stock Exchange point of view, but the report issued by the Royal Commission is a document which, even to-day, possesses interest and importance as throwing light upon the methods of the institution as seen by an independent body most competent to examine into its affairs and comment upon them. The report still possesses importance because the constitution and customs of the Stock Exchange are, to all intents and purposes, much the same now as they were then —it brought about no important alteration, for on the whole it proved to be a vindication of the Stock Exchange as the Royal Commissioners found it. Some minor recommendations for reform were adopted by the Stock Exchange itself, or have been adopted since the report was made; and one or two sweeping recommendations have been ignored, with the result that the Stock Exchange is now as it was then, and in that sense the report is quite up to 99date. In fact, the report still forms an admirable essay on the constitution of the Stock Exchange and the conduct of its business.
