nothing to treat of but the price; though, in case the parties agree on an exchange for a place where the time of the bill's running is uncertain, that of payment must be fixed, with every other requisite to conclude the bargain. When a broker has adjusted a remittance, he must inquire of the remitter to whom he will have the bills payable, and should always carry some slips of paper on a post-day in his pocket, on which to note it, as also the sum agreed for, the time of payment, to whom payable, from whom the value is to be received, at what price the exchange was concluded, and the day it was agreed on, which memorandum he must give the drawer, and enter a duplicate thereof in his book, that may serve as a testimonial, in case of any dispute between the contracting parties. It is the broker's obligation to call for the bills, and carry them in time to the remitter, though this is a good deal out of use in this great metropolis, where the merchant commonly sends a clerk with them, to lessen the broker's trouble. A prudent merchant will never attach himself entirely to one broker for fixing the price of the exchange, nor will prefer one to another in the execution of his commission, either through favour or friendship, but he who offers the most beneficial terms should be the agent on that occasion; and by such behaviour he disobliges nobody, but rather stimulates an emulation in them to procure his advantage. It is a great fault in a merchant, whose credit is not well established, when he has a mind to draw, to make use of a broker who is but young in, or ignorant of, his business; and he who draws in virtue of a letter of attorney for another's account is obliged to declare it to the broker, who must in consequence contract in the name of the constituent, and not in his who gave the order. An exchange once concluded with the broker, or by his mediation, ought to be carried into execution; as it is both unfair and illegal for either the drawer or remitter to retract their words given. And if a broker concludes any thing either without or exceeding orders, more especially at an inferior price, the merchant has just reason to resent it, though the broker offers satisfaction, as his credit is concerned, and may be hurt beyond a possibility of reparation. The bills of young beginners may be offered by a broker, but if he frequently tenders such as are notoriously in disrepute, he must greatly suffer in his reputation; more especially if he take on him to recommend them; and if he submits to be employed by one he knows to be insolvent, or near being so, and endeavours to draw or remit for him, when certain that his bills will not be answered, or he as a remitter not comply with his engagements, he ought to be severely punished for his knavery; and his being deprived of any future business is the least he can expect, though the punishment is not adequate to his deserts. A broker should never ask more, nor admit less, than what the law and custom allows him; this for exchanges in London is always one per mil. for each of the parties concerned, though on purchases or sales per cent. and at Amsterdam the tariff is settled at three stivers for a hundred guilders, the half payable by the drawer, and the other moiety by the remitter, as follows, viz. A thousand ducats on Venice A thousand dollars on Genoa or Leghorn A thousand ducats on Madrid, or any other part of Spain. A thousand crusados on Lisbon, or any other part of Portugal.... A hundred pounds sterling on London, or any other part of England, Scot land, or Ireland... A thousand crowns on Paris, or any other part of France.. Though whe crowns. and formerly guild. 4. 10 st. were paid on negociating the thousand A thousand rix-dales on Francfort, Leipzic, or Breslaw A hundred livres de gros, or six hundred guilders, on Dantzic, Coningsberg, Anvers, Lisle, and all Flanders and Brabant A thousand daelders on Hamburgh, computed 1666 guilders.. A thousand guilders of gold changed into silver, and per contra. .. 6 0 0 And in proportion on other places of exchange; not but that some brokers impose on people they find ignorant of the above-mentioned regulations and customs, but this is a fraud, which no honest man will be guilty of. At Paris brokerage is per cent. and at Lyons forty sols is commonly given for three thousand livres Tournois, half by the taker and half by the giver of the bill; and at this last place, any one is permitted to exercise the function of a broker, it being a free city. At Venice brokerage is per mil. at Genoa per cent at Leghorn per mil. at Bologne 1 sol per hundred crowns; and in all other banking cities according to what Government has settled. What we have already advanced, is sufficient with respect to the transactions of exchange brokers in general, and to give an idea of the nature of their business in foreign countries, which is all that is necessary; for every merchant travelling to or residing in any great mercantile city in Europe must make himself master of the local laws and regulations of the place with respect to brokers, and act accordingly: for these are liable to vary with the policy and circumstances of every country, and therefore all printed treatises upon such subjects may become obsolete and useless. But the same reasons should oblige the British merchant to study all the laws and regulations respecting brokers in his own country, on which account we shall enter into a detail on that head, and give ample information to the very time of our publication: what alterations happen afterwards, it will be easy for him to add, and thereby to make this treatise the standard for his transactions with brokers. Of Exchange and Stock Brokers in England. Various classes of brokers are comprehended under the general title of exchange brokers, viz. insurance brokers, ship brokers, East India brokers, stock brokers, auctioneers, &c. all of whom, if they transact business within the jurisdiction of the City of London, must be duly sworn and admitted to act as brokers by the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, otherwise they are liable to a fine and suspension, upon information given to the said court, that they transact business without being so duly admitted. Having already treated of exchange brokers, in the limited sense of that title, we shall proceed to insurance brokers, whose peculiar business is to bring together the parties wanting to insure ships and merchandize from the perils of the sea, and the insurers or underwriters to settle the premium, to pay or receive the same for the parties concerned, to fill up the policies, attest them, &c. They are likewise often called upon to draw up charterparties, particularly when they are to contain any special conditions, as those conditions often relate to, and are connected with the insurance. An insurance broker having authority to subscribe a policy, has also authority to adjust the loss on the same, and an admission of the agent's subscription, and of his having been authorized to subscribe, binds the insurer to admit the authority to sign the adjustment.--See Richardson v. Anderson, 1 Campb. C. N. P. 43. in notes. And if an insurance broker keep the policy in his hands, he is bound to use reasonable diligence to procure the underwriters to settle, and pay any loss that may happen upon it, 2 Campb. C. N. P. 545. If a merchant orders an insurance broker to effect a policy of insurance for him on corn without giving any directions as to those with whom the policy is to be effected, and the insurance broker effects the policy with one of the chartered companies by whose policies corn is warranted against partial losses, though the ship be stranded. Upon a large partial loss happening upon this cargo, after stranding of the ship, the merchant cannot maintain an action against the insurance broker for not effecting the policy with private underwriters, who, by the common form of a policy of insurance, would have been liable for this partial loss. Combes v. Anderson, 1 Campb. C. N. P. 523. And although an insurance broker is bound to obey the positive directions of the assured to abandon, yet if it be referred to his discretion, whether to abandon or not, and he acts bonâ fide, he is not liable to an action for neglecting to abandon ib. 525. Ship brokers are employed in buying and selling ships and cargoes, either by private contract or by public sale, the latter is said to be by candle, on account of the custom of lighting an inch of candle at these public sales, and suffering the bidders to bid no longer than till the candle is burnt out, in other respects they do not differ from common auctions. In time of war, the business of ship brokers is considerably increased by the sale of prizes taken from the enemy. East India brokers transact the business by commission of purchasing the commodities sold at the Company's public sales, and they are employed by the wholesale dealers in linen, silk, teas, spices, drugs, china, &c. Stock brokers are persons who confine their transactions to the buying and selling of property in the public funds, and other securities for money; and they are employed by the proprietors or holders of the said securities. Of late years, owing to the prodigious increase of the funded debt of the nation, commonly called the stocks, they are become a very numerous and considerable body, and have built, by subscription, a room near the Bank, wherein they meet to transact business with their principals and with each other, and to prepare and settle their proceedings before they go to the transfer-offices at the Bank, and South Sea and India Houses, thereby preventing a great deal of confusion at the public offices, where the concourse of people is so great during the hours of transfering stock, that if the business was not prepared before-hand, it would be impossible to transact it within the given time. But if the business of stock brokers was confined solely to buying and selling the real property of their employers in the funds, there would not be half the number that now follow this profession. It is therefore necessary to take notice that the interest which foreigners have in our funds, particularly the Dutch, gave rise to time bargains, that is to say, to contracts for purchasing and selling any quantity of stock to be delivered or adjusted at a future time. The usual times for which bargains, founded on real property, and intended to be settled bona fide, were made, were from three months. to three months, four times within the year, viz. in February, May, August, and November; and these periods of settling the accounts of such time bargains were called the Rescounters, from a Dutch mercantile term for adjusting accounts current between merchant and merchant. The impossibility of ascertaining whether the commissions from abroad given by letters from foreigners, or by their correspondents here, to brokers to buy and sell stocks for time, were founded upon real property or not, gave birth to stock-jobbing, or dealing in the funds upon speculation, and the persons that play at this game, for gaming it is of the first magnitude, whether principals or brokers, are called stock-jobbers. They purchase or sell for a given time, frequently without being possessed of any property in the funds they bargain for, merely upon speculation. For instance: A. imagines that a peace, or some other advantageous national event will raise the price of any given fund within the space of three months considerably above the price of the day on which he makes his time bargain: On this principle he gives his broker orders to buy a large quantity to be taken and paid for three months from that date; when the time expires, if the stock has risen according to his expectation, instead of taking it, for probably it has been bought of a person who had it not to deliver, he receives from the broker the difference in money, between the price on the day the bargain was made, and the price at the expiration of the three months, and this is his profit. If, on the contrary, the stock has fallen below the price of the day on which he purchased for three months, he must pay the difference, and this will be a losing account. It is computed that the bargains on stock-jobbing accounts made in the course of a year, exceed, by many millions, the transfers made at the books of real property, and the conclusion is apparent, that great fortunes are made and lost by stock-jobbing. It is to be observed likewise, that the brokers job for their own account, which occasions frequently failures at the stock exchange. The whole business of stock-jobbing being contrary to law, and many persons acting as brokers therein, who have never been admitted as exchange brokers by the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, it is our duty, in the next place, to give the form of admission of regular brokers, the regulations to which they are subject, and abstracts of the laws in force concerning them and stock-jobbing; after which, if any further information is wanting, we must beg leave to refer the reader to a well known treatise on the funds, entitle, "Every Man his own Broker,"* as it would far exceed our limits, and go beyond the plan of this work, to discuss the whole art and mystery of stockjobbing. All persons, who shall act as brokers within London, shall be admitted by the court 6 Ann. c. of Mayor and Aldermen, under such directions for their good behaviour as the court 16. s.4. shall think fit; and shall, upon their admission, pay to the Chamberlain forty shillings; and shall also yearly pay forty shillings upon the 29th of September, for the use of the Mayor and commonality and citizens of the city of London." The principal regulations established by the said court, in virtue of the powers vested in them by the said statute are, That every broker upon his admission is solemnly sworn, truly and faithfully to execute and perform the office and employment of a broker between party and party, in all things appertaining to the duty of the said office and employment, without fraud or collusion; to the best of his skill and knowledge. That he do enter into a personal bond, under the penalty of five hundred pounds, the condition of which bond recites the duties sworn to in the oath of admission, which, if well and truly performed, then the obligation is void, otherwise it remains in full force. A silver medal is likewise delivered to him, having the King's arms on one side, and the arms of the city of London on the reverse, with the broker's name, and he is ordered to produce the same upon every occasion when he is required to shew his qualification. If any person shall take upon him to act as a broker, or employ any under him to Sect. &. "Every Man his own Broker; or, a Guide to Exchange-Alley, explaining the Nature of the Funds, the Art and Mystery of Stock-jobbing, &c. by T. Mortimer, Esq. the eleventh edition, London, printed for Robinson, 1791," 5. 6 Ann. c. 16. s. 10. 7 Geo. 2. c. 8. s. 1. Sect. 2. Scct. 4. Sect. 5. Sect. 6. Sect. 7. Sect. 8. act as such within the said city, not being admitted, every such person shall forfeit to the mayor and commonalty, &c. for every offence twenty-five pounds, to be recovered by action of debt in the name of the Chamberlain, in any of her Majesty's Courts of Record. Every person employed as a broker, solicitor, or otherwise, in behalf of any other person, to make any bargain, or contract for the buying or selling of any tallies, orders, &c. or interest in any joint stock erected by act of Parliament, or letters patent, or bonds of any company thereby erected, who shall take any money or reward exceeding two shillings and sixpence for every hundred pounds, and so in proportion for his service in soliciting or procuring such contract or bargain, shall forfeit twenty pounds with costs, to such person as will sue for the same in any of her Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster. All contracts upon which any premium shall be given for liberty to put upon, deliver, accept, or refuse, any public stock or securities, and all wagers, puts, and refusals, relating to the present or future stock or securities, shall be void: and all premiums upon such contracts or wagers shall be restored to the person who shall pay the same, who shall be at liberty, within six months from the making of such contract, or laying such wager, to sue for the same, with double costs; and it shall be sufficient for the plaintiff to alledge, that the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff, or has received to the plaintiff's use, the money or premium so paid, whereby the plaintiff's action accrued according to the form of this statute, without setting forth the special matter. Persons, who by this act shall be liable to be sued, shall also be obliged to answer upon oath such bill as shall be preferred against them in equity, for discovering any such contract or wager, and the premium given. Every person who shall make any such contract, upon which any premium shall be given for liberty to put upon, deliver, accept, or refuse any public stock or securities, or any contract in the nature of puts and refusals, or shall lay any wager, except such who shall bona fide sue, and with effect prosecute, for the recovery of the premium paid by them, and also except such as shall discover such actions in any court of equity, shall forfeit five hundred pounds. And all persons negociating or writing such contracts, shall likewise forfeit five hundred pounds, which penalties may be recovered by action of debt or information, in any of his Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster; one moiety to his Majesty, and the other moiety to them who shall sue for the same. No money or other consideration shall be voluntarily given or received for the compounding any difference, for the not delivering or receiving any public stock or securities, but all such contracts shall be specially executed; and all persons who shall voluntarily compound such difference, shall forfeit one hundred pounds, one moiety to his Majesty, and the other moiety to them who shall sue for the same. No person who shall sell stock to be delivered and paid for on a certain day, and which is refused and neglected to be paid for, shall be obliged to transfer the same; but it shall be lawful for such persons to sell such stock to any other, and to receive or recover from the person who first contracted for the same, the damage which shall be sustained. It shall be lawful for any person, who shall buy stock to be accepted and paid for on a future day, and which shall be refused or neglected to be transferred, to buy the like quantity of such stock of any other person, at the current market price, and to recover and receive from the person who first contracted to deliver the same, the damages sustained. All contracts which shall be made for the buying or transferring of stock, whereof the person on whose behalf the contract shall be made to transfer the same shall not, "at the |