As a matter of fact, every member is a new applicant for membership every year, although, of course, he finds sureties and pays an entrance fee only at the commencement of his Stock Exchange career. A little before the 25th of March, on which day the Stock Exchange year commences, he has to send in an application form for membership, on much the same lines as that which has to be signed by applicants for first admission. In the form of application with which he is provided, the new applicant has to declare that he seeks membership in accordance with the terms of the rules and regulations, and that he will be subject to them in all respects; he has to give his private and office address, and the names of his bankers, and he has to declare that he is not engaged in any business, except that connected with the Stock Exchange, and that he is in no way connected with any other institution in which dealings in stocks and shares are carried on. At times there has been protest against the stipulation that a member of the Stock Exchange shall not be connected with any other institution of the kind. There have been several movements for the formation of exchanges for mining share business, and even for the establishment of rival stock exchanges, and a year ago one of the great London newspapers established a system of direct dealing between its readers for nominal fees.
In the form of application for either admission or readmission, there must be stated the names of those whom the member proposes to employ as clerks, of which he is allowed a limited number. Of course, the clerks to whom reference is made are not mere office clerks in the ordinary acceptance of the term. Of these a member may naturally employ as many as he likes. But the Stock Exchange recognises a special grade of clerk, who is granted admission to the House, and provides a rather important element in its constitution. Each individual member may have five of these clerks, who are divided into three classes. He is permitted to have one who is called an authorised clerk, because he is authorised to transact business for his employer just in the same way as the employer himself would transact it. The authorised clerk pays an entrance fee of fifty guineas, and an annual subscription of thirty guineas. The member is permitted further to have two more, who are called unauthorised clerks, because they have no authority to deal, although they have the run of the House to convey messages and perform other similar services. These pay an entrance fee of ten guineas, and an annual subscription of the same amount. He is also permitted to have two Settling Room clerks, who, unlike the authorised and unauthorised clerks, have not the full run of the House, but only of the Settling Room, which they use in performing the routine work of checking bargains and carrying through the arrangements in connection with the settlement of transactions. They pay an annual subscription of eight guineas. It is permissible, therefore, for each individual member to have five clerks, and a firm consisting of more than one member is permitted to have nine--two authorised, three unauthorised, and four Settling Room clerks.