lly suspended in order to forestall what would have
surely been a ruinous collapse. The four and a half months during
which this suspension continued stand to the ten days closing of 1873
in a proportion which fitly illustrates the relative gravity of the
two historic upheavals.

In the light of these facts we are justified in asserting that the
events of 1914 are the most momentous that have so far constituted the
life and history of the New York Stock Exchange, and consequently that
some record of, and commentary upon, these facts may be of value to
the present members of that body and of interest and profit to its
future members.

It is in the nature of panics to be unforeseen, but the statement may
be truly made that some of them can be more unforeseen than others.
The panic of 1907 was preceded by anxious forebodings in the minds of
many well informed people, whereas the Venezuela panic in 1895, being
due to the sudden act of an individual, came out of a clear sky. To
the latter class distinctively belongs the great convulsion of 1914.
While the standing armies of Europe were a constant reminder of
possible war, and the frequent diplomatic tension between the Great
Powers cast repeated war shadows over the financial markets, the
American public, at least, was entirely unprepared for a world
conflagration. Up to the final moment of the launching of ultimata
between the European governments no one thought it possible that all
our boasted bonds of civilization were to burst over night and plunge
us back into mediaeval barbarism. Wall Street was therefore taken
unaware, and so terrific was the rapidity with which the world passed,
in the period of about a week, from the confidence of long enduring
peace to the frightful realization of strife, that no time was given
for men to collect their thoughts and decide how to meet the
on-rushing disaster.

Added to the paralyzing effect of this unheard of speed of action,
there came the disconcerting thought that the conditions produced were
absolutely without precedent. Experience, the chart on which we rely
to guide ourselves through troubled waters, did not exist. No world
war had ever been fought under the complex conditions of modern
industry and finance, and no one could, for the moment, form any
reliable idea of what would happen or of what immediate action should
be taken. These circumstances should be kept clearly in mind by all
who wish to form a clear conception o