The December settlement of the Stock Exchange took place on Thursday, and was duly carried through. In dimensions it was not so large as previous settlements have been, but the difficulties that had to be overcome seem to have been quite as large as on other occasions. High rates of interest for the purpose of carrying shares, necessitate ed by the inability of the brokers' clients to meet their losses, were the initial trouble, and up to a couple of days ago matters were not altogether cheerful. Arrangements were, however, put through.
The over-speculation in which the community has indulged is, of course, the cause of all the brokers' difficulties. It is reported that in a number of cases the brokers have become wearied of carrying unprofitable clients whose sole hope of meeting their obligations is a rise in the market in the near future, and that accordingly relations with these people have been severed. In the circumstances these brokers have had to do a good deal of carrying shares on their own account.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.