Joseph McKenna

“ Richards was the member of the board, the legal woner of the seat, and the plaintiff an entire stranger, unknown to the association. The members give credit to each other in part, no doubt, upon the faith of the liability of a member's seat to them for his debts. There is nothing unlawful or unreasonable in this regulation. The seat is not property, in the eye of the law; it could not be seized in execution for debts of the members. ”

“ The bankrupt act of 1898 has made its own rule. For the same reason it is not necessary to review the cases cited from other jurisdictions. Whatever is in them favorable to appellant's contention was based upon the inability that the respective courts found in the law to transfer a title which could be insisted upon and enjoyed against the consent of the association. But that consequence, in our judgment, affects the value of a seat in a stock board, not its existence as property. ”

“ Gowen' (we quote again from appellant's brief) involved 'an attachment against the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, sought by a creditor of a member in good standing, to compel the sale of his seat in satisfaction of a judgment debt, which was refused on appeal to the supreme court, after an exhaustive examination by the court of the exchange rules.' The opinion was as follows:
'A seat in the board of brokers is not property subject to execution in any form. It is a mere personal privilege, perhaps more accurately a license to buy and sell at the meetings of the board. ”