Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-03-12

A@ 49, - =
Of cotton seeking TO come here, while we
cannot receive 1t. 1t is not what will
bring cotton hers we want to consider,
but the best OF a~ugmenting our
Of handling 1t. Our present mode
dealing Is eminently popular with the
who ars tributary TO US. Why
seek to change 1T We are doing as
well a. we can possibly do. Osn any one
q reason why He should quarrel
with g prosperity which isequal to our Ca
pscity : All our machinery Is in full opera
ton to its utmost power; why quarrel
with the way IL works3 There may be
danger, nsy, there Is danger, that by
tinkerirg with 1t it will break down and
us all in the ruin which such .
catastrophs will bring about. We cannot
moro cotton. We want more cspi-
tai. In sssking to Equeez9 Out of the
s aPle which we get more profits than 1t
viii naturally yield we may involve our
selves and our prosperous market in ruin,
Why kill the goose that lays the golden
eggs7 Tit desire of some men to smass
q sudden fortune by means which the
sense Of the community in which
our line condemns ought not to be en-
couraged. The word gambling" has bean
fixed upon those operations whether in
cotton, or hay or gold, that are not within
the processes Of legitimate trade. Every
man in these business dsys knows that
cotton Will go where money is.
Get double the amount OF money
here and you will do double the
amount of business. Before I change my
mode of business, which is so eminently
popular and successful, you must prove
that the change is for the better. I am
fool enough to take q hypothetical
case and bsse my hopes on that. Icsnnot
q remote contingency in exchange
for g present and satisfactory certainty.
1t is too much to ask it. One reason why
our manner of doing business in Mem
phls is 30 popular is, this is
MARKET FOR "sPoT" COTTON
and nothing else. I am opposed, tooth
and toe-nsil, lstfOoted and decidedly,
against any mode Of doing business that
is not 'spot" 1 am moi opposed to peo-
pie doing business in futures" If they see
ut, Bnt the machinery for gambling of
that sort ia what I do not want, and lido
not want to help such a system along.
1t was very amusing to hear the secre-
tary reading ous that "futures'' were
studiously to be avoided. What do men
care for Wordsi They sre only q shadow
and have no binding force. You furnish
all the machinery, all the Inducements,
all the temptations. You invite this sort
of gambling, and yet you studiously
avoid the mention of futures" You
speak rather disrespectfully Of IAN editor"
whom you chsrge was the only one in the
city to suggest futures" The psper on
Jefferson street that is in favor OF this ex.
charge has spoken of "futures'' as one
Of the future features of the exchange,
and advocates its establishment on that
ground. What bosh, then, to attempt to
circulate the n~onsenslcsl idea that "fu.
lures" are to be escheWed in the ex
chanRef 1t Is openly avowed by the pa-
per that advocates this view that stu.
lures" will be one OF its enlivening feat
ures, and here the impression Is sought to
be made that IL was not mentioned save
by the editor on Union street that con-
scientiously opposed this whole business
on sccount Of that gambling feature. 1
wish to be understood as being opposed
square out, up and down, hstfooted, to
gambling in "~futuresD now and hereafter
forever. 1 may be told that it will not be
INDUCED in. Show me the cotton ex-
change in the country that does not wit
ness daily gambling in futures" and
then I may attach 9 little import
snce to your promise. Last Mon
day 1 said 1 was seeking light
upon the utility Of this institution.
They adjourned over purpOsely in order
to give Us q chance TO get it. 1 waited
seven days, and 1t has not come yet. 1
SIS much in the dark now as ever. 1
want to know what is to be achieved in a
legitimate way by this exchange, and no
one can tell me. All Its attractions are
bound uD in its gambling feature. Every
thing else is amply provided for in the
cham ber of commerce. II there Is not
something outside the declared purposes
of the trainers of your coDstil utlon, why
are those declarations msds3 There is
nothing in them not already provided for
In the purposes of the chamber OF som.
q thing. It Is nonsense to ss-
sert that the interests Of buyers and SELL
srs are identical. They are sntagonistio,
II I want to sell q hundred dozen eggs,
my OBJECT is to get the biggest DTice I can;
the man who is in the character OF e buy
or wants to get them at the lowest posi-
BILE price. Our interests are then a. dia-
metricslly opposed as the poles. The
same arguments hold good in cotton.
That's business. The man that makes an
excellent trade in buying cotton does so
st the expense OF the seller. Now,
when I sss q set of buyers enlhu-
about q movement in which both
sellers and buyers are concerned my first
inference is that there is some
thing in it mighty good for them and
consequently mighty bsd for the sellers.
That is exactly the state of things I find
here. From the very incipiency of this
/ found the buyers all wild
with excitement about 1t snd iubilsnt at
what they considered the early reElizs-
ton of their hopes In ths establishing of
this institution. That made me wary,
knowing IS 1 did the soundness of the
rules 1 have laid down. They all splurged
the interests of Memphis. KNEW
all the time hat they Rssns their
Mr Crismsn said 1t was the
yer est bunoOmte 10 talk about interests Of
Memphis, He was for his own interests.
nj those who got out big speeches about
the city were for themselves and nothing
slse.
Iresd, ne said, in the transactions In
.sw York that on q certain osy two hun
bred and fifty bales of 'spos" were sold
even Thousand two hundred and
ifsy futures" Now If there were no
futures" now much ''spot" cotton would
nave bsen sOld1 That is the question. |
The 'tuturep business disturbs the
market In such a way that no one can tell
what calculation to base g true valuation
If cotton Upon. Old Nj. Patrick, one of
he soundest cotton men in Memphis, was
to him a day or two ago upon that
very subject. He said he could see his
way all the tins through any number OF
oales Of the real article, and feel cure Of
being always tolersbly correct; but when
{ came to dealing in this cotton on paper,
le was completely lost,
I do not see what Is to be gained by
our mode OF handling and elias
cotton. The prospective gain in
his way Is all moOnshine. By the way, 1
lid not observe in the reading of this
highly interesting and edifying document
where the constitution eaded and the BY
commenced. l. escaped me alto
,ether If there was anything said Ebout
he classification Of cotton. I don't know
what Improvements are to be made In
hat respect.
Mr.. SEraston said that those who may
ign the constitution bind themselves 20
IL future bylaws that may be got up.
Mr.. Patton suggested that 6 committee
would be appointed to fix them up.
Mr.. Orismsn saidl.hst they had violated
III rules In their proceeding-they had
officers for offices that had no ex-
They made their officers q week
,efore they made the places for them.
lie had often heard Of offices being Great
d for people, but this was the first in
lance in which the officers were made
At this point there was a general move
nent of disturbance. Several motions
Tere made to adjourn, which the chair
lost every time. In the midst
( the hubbub. while half of those pres
Mt were standing up and the other half
Fere going out and all were talking, q
notion was declared adopting the consti-
ution IS q whole.
Then the meeting adjourned to next
fondsy.
FIRE.