, 1874-11-22
The STURGES CASE.
Concise Summary Of the Acts for
-.. Which Ie Is on Trial.
Conduct Hitherto Unknown on the Board
- Of Trade.

Conduct Hitherto Unknown On the Board
Of Trade.
The Duty of Its Members,
-.... :: =! -.~---=--e-
ia shs Eat1sr ct The Chicago Trtattne: -
gfR: The test which ia about to be applied to
the members of the Board Of Trade OF this city,
hs to whether they have sufficient se]f-respsot to
purge that bodyof diagr.ceful operations under
cover Of it's membership, ezctes, as well it mAN
large degree Of public interest, and these both
inside and outaide OF the organization who hsve
given ths subject any degree Of attention are
watching closely the result, some with more or
less Of solicitudo fearing the element regarded
as the reckless and largely characterless portion
Of tue Board may control the question. being en-
abled to do 30 through lack Of information on
the real issues Of the case, or from Indifference
on the subject by the leas demonstrative portion
Of the members. ='s -
= THE BOARD or TRADE or CHICAGO
occupies aposit1on OF great influence for good
OF evil in the commercial affairs Of the country;
tho buRineas conducted by its members is In
large part ~ pecessaay to the wall-being nf So
10y - We son'-s ~ ~, 500 ~ e-s -as
o'"l ~P eoa0A ~. %Ao -, 1~A' 'e.SADD0 - 3~@1
suIners Of those articles The evast amounts Of
proparty offered for sale In its exchange room
attract buyars from far and near. and tha pru-
! portions to which the business there conducted
has grown have given 1t a prominence in inftu-
enoa second to no similar body in the county,
| The facility and e&ae With which large quapti-
tics OF property. are haqdled. and the further
TACT tina; there ia always both demand and T.
supply ior the 1eaAog afucte8 dealt II " tne
| manbera, nave invited
SPECULATIVE ELEMENT,
1eau!upg ~ tne sa4e aua !ssaAe o3 property 20 An
] a4sent ao1 petnapa oosata'oe ~ any otoeT 1aaF-
Aet IN sae Wo14u. tms etement nas perhaps C.
| caa1oneo me hssocaauon more aolcltnne tnan
! Inat mas son}ectea II 10 mora OF ctatlolsm tnan
a.! lhiugs ese. -,
] :. pQsa WHO nave caro1plig asuaed 1ne e71l apd
| tne sooo euects ot tne specuiatlVe element as
| scarce an exception, come TO the conclusion thst
tue oaiance OF influence nas 6een and II On Ihe
siae o1 4ostef1nS II festfa1n7a wl1h4o xeaaozea-
| DIG anu proper limits. aa' oy It and It only We
| are ~ az umes enabled to feaiZ6 on properly
promptiy aud TO 1ts full saine' It u not true, as
mAuy seem ~ suppoae: tnat speeuAt'a opeta-
t!ofls are conaucteo manly In lno loteree& OF tne
memeers Of ne Aasoc'auon. 4heIe caa be no
DOUBT bur that fully two-th1Fds Of a4 such opera
ttons are OF me ORDERS OF paftaes uY1n6 at points
more or less remote, and VINO operate through
| nemhe1s OF tho body acting AZ commission mer-
cnants. For the must part, TINS Speculation 10
~ 4eg!tlmata ~ tna buying and sailing OF any
| other KIND OF property Win view to an ad-.
sAuc1ug market; anu, IN the nasty cundemnn.
aoo OF "nat 10 e1cepaoaa! tnstaoces, seam to
De TRANSACTIONS o. doubtful cdmmefcaM pro-
pretty, Injustice ls not uulrequanly done. to
what may 10 properly termed entirely legitimate
kTadtng- j..
1t Is uooenaaoly truo that
RECKLESS sPEcuLA1foSs
have been frequently couauotad IN the past that
| hAve resulted N occaslonAl diso1adi1sple az
had TO suffer, generally in silence, for the acts
Of their fellows whose eenae Of mercantile honor
was bounded BY their own Prospects ior gam.
Hemedlea have oeen devised to correct abuaea ~
bers hare bean able to do so without materially
disturbing the course Of legitimate buslnesa-
TIE CASE NOW TENDING DEFoRs THa BOARD
presents 30 many new features that ths usual
remedies are found 70 ba totally inefficient IN
their application 10 tho case. II is because the
Impression ia sought to be forced On the men-
bers ol the Board aud on the community that the
proceedings no" IN progress arc SIMPLY spas
laodic effort to correct 1ong-existiug evils, and
that the attempt Ii being made to sacrifice Mr.
Sturges tor doug what has often been doua be-
fore thst this statement OF the case Is present.
ed For day OF two past the drift OF argument
BY alr stntges aud his friends has bsen--and
such iueinuations have also been made in the
public presto the effect that, while it may be
admitted that Mr. stugges has been guilty Of
some acts Of doubtful propr1ety, atn he should
not be made to suffer too severely for what has
grown to be 4 common practice.
1t Is said CORNERS have been engineered both
before aud since Mr. StuEges' 1ate operations,
2od that the projectors haya not BEEN brought
to the discipline OF tho Board, eTen when thsy
have resulted in dlsgraeing the body, and hence
he should not be; that there ia no good reason
Why the waeding-out process should begin with
h11u, while others hare been permitted to so
free. 1t may be remarked iu passing that
this species OF argument must forever
tie The ha,sds Of the Board. Unless beginning
IL made somewhere remedies could never bo
applied II, however, it we're true that liz.
Sturges had baen arraigned simply for running
i rcorner." whether It was successful one Of
not It might be proper a. an initiatotv proceed-
iug. that Tho infection Of discipline should be
sonewhat tempered with tho quality Of mercy
and that, Beginning Of reform in hatrespect,
n,,t IN :. ~ 4.rn %hn4 W.