, 1874-04-11

may upset their movomont by mixing 1t rlliou-
louB.
JUDGE BL0DGETT ON GAMBLING. CON-
TRACTS.
Tho deoiaton Of Judge Dlodgott In tho oaso
Of tho ho1dera Of "putB sgainat the bankrupt
estate Of tho Chambers, growing out Of tho COL
ebrated oat cornor Of 1879, has oreatod much OK
citomont In commercial crclosi and woll it may,
for II sustained by tho higher COURTS 1t will rev.
olutonizo noarly overy branch Of trado. THO
faots arc briefly theso, Tho Chambers doter-
minod TO layo corner In oats for tho month Of
Juno, 1879. Thoy purchased 2.5oo,0 buHlols
cash oats, and Juno options for 2,o3o, 400 bush
els. On tho 18th OF Juno they controlled all tho
oats In tho Chicago market In addition to thoso
forms Of purchase, tho managers Of tho cornor
had another. which aro cslloa "puts." They
road as folloua:
Hoccvod Of 1. D. $780, in confederation Of which NO
gvo him or the hotdor Of this contract tho privilege Of
delivering to not 1t any ti1ns prior to O'Clock
p. m. Of Juns 80, 1871 by notification delivery,
10000 bushels OF No. oats. regu1ar receipts, ut ii
conts per bRhol in store and IL reooiycd agreo to
pay for tho came ut tho above price. sanod Chandler
Pomeroy O.. pEyroH Il. CHANDLER.
This was tho salo, At one-ha1f cont & buahol,
OF the privilege Of delivering oats at the price
nnnel, aud tho number Of buslols contracted
for in these "puts" was 8,7o0, ,o00 Tho corncr
WAS successfully maintained until tho 18th of
Juno, when tho Chanllora failed. Tho holders
Of the "puta" tendored, before Juno 80, tho
oats called for, but thoY woro not accepted or
mid fnr n1h IT., Fop
twcon tho cash price on tho day OF tho tendor
and tho prico named in tho "put," tho claim ag-
grogating $400, 900. Tho amount paid for tho
puts was s1s,50o Whom tho corner began, oats
wero selling at 80 cents; tho prico advanced to
Il, and remained thero till tho corner fal1od
samo as in all other like caseH,-tho ono sido en-
deavoring to keep tho price Of oats up, and tho
holders OF "puts' aud "optiona" to put tho
price down. ~
Judge Dlodgott deotdcB,that thoso "puts =" or
contracts arc wagorB; that on tho one side 1t was
bot that oats could not be purchased before
Juno 80 for loss thnn II cents por bi1shel, and
agreeing to psy tho difference II thoy woro 80 pur-
chased. II Chandler sustained tho prlco ut al
cents, he would win the half cont por bushel that
TWAS bot On tho future pricoof grain, "as much
90 Us could be made upon tho speed Of horse
OF tho turn Of cards." Tho Court described the
struggle botwoon tho cornor and tho shorts, and
compareditto to that botwoon gamblers on any other
wager. Ho hold that as these contracts wcro
essentially nothing but bets upon tho prico Of
grain" thoy were void as all othor wager con-
tracts were. The Court, howovor, qualified its
opinion in these words:
I do not intonl to bo understood ~ holding that
evory option contract for tho delivory OF grain
stock, that every "put" Ia necessarily void but
only that all theae contracts In tho light Of the ea-
ony before the Court were in their essential features
gambling contracts Tho parties when they n,ade
them did not intend to deliver tho grain hut only at
the utmost to settto tho differences.
1t appears to us that 1t will bc exceedingly
difficult to draw tho line between any contract
for future delivery and the contracts which tho
Court has doc1arod void. Any man who pur-
chasos grain, Or provisions, or atock, to bo de-
livored month louco, may bo able at the time,
Of delivery to purchase at loss than the price
contracted for. ls ho to bo allowed to ropudiato.
his contracts and plead that ho was eimply
betting that tho artiolo could not bo
had at that timo for tho price namcd
man IN Chicago may make salca for future
delivery at the East, and, therefore, fortify him
so1f by making purchases In Chicago, founded
upon the prices Of hia sales already 1nalo. Ono
contract roats on tho other. Ho has sold at one
price, and has purchased at another,-both con-
tracts for future delivery. He depends on his
capitnl, his knowledge, his foresight, Ills skill,
and his judgment for his SUCCESS. II, In the
meantime, the price Of grain in the West shall
advance above tho price at which ho bought,
can all the persons who sold to him. avoid
thoir contracts on tho ground that they
were bots upon tho price OF grain
and thus deprive tho merchant Of tho outiro
valuo Of all tho transactions, and perhaps ruin
his credit and bankrupt him anancin1ly7 Whore
in is tho difference botwcon ono contract for
future delivery aud another7 In no case eau
tho principle Of chance bo wholly avoided. a
newspaper Office may advance to tho papor-mill
on tho lat Of May tho cash for throo-months'
supply Of papor, to bo delivered at tho
purchasers option, at tho price ruling
Of paper ehall advance, and tho papor
can only DO delivered at d loas by tho mill,
eau the latter avoid the contract by alleging that
1t was bet on the prico Of paper during ninety
dags7 The broad doctrine that Judge Blodgott
has laid down in this case must apply to all con-
tracts for future dollvory. One OF tho consider
ations Of such contracts is, TINT tho price may
advance within that time. Tho seller takes tho
chance of prices falling. On both eidoB thoro ia
risk, md that riak ia part of the consideration
Is this gambling7 Is this the came ns botting
on horao.raco7 II 1t be, then all commercial
transactions, oxcopt cash aaloB, are gambling,
and void
In England, an immonae proportion Of tho
grain, provisions, cotton, wool, aud groceries
imported into TINT country are alvortisod md
sold "to arriyo." That is to Bay as soon ag tho