The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-06-25
The Late Transactions of Williams
Birnie & Co.

OF creating apublic opinion in the Soutl
towards cXcusiig his attempt to evad'
payment of hiSindCbtcdncss to merchant!
4 in this city who arc members of the New
York Cotton Exchange, indications o
5 which have been given out to newspapers
and in the form of circulars, T have deem
ed it well to ask space Of you for the pur
pose of giving, in as few words as posi-
r bic the origin and purpose Of the New
York Cotton Exchange, the nature of tho
I business transacted in it, which have
been assailed by him, and which is Of
public interest, together with Il response
to so much Of the defence set up by him,
l and lntrudcd upon, or brought to the no
ticc Of the public, for his failure to settle
4 the contracts made bv his recent firm OF
Williams, Birnic & Co., III this city,
Myself n Southcrner, an attempt of this
sort | cannot but regard an insult to the
intelligence and integrity Of the people OF
that section, to whom these appeals arc
being directed, and thai the fair play SO
universally admired demands something
from the other side.
This exchange exists under Il special
charter enacted by the Legislature Of tho
State, andi which its powers are grant
/ ed, its purposes defined, and under the
authority of which the rules and bylaws
of the same have been adopted and
amended, from time to time, us expert
/ encc has suggested.
: 1t was All absolute necessity of the trade
the growth of years, already existing: its
purpose that the cotton business, might,
Tor the first time in. it's history, be con-
Quoted under an organized direction adc-
quate to its vast and increasing proper
5 tons aud varied nature, at the same time
subject to laws and equitable regulations
applicable to the proper conduct Of this
branch of the trade, and which unqucs-
D tionably afford more ready and far better
protection than the slow and costly adju-
dicatiOn. That these transactions and the
rules governing them are founded OH
principles of justice and equity has been
affirmed repeatedly in the higher courts
of this State rs we'll rs in your own
State.
The business of contracts for the future
delivery OF cotton is the form of Il part
only of the transaction made, II these
were first adopted for the mutual accom-
mediation of manufacturers and sellers in
a very natural way. The manufacturer
contracted goods ahead, and then made
his contracts with dealers to deliver such
quantities of cotton us would be required
but at stated prices and times in the flu
ture. On The other hand, planters and
dealers are anxious to secure existing pri-
cnS for some portion of the crop. Such
offers were made in this market, and de-
mand created supply. The guano trade
which handles largely contracts from
planters, added its interest; exporters
availed themselves of its temporary pro-
lection for their shipments: merchants
are enabled to carry their stocks in store
during the season by selling contract
against them, and European markets are
not ovcrcrowdcd ut any stage, and undue
depression is checked.
Not unlike the clearinghouse system
in banking; it reduces the friction II
expenses of transfers, readily ad iusts itself
to the wants OF each one and is Of great
benefit to the industry Of the country,
moving the crop from the producer to
the consumer at far less cost than former
ly.
Cotton has always been Il favorite arti-
Gle of Notwithstanding as Mr..
Williams now disdainfully calls it, but
under the system of years ago, when
capitalists only could handle it, Sperula-
ton in it ran to extremes unknown to the
present system, which has reduced the
trade from an arist0cracy to a democrat
cv.
The Rothchilds and the Earrings no
longer hold the control, but any one with
some few hundred dollars may have an
interest of some moment in the market.
Many throughout the South have rcapcd
great benefit from this system during the
present season, and while they may not
be millionarcs, they had brains enough
to buy cotton ut a time when Mr.. Will
liamS' influence and his customers Or
derS were directed to selling short on
speculation as now appears.
That among u large membership, daily
t:ansacting business with each other, not
only on account of dealers and merchants
throughout the United States, but in all
parts of tho world where cotton is boliEht
and sold. there should naturally grow up
an esprit nc c01ps, and requisite sense or
honor and manli"eSs is to be expected.
Failures have occurred in The business,
but until this one they were uniformly
caused by an inability to pay. Never he
fore this has the game of ''hcads 1 win,
tails You lose" been openly declared,
nor had it occurred to merchants here
that II one engaged in the trade of this
market would send in formal notice of
bankruptcy and at the same inn an.
nOunce publicly to the contrary. giving
further as reason that his peculiar type
of honesty would not admit of his meet
ing his liabilities by payment.
On the day of his failure, Mr.. Will
liams sent dispatchcS home--Since given
out for u,licati0n--to the effect that he
had suspended because he would not en-
courage "cotton gambling" yet on the
following day Shc sold 10000 bales
through a single broker on The exchange,
quietly collected such differences as were
due his house on contracts settled under
| tl~ ALL -, an |, - nF thn nnnnitnfn-
ment of this failure, continued to collect
other dues until apprchcnding suits.
and at a moments warning he left his
Office and the city. He had assured his
creditors here that he would not leave
New York until everything was settled.
They. believed him. He declardcd to one
of them that he would edo right though
the heavens fall" 1t was 50 like a man
holding his position would say and act
upon that he also believed him. Mr..
Williams stated while here that he was
worth 81, 500, 900. Yet he leaves S2SO,O00
unpaid, and rccklessly subjects his stand
ing as Il merchant, which by some means
he raised to a height not exceeded by any
In the Southern States, at least to question.
He now attempts to rcpudiate the result
Of his contracts. resorts to cunning, II
asks his neighbors, perhaps some OF
them these same customers for whom he
forced premature settlement OF contracts
at such a heavy loss, to endorse his con-
duct.
1t is pertinent to a controversy invited,
as this has been by him, to say that his
public reference to Mr.. William Brine,
as concerning their creditors is simply
an impertincnce, and evidently intended
to be given u as a case of "wickcd part
nor"
It is quite probable that Mr.. Birnic
%Speculatcd in contracts, but neither buy
ers nor sellers arc necessarily specula-
tors, and rs to how that may be III this
case, their creditors know nothing. Thai
Mr.. Williams has %speculated in them
may be shown by the fact that he person.
ally ordered and had executed sales OF
l0,OOO bales on this exchange the day fol-
lowing the dissolution of his late firm
here, and while he vas sending kilograms
of the kind already mentioned. But |
have now given as much perhaps more
than is of interest to the public---of this
matter. That Mr.. Williams has made a
mistake is evident, and to say that he is
badly advised does not solve it. 1t can
not be on account of the money involved,
for, as has already been indicated, that
would not influence his action for a mo-
: ment. That he is rich is undoubted,
and that he knows the value of honesty
promptness and fidelity to contracts, is
+ abundantly evident from the speech de-
livercd by him at his celebration of his
: 34th anniversary OF his business life, and
. published by him in book form for dis
tribution. In that speech he recommend
ed all these qualities to young men witt
II ~ Fn...D --1 1..- t1nt ~tt1 InnI vf