, 1881-10-16

imDortance reached by the statute. Judge
Jameson defined this otfense very accurate
tyas follows: "a party securing contract
for the future delivery Of some commodlty
at his option, and then, by. engrosslng the
stock of sucE commodity In tile marKet'
making 1t impossible for the other party to
complete his contract except by purchasing
of his adversary at his own price, or paying ID
cash the difference fixed BY such adversary
This judicial definition of a corner Is IN the
lire Of TIE Tn1DuSE's previous descf1ptlohs,
and it is precisely what the parties KNOWN rs
1.-THE Cincinnati clique" did with wheat LOT
August delivery. But the trouble ABOUT
Furnishing people who engage i'll this lln!a"-
ful business is found in the diSincllnatlon OF
the oyerreached spectators to ''squeal.
The Cincinnati men, for instance. 1nsat'e
themselves peculiarly. obnoxious to the Chi
caeo operators Nevertheless, not one Of
the latter shaved any disposition to appeal
to the courts for relief. The losers settled
as best they could, and the matter was DIS
posed of. This is apt to be the history OF
most corners. 4 swindl1ng corner in oats
had been carried out without public scandal
Just before the August swindling corner IN
wheat --..
Where, then, is the remedy?
" 1t is admitted to be a gross injustice and
downright dishonesty to exact under n con-
tract the delivery Of 4 certain commodity
when such commodity has been monopol1zed
by and the whole supply thereof is III the
control or possession Of the party making
such exaction. Moreover: there is great
public injury in such aforestalling monopoly,
for the fictitious and unlawful rise in price
which results from cornerlng falls upon the
actual CONSUMES Of the cOrllered COLL
modify for may do sol, who are innocent
parties and have taken 10 chances to win or
lose by the gambling transactions which have
led to the corner. In addition to all this, the
practice Of corllerlng has a delnoraiizlns
effect OIL the entire community, forestalls the
market by inducn.. the producers to With
hold their supplies, and blocks the regular
channel of trade. But what is to be done?
We believe that the remedy is in the hands
Of the Boards Of Trade. Some time ago the
Chicago Board Of Trade, recognizing the
dishonesty ami Injustice of corners. adopted
rule designed to defeat the combinations
for monopoliztng any particular commodity
and exacting settlements ut fictitious prices.
This rule provides that tie authorities OF
the board shall fix 4 price for the particular
period covered by the corner, and that this
price shall be regulated by the ruling prices
| in other markets with the cost OF traaspor-
| tation deducted. But experience has proved
| that this rule does not prevent corners. The
| reason is, that manipulatiOns In our market
affect the prices III other markets, and hence
parties running q successful corner In our
market can always hope to have such a
| price fixed under the rule as Will
! yield them handsome profit on their
I, operations. The Board of Trade must 90
still further if it desires to prevent such
| sWindling transactions. 1t must decree that,
| whenever its Committee Oh Arbitration or
/ OTHER proper authority shall be convinced
that any purchaser or combination of pur-
cllascrs has secured possession Of the avail
able supply of certain commodity In
certain market, then all contracts for the
| further delivery Of such commodity to such
| forestallcrs shall be null and void. When-
| ever it is necessary for the seller to buy of
the parties to whom he has sold in order to
| deliver the commodity he has agreed to
| deliver within the time specified in his con-
tract, then it is evident that the market has
| been cornered, and such seller should not be
| required either to deliver or to settle the
| difference between the contract prize and
! the price which the monopolists demand. 1t
is always possible for the Board Of Trade
authorities to determine whether or not the
| market has been cornered. In fact, 4 corner Is
SO manifest that it becomes matter Of COM
mon notoriety. Such rule as we have sug-
gested will do more than statutory penal
provisions can to put 4 stop to the vicious
practice Of cornering, and to restrain over
speculation, of which even tile Chicago Beard
Of Trade is beginning to complain. The
board owes it to itself and to the public to
adopt this treatment of injurious and unlaw-
fui combinations to compel the delivery OF
what cannot be bought, or to pay fine for
| not doing the impossible.