The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-10-23
THE QUESTION or FUTURES.

parliament to pass law prohibiting the
dealing i'm cotton futures, There is no gain
saying the fact that every year several mil
| lion more bales of cotton are bought and
sold than were raised Looking at this
| question from moral standpoint,
make man pause and reflect,
is it anything more than gambling A
who is bull, risks money that cotton will
go up in November, and proposes to buy
say | 900 bales of the best grade of cotton at
the figures he names. 1t is to his interest
to have cotton go up, and he and all the
other bulls combine to put it up. The bears
who have contracted to deliver cotton at
the price agreed on, want it to come down
so that they can buy for less than they have
sold, and al the bears combine TO pull il
down, and thus the lightGoc 0n,and between
the two the pigeons are placked and fall to
the ground. We say the pigeons, for there
is no question but the bulls and bears Of
New York often play into the hands Of one
lbl INV ll'NNlil~ VI wv 'A'AA'
and the country spectators 1T works
harm in various ways, for ii not only often
bankrupts men, hut it enticcs young men
into speculatons until the mania gets so
strong hold upon them they
cannot resist the temptation and
the temptation leads them To for
gerry aud theft when they cannot get
money otherwise to invest in stocks or in
futures Of grain or cotton. 1t may be said
that all business is but speculation and
hazard, but it is not so in the light that
dealing in futures is. The dry goods mcr-
chant buys his calicOes and domestic and
goods generally at a fixed price and the
goods are delivered to him. He then sells
them again at another fixed price greater
dian the cost Of his stock of course and
thus he does legitimate business,
making fair and reasonable profit
thereby He generally knows how
much he will make, and he SO generally
works on certainty, If he invests $1,000
in cotton futures hc doesn't know whether
he will lose his $1,000 or make profit on
it, 1t is an unnatural way Of making
money, indeed is phenomenal, we.may say,
for if the investment yields profit it IL an
immense onc--such a one as is unreason-
able, ont Of all proportion to the capital
involved aud the length Of time it is
operated. We should not like TO compare
dealing in futures to betting Mt the
game of faro, or roulette,
for one is countenanccd by
the public while faro and roulette are to.
booed by custom and outawcd by lcgisla-
tive enactmonts, hut are not the natures OF
the risks IDENTICAL A wascrs 800 on faro
that tho king will be a winning card, and to
take two chances to win, he bets that the
ten will lose. The Spectator in futures in
cotton risks his 800 that cotton will 40 up
or down, Just as the case may be, and after
all, is il more than bet? The patrons of
the stock exchanges in New York, We men
ton this city because it is the
great money center Of the world, it il
said become perfectly hardened and callous
to the distrcsses Of others, and they soon
become so infatuated with the speculation
that they cannot live without the ievcrish
excitement consequent upon the iluctua-
tons Of the stock in which they may have
invested. We believe in as little interior
ence by Flaw with the rights OF the peo-
pie as is compatible with good government
and the safety of society, but we rather
opinc that it would be wise thing to at
least restrain operations in cotton and grain
futures to a point to prevent corners being
formed to control the prices of these pro
ducts. The law of damand and supply alone
should control the prices of these two prime
necessities in life. Being prime necessities
the rights of the people are involved, and
it becomes a question if it is not criminal
for few men here and there to be able by
combination and skillful manipulation to
give them fictitious value, merely for the
sake of their personal gain. People must
eat and must wear cotton goods, therefore
any scheme to increase the prices OF these
articles, the breadstuils, meatStuils and
cotton of the country is an invasion Of the
most .inviolable rights OF the people and
this being true, does II not seem that
the law ought to interposc its power
to protect those rights from ASSAULT 1t
seems TO DO an inherent passion with the
people of every nation, that is to say
hazard Of some kind and if our people viii
speculate, coniine them by law to opera
| tons in railroad stocks or securities of that
nature. The New York Times in recen
issue says, of comcring" and specializing
in futures Of all kinds and the prevention
| thereof by law, as follows; 1.-THE recen
"cornering" of the cotton market in Liver
pool has led to discussion in England re
| garding the ACCESSIBILITY of action by par
lament to restrict the buying and selling
Of futures and toprevcnt such disastrou
operations. A similar form of bold gamb
ling with grain in Chicago has led TO tn
discovery that there is already Law
against IL in the state of Illinois, whicl
only needs to be rigidly enforced to put
stop to the business. Judge jameson, &
Chicago, has taken OCCASION to bring tn
statute in question to the attention of tn
grand jury of Cook county, and to charg
that body with the duty Of doing is par
toward the enforcement the law. Dea
ling in futures forestalling the market
and getting mn corners arc primpg 4