The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1883-04-14

make all below q decline Of seven
eighths, but the average fiuctuation OF
the market isn't that much per day."
Investing in puts and calls by out
siders then is about as unsafe as the club
and fund business"
at doesn't involve so much money,
but so far as it goes it is about as bad an
investment. There is only one class OF
people who can make any money out OF
puts and calls, and they are the scalpers.
who buy them. and then watch the
market closely, and operate on the puts
and calls. They don't make any money
on the fluctuations above the call or be-
low the put: it is privilege that they
hold to speculate on through the day.
But an outsider can't make any money
by dealing in them. "-Chiccgo Tribune.
In q subsequent interview with the
senior member of one Of the leading
firms OF the city the Tribune reporter
cleaned the following. The gentleman
interviewed said:
In your article to-day you have given
currency to the statement of some par
ties to the effect that nearly everybody
on the Board of Trade is engaged in this
Legitimate trading. l deny that alto
gether. A great number of members of
the Board do not, and never did, trans
act any of that class of business. either
before or after the State law was passed
which outlawed it. For ourselves we
emphatically deny the imputation; and
l want to state further, for the credit
of the membership of the Board of Trade,
that there is no scarcity of prominent,
honorable and responsible houses on the
Board who can and do transact salts
factory business in speculative orders
without touching put and calls. con-
slider it humiliating fact that the Presi-
dent is engaged in it; / am exceedingly
sorry to know it is SO. / don't say that
no reputable house has anything to do
with puts and calls-there is no necessity
to go so far. What do say is that. as
a general rule, the most reputable houses
don't touch that class of business. We
have never done it, though we have lost
| valuable customers because OF our re-
fusal. We can do o satisfactory bust
ness without it. and we prefer to have
nothing to do with it. irrespective of the
law. You can see that it is in the inter-
ests of those who are engaged in it to
represent that others are in it also. Con-
sequently most of them will assert that
the principal men on the Board are en-
gagged in it more or less. Don't believe
anything Of the kind. for is is contrary
to the fact. The amount of this illegal
trade that is being done is certainly q
revelation to most people,"
"Can you form an approximate idea
as to the number of members of the
Board of Trade who transact business in
puts and calls"
"Yes; you may 60 pretty near it
There can not be one third Of the mem.
bers at it, should say it was limited tt
about one.quarter. Here is how cal
culate: The membership of the Cal
Board is about 1000, and of these 300
or four-fifths, are members OF the BOARD
of Trade. Any member of the Board Of
Trade who deals in puts and calls j.
also a member Of the Call Board. for Thu
put-and-call trading is done in the Call
Board after the call is over. OF thes'
500 members. probably not more thar
the half do any of that business. and a
the total membership OF the Board oil
Trade is over 1900, you can see wha
the per centage is. In any case tina
four-fifths of the Call Board members in
cludes all the members of the Board o
Trade likely TO be engaged in this illega
business. SO you can understand thos'
statements that nearly all are engages
must be untrue"