Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-10
BUSISE s GAMBLING.

The bill to prevent gambling in grain
options has had considerable public at
tention of late by the hearing before the
House committee having it in charge
That attention was emphasized the other
day by The forcible declaration of Mr.
John Whitaker, a supporter of the bill,
that the short seller of food products is
1.-The Anarchist Of America.
This declaration is more remarkable for
its hvperbole than for its economic or
social value. Based, as it is, upon the as
sertion that the short seller induces. a per
manent depreciation of the staple on
which he CANDLES below its natural and
legitimate level, it ignores the important
fact that the selling Of wind is always
balanced by the bUying of it. Not only
is the short seller always met by a long
buyer. but the seller sells in the hope of
buying again at profit, just as the buyer
buys that he NAV sell again. Which of
them loses and which gains is determined
in the long run, not by their own manipu-
lations, but by the legitimate action of de-
mand and supply. If there were any ma
terial foundation for Mr.. Whitaker's
theory, the assertion that the man who
artifcially cheapens the price of food is
an Anarchist puts the disciples of anarchy
in an entirely new light.
All such presentations of the subject
make the mistake of ignoring the broad
ground. that business gambling is not only
demOralizing and rUinous to those who en-
gage in it, but that it affects the legiti-
mate interests Of the country by exagger-
ating the fluctuations caused by the nor
NAL action Of demand and supply There.
is no especial moral difference between
the longs and the shorts. If there is a
light supply Of wheat, speculation corners
the market, imposes an unjust burden on
those whose demands must be supplied at
once, and checks the normal commercial
movement by artificially high prices. If
the supply is large, short sales, and sales
to cover long contracts as well, exaggerate
the decline The mixture of gambling
with legitimate business always Injuries
the latter.
If the betting on prices could be kept as
clear from the legitimate transactions as it
is in the bucket shops the injury would be
confined to the gamblers themselves. But
it is difficult to do this for the same reason
that it is difficult to legislate on the SUBJ
ject, namely, that some of the option
transactions are among the most legiti-
mate and necessary of commerce. The
man VINO sells $4,000 bushels of wheat
for March delivery because he knows of
places where he can buy that wheat
and bring it to market at profit is secur-
ing himself against risk, instead of taking
the risks of fiuctuation. He is doing as
legitimate a business as the builder who
contracts to build house when he has in
his possession neither stick, stone nor
brick out Of which the house is to be con-
structed. The only logical law that can
be passed on the subject is to forbid
transactions in which the party buys or
sells with the intention of merely settling
the differences produced by the f1uctua-
tions OF price; and there is no more rea-
son why the law should not undertake to
Judge OF that intent than of the intent
with which a man strikes blow or the
purpose for which he opens the door of
house.
But when such a law is passed it would