New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-30
A PANIC IN COTTON.
COMPLETE SUSPENSION OF FUTURE
BUSINESS IN NEW-ORLEANs.
FALSE REPORTS OF A TERRIFIC JUMP IN
PRICES IN LIVERPOOL CREATE THE

Widest EXCITEMENT.


New-Orleans Sept 29-The widest panic
| ever witnessed on the floor Of the NeW-orleahs
Cotton Exchange occurred to-day, shortly
after business opened and caused In the midSt
OF the intense excitement the complete sus-
pension of future business pending the IN
vestigatlon Of what at the moment was as
sumed to be a gigantic conspiracy to swndle
the cotton exchanges OF the country. The
panic was due TO an apparent terrific jump
in the price Of cotton. based on alleged Liver
pool advices and it was roughly estimated that
! $1,000 had been lost on local transactions as
a result. Later In the day the exchange. after
receiving legal advice. declared null and void
all future transactions Of the day This action,
however promises to be bitterly contested. and
litigation Is likely to be the final outcome.
Future business here will not be resumed until
Monday.
The market at Liverpool opened 1921 lower
on spots, and 4-6ld down on deliveries, "a
compared with yesterdays values. and con
tinucd without material change for some time.
Then the wires became hot with tales Of rap
idly advancing prices They started up y
~ LEA at time at first and then jumped l-Gi,
1le-A. 2-G4 and 2is-Gl in quick order, until the
net advance up to 945 o'clock. local time,
showed 4l-G4 In the mean time New orleans
| ndl opened under the influence OF Aif lbNtA-
pool advance 81 to 81 points higher than last
evenings closing and quickly climbed 80 points
additional.
AN ENORMOUS ADVANCE.
Then the explosion came with an unaccount-
| able advance Of ~ points facing them, operators
began to receive cable dispatches from Liverpool,
asking the reason for the heavy gain In prices
in this market, and stating that values IN the
J English market still stood about at the opening
figures. These cable adyices in the face Of from
10000 TO 10000 bales sold and purchased threw
the operators into a frenzy Of excitement and
they surged shouting. yelling and rosticulating
about the ring. as President Parker rushed to
his desk and summoned without the usual for
malites meeting Of the Exchange. Amid
tumutuous scenes motion 10 suspend business
was gasped out by a wildly excited broker, and
with tremendous shout it was unanimously
carried. The news Of the excitement on the
floor in the mean time had spread like wiidhre
through the business districts. and Carondolet-
81. in the vicinity II the exchanges and the
bucket shops were soon thronged with ex-
! cited men Manager West. of tho Western Union
/ Company as soon as he got wind Of the sensa-
tional advance. set his wires 20 work with mes
sases If inquiry % New-York. Replies came
promptly, directing that an specials in reference
/ to Liverpool fluctuations be- suspended until
th,y could he Confirmed by the D. m report.
In thu face Of these reports and the advices
+ from Liverpool. President Parker convened the
/ directors carly i'm the afternoon. and IL
| then concluded u close the future market until
Monday in order 20 permit the brokers 70 re-
cover from their shock and enable an investi-
/ cation 70 be- concluded. fixing the blame for the
remarkable laundering or the responsibility for
+ 81,
summoned its counsel, +. T. Saunders. and
asked an opinion from him 20 the Legality
u the contracts that had been made under the
/ msappreherson Of facts.
CONTRACTS DECLARED VOID
Having been informed that all contracts
made this day" said Mr. Saunders. were based
on false reports from Liverpool as 70 price. l
advise You that the consent essential 10 a valid
contract was wanting. and the contracts there
fore were void
4 Upon the basis Of this opinion, the contracts
were declared Of The curbstone brokers'. or
AT least some Of them protested against the
action ~ the Board in declaring contracts void
and claimed they were not governed by the EN-
change other brokers were likewise II the
opinion that the Exchange had exceeded its au-
thority. and threats We're freely made during
the afternoon of a resort 10 litigation 10 deter
D mine whether inc CoNtldtt u should STAND or Idll
To-day is the first time in its history OF thirty
years that the New-Oricans Cotton Exchange
has been compelled to suspend business. During
the panic of 1893 similar attempt TO suspend
was made. but failed The Exchange took the
ground then that suspension would injure 1t in
the markets Of the world The directors feel
that to-days suspension was unavoidable and
excusahe.
] FROM
The following statement was given out at the
Cotton Exchange late this afternoon:
In consequence OF false cablegrams from
| Liverpool giving enormous advances In that
| market, large transactions We're made In New
/ orleans futures to-day with points all over the
country at heavy improvements IN prices Dis
coyery Of the falsity Of the cahlegrams created
/ inextricable confusion. nocessitating a suspen-
sion Of business temporarily in order 70 enable
brokers and commission merchants 10 straighten
! their accounts with correspondents
Between the hours Of : 20 and $50 o'clock five
cablegrams were received. showing between BOB
| and 2.24 D. m. liverpool time) continuous de-
clincs OF 5-6iths or. say. I'm all 10 @l-2-6iths.
! The Liverpool market then reported adj
vancing and from SO n. m 10 1910 a. m.
! New Orleans time. dispatches We're received
! showing an aggregate advance Of Ni-6iths. or a
! net advance between $50 a. m. and 1910 IN.
of NBia-t;fths. equal To about IL cents a pound.
such an unheard of advance created the Wild
est excitement. and before contradictory adj
! vices could Doe obtained large blocks Of cotton
/ exchanged hands That the interests OF all
| parties might be- protected. the Board Of Dr.
rectors of the NeW-Oreans Cotton Exchange,
! under the rules ordered suspension OF bust
ness and subsequently. under proper legal
| advice declared al transactions In cotton
! both spot and futures based on the false quo
tations null and void. The justice Of this posi-.
! ton Will be apparent
All OF the Liverpool dispatches quoted came
! through the regular channel. the Commercial
News Bureau Of the Western Union Telegraph
! Company, which has been the news conductor
! for the various Southern exchanges for more
/ than quarter Of century past The ex-
! r,ia ~ he he oh