The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-05-31
FUTURES NOT GAMBLING
Chicago Board of Trade Wins Suits
in Supreme Court
Justices Harlan, Brewer and Day Dissent
Opinion In Brlef Of Chief
Justice Holmes.

Washington, D. c. The Supreme
Court of the United States decided the
cases of the Board Of Trade of Chicago,
ILL.,, against the C. C. Christie Commits
sion Company, of Kansas City Mo-,
and the Kinsey Company, of Chicago;
ILL.,, involving the right Of the private
concerns to use the continuous quota
tions of the board, in favor Of the con-
tentions Of the Board Of Trade. Both
concerns resented the designation Of
bucketshop, and it was charged that
the transactions of.the board are of q,
nature to justify the characterizattoni
of the board as a bucketshOp. a major
ity of them involving no physical trans
fer of the property supposed to bel
transferred. Summing up the points
involved, Justice Holmes, in Delivering
the opinion of the court, said that thet
board supplies its quotations to the tell
egraph companies under a contract not;
to deliver them to bucketshops, and the,
cases were instituted to prevent the
use of the figures by private houses.
without contracts with the Board of
4lduS. liz duuSu tudG q udJOIlly Ol;
the court was not prepared to say that
the transactions Of the board consti-!
tute gambling, and the decision was
that the injunction should be granted
as prayed for. '
Justices Harlan, Brewer and Day.
disSented. r',.
In his opinion, Justice Holmes char
acteFized the Board of Trade as a;
great market where. through its 1900
members, Is transacted a large part Of
the grain and provision business of the!
world" Speaking Of dealings in fu-
lures he said:
people will endeavor to forecast the
future and to make agreements accord
ing to their prophecy. Speculation of
this kind by competent men is the self
adjustment of society to the probable.
Its value is we'll known as a means of
avoiding or Mitigating catastrophes.
equalizing ! es and providing for Pc
RODS Of wait. . When the Chi
cago Board of Trade was organized
we cannot doubt that it was expected.
to afford a market for future as well as
present sales, with the necessary incl
dents of such a market, and while the
State of Illinois allows the charter to-
stand, we cannot believe that the pits,
merely as places where future sales
are made, are forbidden by the law"
He said that agreements made ont
the Exchange are in the nature Of con-
tracts, and continued: /.
'The fact that contracts are satisfied
by set-offs and by the payment of diff
fornnnaC Idfro ato In M Inor.an frnnt f1n
good faith Of the parties; and If the
parties know when they make SUCH
contracts that they are very likely to-
have a chance to satisfy them In that
way and intend to make use of ii, that
fact is perfectly consistent with a Sc
rious business purpose and an intent
that the contract shall mean what it
says. p" = = It seems to us an I'M
likely and an extraordinary PROPOSE
ton that the dealings which give it's
character to the great market for fu-
ture sales in this country are to be re-
garded as mere wages, OF as pretended
buying or selling, without receiving
and paying for the property bought, Oh
of delivering the property sold, within
the meaning of the Illinois act. =
The sales in the pits are not pretended.
but are meant and supposed to be bind
ing. A set-of is in legal effect a deliy-
cry" 81 &.@ .~-. as5S>- -r1ka- ~-
Even admitting, the Justice said
that the Board Of Trade does maintain:
q place where unlawful transactions
are permitted, it does not follow that
it should not be protected in this suit.
The board has "the right to keep the
work which it has done or paid for do
ing to ITSELF" 80" ..I,..i