The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-05-26

cast the future and to make agreements
according to their prophecy. SpecuIa-
ton OF this kind by competent men il
the reimbursement OF society to the
probable. Its value Is well known a q
means OF avoiding or mitigating catas-
trophies. equaIizing prices and provid-
Ing for periods OF want. 1t is true that
the success Of the strong induces imi-
tation by the weak, and that incompe-
tent persons bring themselves to ruin
by undertaking to speculate In their
turn. But legislatures and courts gen
orally have recognized that the natural
eyolutions of a complex society are to
be touched only with a very cautious
hand, and that such coarse attempts at
a remedy for the waste incident to ey-
Try social function as a simple prohi-
bition and laws to stop its being are
harmful and vain. This court has up
held sales of stock for future delivery
and the substitution of parties pro-
vided for by the rules Of the Chicago
Stock Exchange. Clews VS.. Jameson,
1S2 q. S., 461.
When the Chicago board of trade
was Incorporated we cannot doubt that
it was expected to afford a market for
future as well as present sales. with
the necessary incidents Of such a mar
ket, and while the state Of Illinois al
lows that charter to stand, we cannot
believe that the pits, merely as places
where future sales are made, are for
hidden by the law. But again, the
contracts made in the pits are contracts
between the members. We must sup
pose that from the beginning as now,
if a member had a contract with an
other member to buy a certain amount
OF wheat at a certain time and another
to sell the same amount at the same
time, it would be deemed unnecessary
to exchange warehouse receipts. We
must suppose that then, as now, a set
tiement would be made by the payment
of differences, after the analogy of q
clearing house. This naturally would
take place no less that the contracts
were made in good faith for actual de-
livery, since the result of actual deliv-
cry would be to leave the parties just
where they were before. Set-of has
all the effects of delivery. The ring
settlement is simply a more complex
case of the same kind. These settle.
ments would be frequent, as the num-
Der of persons buying and selling was
comparatively small.
The fact that contracts are satisfied
in this way by set-off and the payment
Of differences detracts in no degree
from the good faith of the parties, ard
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 it, that fact is perfectly consistent
with a serious business purpose and
an intent that the contract shall mean
what it says. There is no doubt from
the rules of the Beard of Trade or the
evidence, that the contracts made be-
tween the members are intended and
supposed to be binding in manner and
form as they are made. There is no
doubt that g large part of those con-
tracts is made for serious business
purposes. Hedging, for instance, as it
is called, is a means by which collect
Ors and exporters of grain or other
products, and manufacturers who make
contracts in advance for the sale Of
their goods, secure themselves against
the fluctuations of the market by
counter contracts for the purchase Or
sale, as the case may be, Of an equal
quantity of the product Or of the ma
terial of manufacture. 1t is none the
less a serious business contract for a
legitimate and useful purpose tina. it
may be Offset before the time OF de-
livery in case delivery should no: be
needed or desired.
Purchases made with the understand
ing that the contract will be settled by
paying the difference between the con-
tract and the market price at d GER
tain time. (Embrey VS.. Jemison, 13L
U. S., 1856; Weare Commission Co. Us.
People, 2O9, Ill. $3.50 stand on different
ground from the purchases made mere
ly with the expectation hat they will
be satisfied by Set-off. If the latter
might fall within the statute of Illionis,
we would not be the first to decide that
they did when the object was self
protection in business and not merely
a speculation entered into for its own
sake. 1t seems to us and extraordi-
nary and unlikely proposition that
the dealings which give it's character
to the great marEet for future sales
in this country are to be regarded as
mere wagers or as pretended" tdying
selling, without any intention Of
receiving and paying for the property
bought, Or of delivering the property
sold, within the meaning of the lili-
nois act. Such i view seems TO us
hardly consistent with the admitted
fact that the quotations of prices from
the market are Of the utmost Import
ance to the business world, and not
least to the farmers; so important IN
deed, that it is argued here ai.d has
been held in Illinois that the quotations
are clothed with a public use. 1t
seems to us hardly consistent with
the obvious purposes of the plaintiffs
character, or indeed wit hthe words OF
the statute invoked. The sales i'll the
pit are not pretended, but, as we have
said. are meant and supposed to re
binding. A set-oIf is in legal effect a
delivery. We speak only of the con-
tracts made in the pits, cause IN
them the members are principals. The
rights of their employees