The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-01-21
TEXAN TALKS ON BUCKET SHOP FIGHT Champions Model Bill to Be
 Used in the South ARRAIGNS PRESENT SYSTEM No Stronger Address was Made Be- fore Recent Convention Than
 That of H. M. Summers
 of Dallas.
ARRAIGNS PRESENT SYSTEM

In view of the warfare being waged or 1 bucket shops in all the southern states
 the address made before the Southern l Cotton association Saturday on the Evil. 1 of Speculation in Cotton Futures," by
 Hatton M. Summers of Dallas, Tex, will | be of interest
 MT. Summers came as the champion oi
 the model anti-bucket shop bill, which
 is pending before the Texas legislature
 and this bill was endorsed by the asso- l citation. Speaking on the evils of the present system, Mir Summers said:
 Some months ago, at the instance ot l Farm x Ranch" an agricultural paper | published in Dallas 1 began an inves- ] tigation of the method of speculation in cotton futures, for the purpose of suffi- 1 cientiy familiarizing myself with these methods, as to enable me to draft a l bill which would sppress the abuses which have grown up in connection with fu-
 ture transactions. My investigation was 1 begun with the performed opinion that 1 the il1egitimate connected with cotton l speculation was limited almost entirely to the bucket shop proper, and that the wire houses which are connected with the great cotton exchanges were comparative ly free from abuses, and were performing q valuable economic function; that the great cotton exchanges which have all the prestige with age and the associa- ton of names of those high in the busi- ness affairs of the country can give, were in fact, what their names indicate, cotton exchanges.
 As In Same Class.
 "At the end of my investigation, 1 had 1 been driven to the conclusion that from both an economic and moral standpoint the wire houses and bucket shops are in the same class. The New York cotton exchange has sunk to their level and that the New Orleans exchange is certain ly sinking beneath the weight of the
 abuses which have grown up in the future market; that these abuses have grown until they have assumed enormous propo- sltlons, permeating the whole cotton nov ing industry, giving cast and character to our great cotton exchanges, levying millions of dollars annual tribute to the souths cotton industry, and has become a serious menace to the morals of the whole nation, and listen, gentlemen of this convention, l say without fear of success ful contradiction, the present future mar ket performs no useful economic func- tion.
 ''I grant that an agricultural exchange.
 where the seller and buyer meet, either In person or through their respective
 brokers, and buy and sell the products of the field, Is supported by the theory Of economies and has been found use- ful and practicable but an institution whose rules, classification and custom l drive from It's floors transa ctions in these
 products, force the buyer and seller tc
 meet at other places to trade, and make
 the prices of these things, created by
 honest toll, an object of wager and man.
 ipulatlon-such an institution Is not en- i titled to be called an exchange; it is not
 an exchange. It's a gambling hell. It
 is a proposition sound, proven by the | test of centuries, that both an economic I and moral evil the gambling house Is without peer, and among gambling | houses today, these cotton future gam | bling houses are the most fascinating, the
 most injurious to the material interests
 of the state. the most arrogant and bur
 densome upon the people, the most far
 reaching and destructive in their immoral | effect, of any other character of gambling 1 house.
 lnfamy is Acknowledged.
 "The infamy of the bucket shops is SC l universally accepted that 1t would be
 a useless consumption of time to discus.
 this subject in connection with them. The | public conscience has already decree6 l their extermnation, to which verdict tho 1 wire houses and cotton exchanges hay,
 exclaimed: oh just verdict! on righteou. l judger The resemblance between tho l bucket shop and the so-called cotton ex | change is so striking that we immediatelS recognize them as belonging to the same l family. This row between them is noth.
 ing more than family row, growing ou | of inability to agree as to the division | of the fleece, which that family has come | to regard as it's unquestioned right tC
 shear from the public.
 "The distinctive feature of bucket l shop is this: It Is a place where sales | of agricultural products are pretended tc | be made for future delivery but in fact | are not made; instead, settlements arc
 made on some basis of actual or supposed l fluctuation of prices Now let's apply | this test to the New Tork exchange | 1t is place where sales of an agrl l cultural product, to-wit cotton. are made
 where neither party to said contract con | templates actual delivery of the product | There may be few exceptions, but they | are so few that they fail to even slight. 1 ly impress themselves upon the chara ctel | of the institution. It is a place where | settlement is made on the basis of fluctua. | tions in prices of cotton as quoted or | that exchange. The only proof required
 to establish these propositions is found
 in the quotations on that exchange Yes. l terday spot cotton sold in New York or
 middling basis at 10.S0. On the New York
 exchange cotton sold. January deliv,
 cry. at BPS, That delivery must be made
 out of the present crop. which Is now
 practically all in sight the cost of car
 rage until delivery must be borne by tn,
 seller. The fact that the price at whiel | delivery is agreed to be made is les. l than the present value of cotton. Is proo
 positive that neither the buyer nor seller
 contemplate that delivery will be made Only a fool would make that contract 1 intending to comply with it. It would bt | just as sensible for a man to agre,
 to deliver in the near future gold dollars
 at 90 cents each.
 ProcIaims Its Legitimacy.
 "'rhe New York Cotton exchange loudly
 procaims it's legitimacy, but at the same
 time, 1t says to the man who buys cot
 ton through it, if you dare to demand d
 delivery on your contract, you will gel
 a lot of low grade cotton, which vii
 make you wish you had not, and will de l ter you and all others who learn of youi
 experience, from ever making such Q
 demand in the future. For some time
 the quotations of the New Orleans ex- change show that, cotton Is selling on i,s floors for future delivery, at less price than spot cotton Is bringing in that mar ket. Nothing is more certain than that commodities seek the highest market