Arizona republican., 1908-06-09

ing more and more the necessity for
taking action which, on the one hand,
would raise the status of the legiti-
mate boards of trade and exchanges
and, on the other, would make 1t
practically impossible for the unprin-
cipled man to affect the appearance OF
the genuine institution and as an out
side broker" as he is called, to
flagrantly cheat the uninitiated spec
ulator out Of his savings.
! The term bucket shopper" first
originated in London five decades ago.
1t was originally applied 10 the happy
go-lucky hooligans who went from
tavern to tavern and public-hou to
public house, draining the kegs Of beer
and brandy, stacked outside the sa-
looms, into a small bucket they car
ried; then adjourning to some tumble
down and malodorous shack located
in a toughest quarter of East end, to
drink the liquor as the bucket was
passed round from man to man. The
word soon fastened itself upon the
man who conducted a gambling den
in opposition to regular exchange bus
mess and the den itself, in which the
be styled buckets shop"
Within two scores of years the
bucket shops" have sprung up like
mushrooms in England as well as in
America In the United States the
members of the boards of trade, even
twenty years ago, realized the necessi-
ty Of making war against the bucket
shop" and since then fighting has
been constant to crush the fake insti-
tutions. Today, the passing Of the
bucket-shop is foregone conclusion.
In England, on the contrary, little
systematic effort has been made to
put the bucket shopper" out Of busi-
ness and protect the public.
The English bucket-shop is not un-
like those rerhaininedn America. Some
tout" organizes himself into com
pany,' furnishes. the office in sump-
tuous style. posts Quotations" on the
black-board-the data for them inva-
riably being stolen from some regular
board of trade by a wiretapper or
crooked electrician who, through
many devious schemes, obtains the
quotations sent on wires from an ex-
change These quotations are used
merely as chips in a poker game.
Those bent upon speculation are Of
fered fabulous returns. No actual
delivery" of stocks or commodities
takes place. The bucket-shop. more
over. always is a principal but charges
commission as a broker. The victim
plays against a "heads-L win tails-you
lose game.
In En0lard in tho limited States
the bucket-shop proprietor takes pains
to make his business look like a
bona-fide exchange; the phraseology
and documents used sham those of
stock exchanges and the boards of
trade. The distinguishing feature of
the institutions, however, is the lack
of actual sale or delivery, and this
renders the transaction a pure bet
ting game, prescribed by the English
Gaming Act of 1S45.
Probably the most specular case pro-
ceeded against a "bucket-shop" in the
annals of English history-one which
is quoted frequently in legal and
speculative circles-came up before
Privy Council in an Appeal on March
30, 1896. The Universal Stock Elk
David Strachan were declared as
gambling transactions by the original
| court, which tried the case with the
aid of the jury. The transactions
were for very large amounts" and
both of the parties to the suit waged
a bitter war. Lord Halsbury. one of
the Privy Councillors, in expressing
his opinion declared: when l look at
the terms themselves the whole
scheme appears to me to be intended
with great ingenuity to pretend that
there is to be a real transaction, and
yet there is to be, a payment in re-
spect of the relations between the
parties, which is only reconcilable in
my mind with its being an unreal
transaction. They are to get per
cent. Each of the learned counsel in
turn has been asked what that was for
inasmuch as it was admitted there
was no purchase or sale. In all these
transactions not one Single purchase
or sale is proved to have existed dur
ing the whole period in which this
business was goin on. Then. if the
real meaning of the parties is this.
that there is to be only payment of
differences, what is it but a gaming
and wagering transaction between the
two as to what shall be the payment
on the one side or on the other side?
My Lords, if 1 were on the jury, 1
should come to that conclusion"
The other privy councillors con-
CURED with Lord Halsbury, and the
original verdict of the jury that the
transaction came under the head of
gambling was upheld.
In another case analogous to the
above, the Master of the Rolls de-
clared in his opinion this was not a
true transaction. For some reason
| which he did not understand" he said,
1T has been held that such transac-
ton did not amount to gambling. 1t
was an attempt to keep up the price
of shares and in order to make it
appear true transaction it was put
| into the jargon of the stock exchange"
Despite these decisions the bucket
shoppers in England continue to
| throw their drag net and to catch big