The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-02-18
Congressman Bur|eson SAYS
That BucketshOps Are Bet
Ter Than the Exchange
TWO WITNESSES APPEAR
IN THE INVESTIGATION
Two Members of the New York Ex
Ehange Declare That the Methods
of the Institution Are Legal
and Fair to All

Washington, February 1.-THE investi-
cation of transactions In futures on ex-
changes and boards of trade, which has
been proceeding before the House commit
tee on agriculture, swung tonight from
the cotton exchanges to the grain mar
kets Both sides on the question of the
proposed legislation to abolish the specu-
lative operations in the New York cotton
exchange closed today and tomorrow del
egates from the grain forums of Chi
cago, Philadelphia. Duluth and Minneap-
oils will voice their opposition to the
pending bills.
Both the New York stock exchange and
the white slave traffic evil were drawn
on by L. Mandelbaum, member of the
New York cotton exchange, as instances
were the Interference of the law could
overstep its bounds in certain points. He
portrayed the exchange as generally
without blemish
Former President Hubbard traced the
exchanges evolution.
Representative Burleson of Texas. a pro-
ducer of cotton and as representative
OF cotton interests, declared that the
bucketshops were infinitely preferable to
the exchange, with its manipulations OF
prices, and with exchange by comparison
with the bucketshops was as Monte Car
10 and its roulette and monthly record
of suicides to the game of craps the
pickaninnies play in the back alleys.
He arraigned what he stamped as "con-
4 fessions of the exchange itself;'s said
, New York had ceased to be a spot mar
ket and when Representative Cocks Of
New York asked "where is there spot
market?" replied that they were in the
south.
He declared that the low grades and
the lovers" the refuse grades, mostly
were sent 10 the New York warehouses;
that the cotton exchange had not per-
formed its function of bringing the pro-
ducers and the spinners together and
referred facetiously to the members OF
the exchange as merchants, l Will not
ray gamblers
The New York cotton exchange, he
said, was the "only commercial body IN
the world, save two, that can arbitrarily
by committee repeal the law of supply
and demand.
The producers and spinners, he urged
have a right to expect Congress to lift
from their shoulders the burden OF the
exchange, whose representatives in the
sbranch exchanges in Texas had been
dragged from their conf1nes' and smut
out of the state.
ssThere are more creeping, flying, boring
insects preying on cotton than on any
other plant in the world, and Is 1t possi-
ble," he asked, that you are going to
leave this tender plant to the mercies OF
the worst pests of all-the bulls and the
bears?''
you have all heard of the reports of a
cotton duck trust" exclaimed MIR. Man
delbaum. do you know that during the
last five years three attempts have been
made to combine all the southern cotton
mills. and today everything is going,
~svhich, If successful, would leave the pro-
ducer at the mercy of the spinner?
Mr.. Mandelbaum said that Representa-
tive Burlesson had referred to hedging
on change" in such way as to show that
he either did not understand the ques-
ton or did not want to understand it..
He said the exchange business was legal
one that had stood the fire of the su-
preme court; that the Burleson bill before
the committee contemplated any differ
ences of how a man buys so long as he
sold nothing, and the Scott bill was de-
scribed as only a little better and
broader.
"Is not the lamb In the cotton business
of about as much Importance relatively
as the lamp III tHe Wool DusiheoS. dshcu
Representative Beale of Texas.
"No SIR" replied Mr.. Mandelbaum, "but
the lamb is very essential to the wool"
Don't the wooden manufacturers con-
tract to sell to the manufacture to sell
ahead of the day of manufacturer asked
Representative Sims.
Yes, sometimes six months ahead"
why can't the cotton manufacturers
do the same?''
The answer was not direct.
Chairman Scott tried to bring out from
Mr. Mandelbaum and Mr.. Hubbard why
November February. April and June were
the least speculative months, but neither
Nvas able to offer any reason. Mr.. Hub
. Bard described the evolution of cotton ex-
change methods. suggested that the
United States, and especially the south.
were sellers not buyers. and declared
that the ordinary business life of a cotton
exporter did not exceed five years.