Evening star., 1922-06-17
0[DR0MANCE GONE
IN WHEAT CORNER
Squeezing as in Days Of
"0Id Hutch" Prevented in
May 0versaIes.
By the Associated Press.

by tue ASSOCIATED PresS.
CHICAGO. June Ill L. Winters, q
director of the Chicago Board of
Trade. is authority for a striking
comparison of present methods in the
wheat business as in contrast with
the days of "Old Hutch" B. P. Hutchi-
son. most famous of old-time grain
operators. Referring to May wheat
dealings here which have attracted
wide attention, Mr.. Winters today
said:
The day. of the grain corner Is
gone forever, as may be seen from
the so-called May dea1' just gone
plished by strict rules of the board
itself In the last ten or fifteen years
In the old days, before traders, for
their own protection, had adopted
stringent rules to prevent manfpula-
ton. the recent situation would in
controlled by some leader like old
Hutch
13,768,OO0 Bushels Sold.
ALSO he might have lost heavily.
let it be remembered. Few corners
made money for the manipulators. A
dozen fortunes were lost where one
was gained. The Old Hutch Of to-
day would have had to pay the full
price of 13.766000 bushels of wheat
which were delivered on May con-
tracts this year. tidy sum, even at
the unmanipulated price of $1.16 a
bushel at which the market closed
May 81. Had there been a corner, the
price assuredly would have been
much higher. for the bull manipulation
is compelled to bid up the market on
himself. In the Letter corner the late
p. D. Armour and others delivered the
actual grain by millions of bushels
to Mr.. Letter; Letter was unable to
stand on his resources, stupendous
though they were. and the corner col
I'm the present instance, no one was
certain Spectators thought that
wheat for delivery in May was a
bargain. and they bought independ-
emily in expectation of an advance.
By mid-May they owned everything
in the public warehouses deliverable
on contracts, and hence what would
have been natural corner'-that is.
one brought about without manipula-
tion-existed. Sellers had contracted
to deliver more wheat in Chicago
hold. In the old days these shorts
would have been compelled to make
a money settlement with the bulls at
prices set by the bulls. Such squeezes
sent many TrH on tnS HndHCidi
rocks a generation ago.
Protect Interests of All.
Suggestions came from many
sources toward the end of May that
! the directors of the board should fix
settlement price. in order to pre-
| vent a squeeze. but this was con-
sidered unsound and futile. A con-
tract is a contract and its sacredness
must be preserved. The contracts to
deliver certain quantities of wheat
during May were valid instruments
of commerce.
What the directors of the board
actually did was far better. They
simply declared wheat in cars regu-
lar for delivery on contracts: in
other words. they made each car a
public warehouse until the emergency
passed. In this way every person who
! had made a valid sale for future de-
livery. that is. in May. was able to
/ deliver the wheat, and those who
! bought it received 1t as per contract
"All interests. including that of the
| farmer and the public. were protected
and the price at which the market
| closed on the last day of May was
! the fair balance set by conditions of
| supply and demand the world over"