Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1906 — DEALS IN FUTURES UPHELD. [ARTICLE]

DEALS IN FUTURES UPHELD.

Decision in Cleage Case by Federal Court at St. Paul. The United States Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Paul upheld the validity of contracts for the purchase and sale of grain for future delivery, as practiced by the Chicago Board of Trade and the Merchants’ Exchange of St. Louis. The case is that of Thomas A. Cleage, Jr., appellee, against W. 11. Laidley and others. Cleage dealt in about 14,000,000 bushels of grain, and less than 2 per cent of it was delivered. The brokers to whom he became indebted’ filed a creditors’ petition in bankruptcy, which was assailed on the ground that the creditors’ claims were grounded upon wager agreements and therefore were void. The court holds that the evidence did not disclose a purpose to settle the contracts by the payment of the difference between the contract prices and the market prices at the time of delivery, and did not make the transactions wagers and void.