FINANCE, INDUSTRY, TRANSPORTATION. 



485 



Convict. He that is found guilty of an offense by 

 the verdict of a jury. 



Coroner. An officer whose duty it is to inquire into 

 the cause by which any person came to a sudden or 

 violent death, which must be done, before him and the 

 jury assembled for the purpose, upon view of the body. 

 Costs. The expenses incurred in the prosecution or 

 defense of legal proceedings, of which there are two 

 kinds, those between party and party, and those be- 

 tween attorney and client. 



Count. In common law pleadings, is a section of a 

 declaration. 



County Court. Local courts established throughout 

 the country. 



Covenant. An agreement under seal. 

 Coverture. The state of a married woman as being 

 under the protection and influence of her husband or 

 baron. She is called a feme covert. 



Coalers. Coal roads. A term usually applied on 

 stock exchanges to describe the Reading, Lackawanna, 

 Delaware and Hudson, and Jersey Central Railroads. 



Cocket. A custom house warrant to showthat'goods 

 have been entered. 



Collaterals. Stocks, bonds, notes, or other value, 

 given in pledge as security when money is borrowed. 



Collateral Security. Security for the payment of 

 money or the performance of covenants in addition to 

 a principal promise or bond, e. g., a warehouse receipt 

 or a paid-up insurance policy given as security for the 

 payment of a promissory note would be collateral. 



Combine. A word expressing the same meaning as 

 " trust " and supposed not to be quite so distasteful to 

 the opponents of monopolies. 



Commercial Paper. Negotiable paper, such as 

 drafts, bills of exchange, etc., given in the due course 

 of business. 



Common Stock. The ordinary shares in a corpora- 

 tion. 



Compromise. An agreement embracing mutual 

 concessions. 



Concern. The business itself considered as a person 

 independent of its ownership. 



Consign. To send goods or property to an agent or 

 broker. The sender of the goods is a consignor; the 

 receiver is a consignee, and the goods or things sent are 

 a consignment. 



Consols. A contraction of " consolidated." It 

 represents the consolidation of Great Britain's bonded 

 debt, and is the leading English funded government 

 security. 



Contango. (London Stock Exchange.) A rate paid 

 for carrying shares over until next settlement day. 

 When a broker desires to " continue shares " or to post- 

 pone the day of payment or delivery, the premium paid 

 is called in the seller's case " backwardation " and, in 

 the buyer's case, " contango." 



Conversion. Bonds are frequently issued with a 

 provision whereby they can at any moment be ex- 

 changed for equivalent stock. Such securities are 

 called " convertible," and the act of substitution is 

 called " conversion." 



Corner. An artificial scarcity created by holding 

 property off the market for the extortion of abnor- 

 mally high prices. Where the purchases of any party 

 or parties exceed the amount of contract grain in 

 regular warehouses on the last delivery day of the 

 month for which such purchases have been made, the 

 grain so bought is said to be cornered. 



Corporation. A corporate body authorized by law 

 to act as a single individual. 



Coupon Bonds. Bonds payable to bearer without 

 any registration of the owner's name anywhere. The 

 interest in these bonds is evidenced by coupons which, 

 when they become due, are cut off the original bond and 

 collected. 



Cover. The buying in of grain or stocks to fill short 

 contracts is called "covering." 



Covering Shorts. Buying in property to fill con- 

 tracts (usually for future delivery) previously made. 



Coasting. A sailing near land, or trade carried on 

 between ports in the same country. 



C. O. D. Collect on delivery. Goods sent by express 

 marked in this way mast be accompanied by the bill for 

 them. This bill is collected and receipted by the mes- 

 senger of the express company, before delivering the 

 goods. 



Commerce. Interchange of values or commodities. 

 Common Carrier. One who makes it a business to 

 transport goods : railroad companies are common car- 

 riers. 



Compact. An agreement by which the parties are 

 firmly bound together. 



Company. An association of persons for a common 

 enterprise. 



Contraband. Prohibited; illegal. 



Condition Precedent. A condition which must be 

 carried out before the obligation is performed. 



Copartnership. Joint concern in business. 



Correspondence. An interchange of letters, or in- 

 tercourse. 



Counterfeit. A forgery ; spurious bank bills. 



Countersign. To sign, as secretary or subordinate 

 officer, a writing which has been signed by the superior. 



Coupon. An interest certificate attached to a bond ; 

 when paid, it is cut off. 



Cross-Examination. The interrogation of a witness 

 by or on behalf of the party against whom the evidence 

 is given. 



Credentials. Testimonials ; that which gives credit 

 or authority. 



Custom. A law, not written, established by long use, 

 and the consent of our ancestors ; if it be universal, it is 

 common law; if particular, it is then properly custom. 



Customs. Duties levied on commodities exported and 

 imported. 



Curb. Prices made by private transactions not in 

 trading hours are called curb markets. 



Curbstone Market. A hanger-on of Board of Trade 

 or Stock Exchanges, who does business on the sidewalk. 

 An irregular speculator, with the street for his place of 

 business, and for his office his hat. 



Currency. Money in current use. 



Custom House. A government place where imported 

 goods are entered and duties collected. 



Damages. The amount of money awarded by a jury, 

 to be paid by a defendant to a plaintiff, as a compensa- 

 tion for the injury of which the latter complains. 



Days of Grace. Usually three days allowed for the 

 payment of a note after maturity. 



Debenture Bonds. Concentration of floating capital- 

 ization into convenient bonded form. Originally, notes 

 in the form of bonds. 



Debenture. A written instrument of the nature of a 

 bond or bill for a certain sum of money. 



De Bonis Non. When an administrator dies, the 

 right does not descend to his own representative, but a 

 fresh grant of administration must be obtained of the 

 goods remain ing unadministered, and which is called an 

 administration de bonis non. 



Declaration. In an action at law, signifies the plain- 

 tiff's statement of his cause of action. 



Declaration of Trust. A written or verbal expres- 

 sion or statement, by which a person acknowledges him- 

 self to be a trustee for another. If relating to lands, it 

 must be in writing. 



Deed. A writing sealed and delivered by the parties 

 to it. 



De Facto. A thing actually done or existing. 



Default (judgment by). If a defendant omits to ap- 

 pear or plead to an action, within the time allowed, the 

 plaintiff can sign judgment by default. 



Defaulter. A person who neglects to perform an act 

 required to be done. 



Defeasance. A collateral deed made at the same 

 time with some other deed, and containing certain con- 

 ditions which may defeat or render null and void the 

 provisions of such other deed. 



Defendant. The party against whom an action or 

 suit is brought. 



Demesne. Lands which formerly the lord kept in his 

 own hands, being next to his mansion. 



Demise. A word used in conveyances of estates for 

 terms of years. 



Demurrage. A compensation or allowance for de- 

 taining a ship beyond the usual or specified time. 



Demurrer. A mode of raising a point of law, upon 

 the facts stated in the pleadings, assuming them to be 

 true. 



Deposition. The testimony of a witness taken down 

 in writing and signed by him. 



Devise. The giving away of lands or other real es- 

 tate by will. 



Debtor. A party .who owes a debt; one who owes 

 another money, goods, or services. 



Delivery Day. The first trading day of the month is 

 usually called delivery day, but, as all transactions are 

 at the option of the seller/he may select and deliver the 

 grain on any day of the month for which it has been 

 sold. 



