Letter from John A. F. Rachau to Otard Dupuy & Co, 1854-10-03
John A. F. Rachau discusses remittances, brandy orders and credit terms in the United States and Canada, the failed Madeira vintage, rising Hennessy prices, and the possible effects of the Maine Liquor Law.
Commercial correspondence
English
John A. F. Rachau
Otard Dupuy & Co
New York
Cognac
New York–Cognac
Cognac trade
Otard Dupuy
Hennessy
Brandy
Credit
Canada
Madeira vintage
Maine Liquor Law
United States
Messrs Otard Dupuy & Co
[[label: Address panel]] p Arabia Messieurs Otard Dupuy & Co Cognac Charente France via Paris
[[label: Letter text, first page]] Messrs Otard Dupuy & Co Cognac New York 3d October 1854 Dear Sirs I had this pleasure last on the 29th Ulto & I advised enclosing in four firsts of Exchang f 10000 ~ and f 15642 27/ of which the seconds are annexed. I then requested you to debit me, against the above in New Account, with f 15000, to the Credit of Mr V. Barsalou, last 24 Decr. and f 10000 " " " " Mess Bayaud & Treadwell 24 Decr which, confirming, have now to acknowledge the receipt of your favor 16 Sepr Messrs Bayaud & Treadwell tell me of having remitted you further f 20000, which, I presume, will nearly cover their indebtedness so far. They have been expecting to hear from you about an additional ship= ment of a previous order at f 19.40 or under, in which, no doubt, they must be mistaken, at least as regards the price of f 18.50. They sent you some more orders lately, of which I have no particulars. I have been informed by Messrs R E Kelly & Co that they had requested their Senior to apply to you for another supply of Brandy, but believe they counterorder'd it on hearing of the late advance to f 20.40. Unless they come to a more convenient arrangement for an earlier settle= ment of their purchases, I shall not at all be sorry if they go without further supplies from you. The time already taken to square off the shipment p James Gray, is quite unreasonable, and in many respects it is not desirable to have such operations repeated, without a positive understanding when payment is to be made. It has caused many urgent enquiries from our other friends, if Messrs Kelly & Co have promptly settled for such large importations, and whence they got the means to do it. To avoid the supposition that they were allowed unusual facilities, of which others might be anxious to avail on similar occasions, and in order to strengthen the Credit of the House with whom we deal so largely, I have been compelled to maintain that their settlement was perfectly
[[label: Letter text, continuation]] satisfactory, a story very reluctant to my way of thinking. As prices must further advance, they are in no hurry to settle with me for the remaining 50 half Pipes ex James Gray, but am in hopes to see this dependency closed before long. The information about Mr Hugh Fraser, obtained indirect, fully con firms what I already said on the 16 Sepr. He is consider'd a very honorable and trustworthy merchant, well suited for the purpose you require, but of very limited means. The great difficulty in the Canadian trade is to obtain a ready settlement on arrival of Goods order'd, as a Credit of 3 to 4 Mths is always expected, which involves frequently a considerable risk, for which a simple charge for Interest is a very unadequate remuneration. The large importers there are not easily brought to offend their correspondents in England, through whom they obtain such a variety of articles bought by them on liberal terms, and in consequence thereof prefer to give them orders for other Goods on which their London friends enjoy a liberal Commission. Therefore only the second class of dealers can be induced to give direct orders for Brandies, who, as I have said, expect a Credit on arrival. I may have taken not quite a right view of this case, but cannot help to remark that should Mr Fraser tapp the retail trade, by taking orders for a few half Pipes each, the hope to secure any respectable wholesale dealer must be very slight. The present high prices must necessarily check the Consumption in Canada as well as elsewhere. Mr Siqueira returned from Europa by the America p Liverpool on the 30 Sepr but anxious to reach his home in Philadelphia, I had very little conversation with him on business matters. He feels extremely grateful for your friendly attentions to him whilst with you. His report about the total failure of the Vintage in Madeira, and elsewhere, is really distressing, and leads me to apprehend that the trade in Wines and Spirits is in danger of annihilation for some years to come. It is always best to hope for better things,
[[label: Letter text, conclusion]] but I must confess the future looks extremely gloomy, and since the disease in the Vines has become so very general, it is not likely that it will disappear all at once. The value of all the Wines and Brandies still left must rise in proportion to their encreasing scarcity, so that ere long they will rank among luxuries, too high in prices to continue as a beverage. Mess Hennessy already talk of f 24 p Velt, and refuse every engagement unless considerably above f 20.40. There is scarcely any doubt that your prices will reach the above figure before the end of the year. This would be equal to $ 5.10 p Gallon here. At present the $ 4.50, command only from $ 4.30 a 50, at which the sales are extremely small. It appears that Mess G. Heidsieck & Sons still are indebted to you about f 18000, for which they occasionally express some desire to remit through me, but the Exchange seems always to be too high for them. The above contains the last Invoice they had, p Felicia, besides a Balance of a preceding one. I am surprised that people so full of should allow this amount to be left so long unpaid. They have only a few Casks of your Brandy unsold, but purchased a round parcel lately of Marett's Brandy, on which they are likely to make a large profit. I did not expect that they would touch any Brandies but yours, but as they talk of quitting the trade should the 'Maine Liquor Law' be enacted, we are likely to have nothing further from them. There are several parcels of P. Cale afloat, which holders are anxious to realize, and do sell at reduced prices. Mr Hilger and Mr Pender supplied themselves through these channels, afraid of importing Brandies at present high and uncertain prices. I remain with esteem, Dear Sirs Yours faithfully John A. F. Rachau.
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Every complete capture, documentary role, address panel, date, names, commercial evidence and postal evidence was directly checked against the authoritative images; unresolved readings remain explicitly marked. Date evidence: Dateline on P002 and October 1854 New York and French postal marks on P001. Origin evidence: Dateline on P002 and NEW-YORK postal evidence on P001.
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4 documentary sides: Address panel and postal evidence; Letter text, first page; Letter text, continuation; Letter text, conclusion; 4 digital images.