Note 2 — TABLE OF CONTENTS

The following defense of the functions of the Board of Trade was compiled by Mr. John R. Mauff, the secretary: “The Chicago Board of Trade has exclusive characteristics, indispensable to the welfare of the producer and consumer. It offers the producer a constant and infallible fluctuating market, determined and regulated by the inexorable law of supply and demand. It creates, thru the trading of its large membership, representing the various branches of agricultural and industrial activity, continuous quotations that are collected and distributed generally and without cost to the public. There is thus presented the opportunity for the producer to determine at any time the exact value of his products. A further advantage is that he can dispose of these products at any time by making a future delivery ‘hedging’ contract to suit his inclination, regardless of bad roads or transportation problems. Another benefit is the large and daily open competitive market in which to display his wares before a multitude of buyers simultaneously, obviating the otherwise impossible task of communicating with this diversity of demands by personal effort. Protected at all times by a set of rules and regulations holding its members to a strict accountability for their proper conduct as commission merchants; mandatory for suspension or expulsion for any violation of the ethics of trade. Having at their disposal a variety of ability only to be found in a large membership, insuring in this way proper handling and attention because a strenuous effort is always masterful and resourceful where competition is rife. Dissemination of statistics relating to agriculture; the benefits of terminal elevators equipped with modern apparatus for the proper care of sample grades. For consumers, car shortage and other transportation difficulties productive of business stagnation overcome by the opportunity to purchase for future delivery the raw material where ‘short’ sales of product call for protection. Consummation of contracts possible at all times thru the machinery of a market for future delivery at continuous prices, reliable to the fluctuations of a small fraction—one-eighth of one cent per bushel. In conclusion, and by no means least, the facilities offered for thus establishing value in every part of the United States, with no inequality because of geographical location, and so a death knell to the exploiters of producers and consumers because of this knowledge widely disseminated and so easy of understanding.”