Thru the buyer's offsetting or cancelling his pur chase by a sale and by means of the clearing house and ringing out, few future trades remain to be carried out but there are always some longs and some shorts who are left at the end of the delivery month. In these cases actual delivery is made.
6. Commissions.—The usual margin is five cents a bushel and the usual commission is of a cent a bushel. If transactions are made for members or for firms with one member on the board, the rate of the commission is reduced by half. Corporations have the privilege of getting half commissions when they have one director or stockholder who is a member of the Board of Trade.
7. Government and manageinent.—The Chicago Board of Trade was formally organized on March 13, 1848, at a time when Chicago was reached by small tugs and boats on Lake Michigan and by wagon. The purpose of the Board was expressed as follows: to maintain a commercial exchange ; to promote uniformity in the customs and usages of the merchants ; to inculcate principles of justice and an equity in trade ; to facilitate the speedy adjustment of business disputes ; to acquire and to disseminate valuable commercial and economic information ; and generally to secure to its members the benefits of co operation in the furtherance of their legitimate pursuits.
Unlike the New York Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade is an incorporated institution, having received a special charter from the State of Illinois, in 1859, nine years after the original date of incor poration. Under the regulations enumerated in the charter the members are authorized to transact busi ness and are permitted to "establish such rules, regula tions and by-laws for the management of their busi ness and the mode in which it shall be transacted, as they may think proper." The business of the Ex change is done between the hours of 9.30 a.m. and 1.15 p.m. All transactions must be completed before or at the latter hour.
The government of the Board of Trade differs little from that of the stock exchanges. Of course the main difference is that instead of having a stock list committee the Board of Trade has committees tor su pervise the inspection, weighing, grading and sam pling of grain. The Board of Trade publishes elaborate annual statistics concerning grain prices.
The membership numbers between 1700 and 1800 and includes a representative of nearly every impor tant grain commission and elevator company in the country, many of the big millers, some of the New York Stock Exchange members, even a few European importers, several hundred local grain commission men, elevator managers, flour merchants, insurance men, grocers, shipping merchants, lawyers, lumber men, several capitalists and bankers and owners and representatives of the packing houses. Memberships
have recently sold at $4,700, the price depending upon the demand for membership seats.
8. Other American grain exchanges.—Altho Min neapolis has the second largest grain market, those in Kansas City, Duluth, New York and St. Louis are important. The New York Produce Exchange occu pies a large building and has nearly 1900 members. Besides grain, it deals in many other products, in cluding hay and straw, cotton seed oil, flour, provi sions, lard, seed, petroleum, pig iron, hops, butter and cheese. The Exchange also takes an active part in furthering New York's commercial interests and has committees on canals, bills of lading, exports and rail road affairs.
New York is an important export point for wheat and is the third largest milling centre in the country. Trade in flour is comparatively large, and such trad ing in wheat as takes place is done chiefly by brokers acting for nearby mills. New York has long ceased to be a primary market for grain, the development of other export points making it less important than formerly. The completion of the barge canal across the state may, however, restore some of New York's prestige in the grain trade.
The hours of trading are 10.30 a. m. to 2.15 p. m., which allowing for difference in time, correspond ex actly with those of Chicago, Minneapolis, Duluth, St. Louis and Kansas City. Wheat is normally about 6 cents a bushel higher in New York than in Chicago, representing the difference in transportation rates and other costs.
An interesting feature of the Produce Exchange is the fact that members may send substitutes on the floor for limited periods of time. While the produce ex changes generally maintain a high standard of mem bership, there are generally less severe restrictions re garding the occupations of members than obtain on the leading stock exchanges.
The produce exchanges of the Middle West have their specialties. Besides its important wheat market, Minneapolis has a large barley market, Kansas City specializes in futures for hard winter wheat, St. Louis in winter wheat and Toledo in red winter wheat. An interesting feature of the Min neapolis Chamber of Commerce is its large illumin ated dial that immediately records all the trades made in the pit. There are 550 members in this important exchange the seats of which .cost about $3,500.