movement and the competition with Kansas City, Omaha, and other recently developed western markets the storage capacity has shown a marked decline. (See Ch. II, sec. 5.)

The public elevators in the St. Louis market may and do operate as merchandisers, since the Illinois warehouse law does not apply to East St. Louis.60 The 10 "public" elevators (with an aggregate capacity of 4,750,000 bushels Jan., 1918) are operated by grain dealers. The 32 "private" elevators are practically all operated by millers. brewers, and other converters, and possess a rated capacity of 4,776,500 bushels. The Mississippi Valley and Burlington elevators have rated capacities of 1,500,000 and 1,300,000 bushels, respectively. The Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association has maintained a private house of 1,660,000 bushels capacity. The remaining houses are small. Little grain is bought for storage on the Merchants' Exchange, the bulk going to consumers or distributors.

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THE CASH MARKET.--A regular trading floor for cash contracts was conducted by the Merchants' Exchange after the absorption of the millers' association (about 1850). About 1876 the call method of trading was introduced for both spot and futures contracts. The call board was very active for more than 20 years. It has practically ceased since 1897, although still provided for in the rules. These call board transactions (both in cash and futures), as shown by the annual reports of the merchants' exchange from 1876 to 1897, are given in the following table:

TABLE 59.-Cash and future a call board transactions, St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1876 to 1897.

a This does not include all future trading. See annual report for 1897, p. 184.

co The law defining public warehouses of class A relates to cities of over 100,000 population.

6 Annual report for 1917, p. 106.

c2 Rule XI, 1917 edition, p. 47.

The exchange is concerned primarily with the grain and flour trade, although its membership comprises all trades and industries in the city. It differs from most of the other western grain exchanges, in that the flour trade is as important as that in grain. There is also extensive trading in hay, provisions, produce, seeds, and castor beans. A feature of the grain market is the trade in soft, red winter wheat, which is concentrated at this terminal.

A study made of 219,671 cars 3 received by St. Louis traders during 1913-1917 showed that 56 per cent were shipped in on consignment and the remainder purchased direct from outside points; 62 per cent of the direct purchases were made by consumers.

Of the grain sold in the market, the consumers (millers, converters, and feeders) were likewise the largest buyers, taking about 47 per cent of the cars examined. The elevators took 25 per cent.

THE FUTURES MARKET. AS Table 59 shows, trading in futures has been conducted since the early seventies, but never on a scale comparable with that in Chicago, Minneapolis, or Kansas City to-day. There is no great concentration of contract grain and the market is comparatively free from large speculative operations." Section 7. Peoria.

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THE PEORIA MARKET.-Peoria, as the maps show (pp. 32, 33), lies in the center of an area of dense corn and oats production. The early market was developed through its river shipping facilities, the movement being toward St. Louis. A regular line of packets was operated between the two river ports for a long period. Recently, however, the larger part of the river traffic has been by barges and canal boats.

Railway connection was established between Chicago and Peoria in 1854. Peoria is now a "rate breaking" point with connections on 14 railroads, although possessing no trunk line terminals such as those in Chicago. The Peoria Board of Trade has for many years alleged a rate discrimination by trunk-line roads in favor of Chicago (see p. 45).

The grain shipping business, while active, has been of less consequence to the market than the consumptive demand of local distilleries and cereal food manufacturers. During 1913-1917 about 58 per cent of corn receipts, 53 per cent of barley, and 20 per cent of rye receipts were consumed in the local market. (See Table 8, p. 24.) Peoria was second among the primary markets in the United States in consumption of corn during 1913-1917, using on the average (in all ways) nearly 14,000,000 bushels annually.

THE PEORIA BOARD OF TRADE.-The earliest board of trade in Peoria was incorporated in 1857. The present body was organized

See general tables, Vol. IV.

See Vol. V, ch. 1, for more detailed discussion.

in 1869 and incorporated the next year under the general laws of Illinois.

About 135 memberships are outstanding to-day, the recent market value (1918) being about $400. The price of a "treasury membership" ("initiation fee") is fixed at $1,000. Further expansion of the association is thus restricted, as on the other larger western exchanges. A transfer fee of $50 is charged except as between members of a single firm. Memberships may be owned either by individuals or by a firm itself.65

It will be noted from the following table that although there is no pit trading at Peoria there are five future commission houses which hold memberships on the Board of Trade. These are branch offices of Chicago wire houses which handle the Peoria futures business and also serve the local cash traders by sending to-arrive bids to the country and procuring Chicago cash and future quotations.

TABLE 60.-Classification of resident members in the grain trade, Peoria Board of Trade,

Enforcement of rules.-The Peoria exchange seems to be neither so highly organized nor so strictly regulated as those in the larger primary markets. For example, the margin rule designed to protect buyers and sellers on contracts for deferred shipment (30, 60, or 90 days delivery) is almost never invoked. The reason advanced for failure to demand cash margins is that competition is so keen that the customer will simply transfer his account to some other Peoria grain man who does not demand margins. It is reported that substantial losses have been sustained in cases of default on such contracts.

Likewise, the arbitration rules (see Ch. V, sec. 6) have been seldom called into use.

See Ch. V, sec. 4.

ELEVATOR FACILITIES.-Peoria has very meager elevator facilities. Of the three houses in operation in 1918 only one, the Burlington, was operated "as a public house." This elevator has a 1,000,000bushel rated capacity and the stock is controlled by three local grain firms. The available public storage of the market is thus so small as to make it difficult to transfer grain for shipping purposes. Lack of elevator facilities frequently compels receivers to reconsign grain or ship on destination weights, which constitutes an obstacle to the growth of the market.

The exchange has no supervision over the elevators except in weighing grain and registering grain stored by outside parties.

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THE CASH MARKET.-Trading on the Peoria Board of Trade is confined to cash transactions. About 75 per cent of all cars of grain received at Peoria are sold for local consumption. An examination of 91,983 cars received during the period 1913-1917 showed that 49.6 per cent were bought on to-arrive contracts (mostly from Illinois). Most of these direct purchases (94 per cent) were made by commission men.

Of all grain sold in the market, consumers took 46 per cent on initial sales. It is reported that 75 per cent of the corn received was purchased by the seven distilleries, operating through one agent. They were the heaviest buyers in the market.

The traders listed as commission men are therefore the predominant selling group, while consumers (manufacturers, converters, and feeders) are to-day the principal buyers. There is only one terminal elevator represented on the exchange, and the seven members representing line companies are reported to be dissatisfied and ready to sell out.

It is apparent that the Peoria market is narrow and irregular as compared with the larger exchanges already described. A call board is frequently resorted to as a method of establishing local cash prices:

The concentrated buying by associated distilleries 68 scarcely assisted the development of the market, since they could readily buy and store at Chicago or St. Louis when Peoria prices were out of line, and have done so in times past. The buying agent of the distilleries stated in July, 1918, that he then had 2,000,000 bushels of sample grade corn stored at Chicago.

Section 8. Louisville.

THE LOUISVILLE MARKET.-Like the other Ohio River and Lake Erie markets Louisville was relatively more important as a grain market several decades ago than it is to-day. In common with Cincinnati, Louisville is a natural gateway to the Southeast. These

Including the Turner-Hudnut, a private house, at Pekin. 67 See general tables, Vol. IV.

Owned by the American Distilling & Distributing Co.

168693--20-12

river ports flourished as distributing points so long as transportation was largely by water, but development of the trunk-line railroad system and the shifting of production areas gave other markets, such as St. Louis and Chicago, an initial advantage.

There is no trading floor operated for grain in Louisville and the consignment business is negligible. The grain trade is supervised by the grain committee of the Board of Trade, which also controls the weighing and inspection services. A special act of Kentucky, approved April 28, 1880, authorized the local board of trade to weigh and inspect grain.

Seven or eight firms handle the grain trade of the market. The oldest of these merchandisers, A. Brandeis & Son, has operated at this point since 1851. About 68 per cent of the grain handled is consumed in the market, for the most part by the local flour and cereal mills and (formerly) distilleries. There are 3 corn mills with an aggregate daily capacity of 8,000 barrels and 2 flour mills with an aggregate daily capacity of 5,000 barrels.

Since there is no floor trading, local transactions are based largely on Chicago quotations.

Section 9. Cincinnati.

THE CINCINNATI MARKET.-Cincinnati, once a relatively important market, was surpassed by Chicago and St Louis in receipts of grain as far back as 1858.69 Receipts of grain to-day are considerably less than at Peoria or Indianapolis although greater than at Toledo or Louisville.

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Of the country grain received more than 65 per cent comes from Indiana and the remainder is about equally derived from Ohio and Illinois. Shipments out of the market are to Newport News or Baltimore for export and to the Southeast for consumption. It has been difficult to get favorable billing in other directions.

Cincinnati is a large hay market and trade in this commodity accounts to a large extent for the present activity of the local exchange.

THE CINCINNATI GRAIN AND HAY EXCHANGE. The Cincinnati Grain and Hay Exchange is the result of a secession of the grain men from the general commercial body which had long existed in the market. It was felt that a distinct association, composed of active traders, could improve the system of weighing and grading grain, and regulate trading practices more effectively.

A stock corporation was organized in April, 1918, and stock was taken up by 44 firms. There were more than 100 resident members " of record in 1918.

Capital stock in the sum of $10,000 (100 shares at $100 each) was authorized and annual dues were set at $50 for each firm membership.

69 Sec Ch. III, sec. 1.

70 68 per cent of the country shipments reported for 1913-1917.
11 Cf. formation of Buffalo Corn Exchange, p. 185.

72 128 on Aug. 5, 1915.