Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from History of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Vol. 1 of 3
The early struggles and slow growth of the Board after its organization in 1848, have been well described by Elias Colbert and others; but most of the material used in preparing this history of the thirteen years preceding the Civil War was obtained from the newspapers of the period, the only original source now available.
Even in its youth, the Board of Trade had the courage of its convictions, and was ready to express its opinion upon public questions. All walks of life, all social grades and nearly all nation alities are represented in its membership. It is not composed of saints exclusively, nor of sinners. Every candidate for member ship must undergo the examination of a committee, and satisfy them not only of his financial responsibility, but of his good business reputation. As a result of care in guarding its portals, and strict enforcement of its stringent rules of business conduct, there is on the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago as high a standard of commercial honor as obtains anywhere on earth. Its history, so far as domestic legislation is concerned, is largely a record of per sistent action by the majority, to compel a turbulent minority to observe open-handed, fair-dealing methods of business in their relations with the public, as well as among fellow members of the Association. The epoch-making requirements for the grading, weighing, storage and shipment of grain in bulk, which were adopted early in the Board's history, and contributed so largely to its supremacy in this department of commerce, were prompted by this motive, and the same is true of the long fight to compel rail way companies to discontinue the practice of granting unfair freight rates to certain favored shippers.
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