THE PRiCE OF WHEAT 249 



to 1,443,875,000 bushels. The New York market for wheat is 

 small compared to that of Chicago. Record of the amount of 

 trading in options is no longer kept, but in a lively market it 

 runs into millions of bushels daily. Under very exceptional 

 circumstances it is said that ten million bushels of wheat have 

 been sold in the Chicago pit in lesB than ten minutes. 



The unit on the Chicago and New York exchanges is 5,000 

 bushels of wheat. In Chicago 1 per cent variation is allowed 

 on the contract, and in New York 5 per cent. When wheat is 

 sold in " boat-load lots to arrive" 8,000 bushels is understood as 

 the unit, and 10 per cent deficit or excess does not vitiate the 

 delivery. 



The Evils of Speculation. The modern speculative system is 

 of such recent origin, and its operations seem so complex to the 

 ordinary layman who is unacquainted with produce exchanges, 

 that it was and is little understood. Its evils were more easily 

 recognized than its benefits. Without an understanding of 

 speculation, it was easy to ascribe many evils to it with which it 

 had no connection. "The modern system of { futures' has 

 proved itself a convenient scapegoat for all the evils of the grain 

 trade. It is charged with being the cause of low prices and of 

 high prices, with increasing trade risks, and with diminishing 

 them till there is no chance for profit. A few years ago the 

 farming class clamored for the suppression of the speculative 

 market, while recently the Kansas farmers started a movement 

 to contribute a cent a bushel on all their wheat to a fund for 

 the benefit of the most daring speculator of the Chicago mar- 

 ket." 1 As the functions of modern speculation were better un- 

 derstood, its advantage became more apparent, and the specu- 

 lator was looked upon as something more than a mere gambler. 

 Opposition became more rational and less intense. The evils of 

 speculation may be divided into three general classes: (1) Cor- 

 ners; (2) public gambling and "bucket shops;" and (3) manip- 

 ulations in general. 



Corners. To "corner" wheat is to secure such a control over 

 the existing supply as to be able to dictate its price. Success 

 in this is so difficult that it is very rare. Corners and the op- 

 position to them are not of modern origin, for even in antiquity 

 there were prohibitions to cornering grain. 2 Perhaps the first 



1 Emery, Econ. Jour. (1899) 9:45. 



2 Lexis, Handworterbuch d. Staatswissenschaften, 3:861. 



