lj 2 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [396 



" which have actually obtained on said Board in bona fide 

 sales of butter ", but also from making " wash " sales and 

 sales for " future delivery " in which both parties do not in 

 good faith intend to make the transfer of the actual commo- 

 dity. If this restraining order is complied with, there 

 can be no way of establishing a price that is represen- 

 tative of conditions except by a large number of sales under 

 the " call " of the Board. The officials of the Elgin Board 

 are desirous of making this possible, and are conducting a 

 campaign to induce a larger number of patrons to offer 

 their butter at the Board's auction and thus participate in 

 establishing a real competitive price instead of selling on 

 the " contract system " by which prices do not become 

 known. 



The interests of the producing class are of course diamet- 

 rically opposed to the interests of the receiving class with 

 respect to the quotation of prices. The former desire as 

 high a price as possible under prevailing conditions, while 

 the latter desire the quotations to be low in order that there 

 may be a wider margin between the prices they pay to the 

 producers and those they receive from the buyers. The 

 wholesale dealers are in competition among themselves to 

 secure all the butter possible, and in recent years have been 

 paying in many cases from a cent to a cent and a half or 

 more above the market quotations. If the butter contracted 

 for is of very exceptional quality the dealer can well afford 

 to make such an offer because he gets a better price for it. 

 But if this is not the case he is liable to sustain losses when 

 the quotations are high at a time when the city is fairly 

 well stocked with supplies, because under such conditions 

 he has great difficulty in selling the butter at good prices. 

 The jobbers and retailers at times when supplies are plenti- 

 ful naturally also recede to a safer position in order that 

 they may dispose of the butter at a profit. The Elgin Board 



