SPECIAL FRUIT ORGANIZATIONS 237 
banks will hesitate and the business must suffer and 
undergo an entire readjustment. 
‘What the jobbers have done in the way of credit in 
the distribution of foodstuffs the fruit exchanges are 
now doing in the distribution of fruit. It is simply ap- 
plying the principles of a well-established business to 
the handling of the various fruits. 
National League of Commission Merchants.—There 
are two or three fruit and produce organizations which 
represent an affiliation of business men but which, as an 
organization, do not attempt to do any commercial busi- 
ness. The National League of Commission Merchants 
represents an organization of this kind. Something of 
its methods has previously been mentioned, but its 
operations are so widespread and so significant that it 
seems advisable to further describe them. 
The active membership is composed exclusively of com- 
mission men handling fruit and produce. The object 
of the organization, as described in Article II of their 
constitution, includes the following: To unite growers 
and producers against the enactment of damaging laws, 
and in favor of desirable and favorable legislation. To 
aid in collecting and disseminating information. To help 
in improving business methods. To protect against dis- 
criminations, exactions and damages to transportations. 
To demand the integrity and financial responsibility of 
the members and the protection of all, so far as possible, 
from fraud, misrepresentation and injustice. 
The National League of Commission Merchants was 
formed in Chicago, in 1893, and grew out of an effort 
on the part of commission men of the responsible class 
to forestall dishonest dealing among certain types of 
