exhaustive national investigation
to determine whether an extension of a system of central markets would
not afford great help. I do not mean the extension of our so-called
exchanges dealing in local produce, but the creation of great central
exchange markets with responsibilities for service to the entire people.
This help would arise in two ways. The first is the hourly determination
of price at great centers that all may know, and thus the farmer
protects himself against local variations and manipulation. The second
is a system of forward contracts through such a market between farmer
and consumer on standardized commodities. Such contracts in effect
remove the necessity of a speculative middleman. This system exists in
grain and in cotton and in its processes eliminates large part of the
hazard and carries the commodity at the lower rate of interest. The
present trouble with the system of future contracts is that it lends
itself to manipulation, but I believe this could be eliminated.

Take the case of potatoes; here is an unstandardized, seasonal
commodity, with no national market and therefore no established daily
price as a datum point. A grower in Florida, Maine, or Wisconsin,
through a local agent, or through local sale, consigns potatoes to
Pittsburgh because a larger price is reported there than in Chicago. The
grower can usually make no actual sale to an actual retailer or
wholesaler at destination because the buyer has no assurance of quality.
Coincident shipment from many points to a hopeful market almost daily
produces a local glut at receiving points somewhere in the country.
Often enough the shipper gets no return but a bill for freight and the
perishables sometimes rot in the yards. If potatoes were standardized
and sold on contract in national market, protected from manipulation,
three things should result. First, there would be a daily national price
known to growers. Second, by the sale of a contract for delivery the
grower would be assured of this price. Third, the contract and
directions for shipment would flow naturally to the distributor where
the potatoes were needed, and thus the present fearfully wasteful system
would be mitigated. Potatoes would be a most difficult case to handle;
dried beans, peas, even butter and cheese would be easier. I am not
advocating widespread dealing in futures, but short contracts giving
time for delivery would probably greatly decrease the margin between
farmer a