to the
superintendent of the Exchange, with an exact statement of the time
and terms of delivery. The record shows that the average annual
sales in the past five years have been in excess of 16,000,000 bags
of 130 pounds each.

Contracts may be transferred or offset by voluntary clearings by
groups of members. There is no general clearing system.[319] There
is a commendable rule providing that, in case of a "corner," the
officials may fix a settlement price for contracts to avoid
disastrous failures.

The original initiation fee was $250. Seats on the Exchange once sold
for as low as $110. In January, 1916, there was a sale at $3,000; in
October, 1916, there was a sale for $5,000; in April, 1921, three seats
were sold for $5,500 each; but the record price of $8,600 was paid in
1919. Seats are now (1922) worth about $6,000.

The Exchange includes in its membership 323 brokers, importers, dealers,
and roasters. Membership is passed upon by a committee on membership;
but any one twenty-one years old, resident or non-resident, of good
character and commercial standing, is eligible when proposed and
seconded by Exchange members. The committee refers the application with
its recommendation to the board of managers, which takes a ballot. The
adverse vote of one-third of all votes cast rejects.

The Exchange elects annually a president, a vice-president, and a
treasurer, who perform the usual duties of Exchange officers. The real
governing body is the board of managers, consisting of the president,
vice-president, treasurer, and twelve other members. This governing
board, meeting monthly, appoints the necessary subordinate officers and
employees, and fixes their compensation, and may "summon before them any
officer or member for any purpose whatsoever." It appoints the secretary
of the Exchange from among its own number, a superintendent of the
Exchange, and the numerous committees which are in active charge of
specified activities. It also licenses the necessary coffee graders,
warehousemen, weighmasters, and samplers of the Exchange.

A brief discussion of the duties of the superintendent and the various
committees will help to explain the methods of the Exchange market. The
superintendent, under the direction of the board of managers, has charge
of the details of its work and of that of the various committees. He
keeps all the books and documents of the Exchange; collects an