sit
with the Association to cover his balances, or by withdrawing in case he
should be over. Members deposit $15,000 at the time of joining as a
guaranty fund; and if the surplus is not sufficient to take care of
balances, the bylaws provide for the levying of assessments.

The daily quotations on the coffee exchanges of New York, Havre, and
(before the war) of Hamburg, determined to a large extent the price of
green coffee the world over. The prices prevailing on the New York
Coffee and Sugar Exchange are studied by coffee traders in all
countries, the fluctuations being reflected in foreign markets as the
reports come from the United States. Quotations are cabled from one
great market to another; and as each must heed those of the others to
some extent, the coffee trade thus obtains a world price, and the
effect on supply and demand is universal rather than local, as would be
the case if quotations were not exchanged.

In 1921 the Exchange adopted an amendment to the trade rules, and
abolished the one day transferable notice for both coffee and sugar.

_Foreign Coffee Quotations_

Brazil coffee cable quotations are the market prices, in Rio or Santos,
of ten kilograms of coffee, the price being stated in milreis, the
monetary unit of Brazil money. The basic grade of coffee at Rio is the
No. 7 of the New York Coffee Exchange; and at Santos, the international
standard of good average ("g. a.") Santos. One kilogram (often written
kilo, or abbreviated to K.) is equal to two and one-fifth pounds; and
the ten-kilogram standard of quantity is, therefore, equivalent to
twenty-two pounds, or just one-sixth of a standard Brazil bag.

The money value is not so simple, since Brazilian paper currency is
unstable; and the milreis quotation means nothing unless it is
considered in connection with the rate of exchange for the same day,
i.e., the current gold value of the milreis. This gold value is always
given with the daily quotations from Brazil, and is expressed in British
pence. The par value of the milreis (1000 reis) is 54.6 cents (gold) of
United States money; but its present actual value is only about 15
cents, and it has been as low as 11-1/4 cents. Our dollar sign is used
to denote milreis, placing it after the whole number, and before the
fractional part expressed in one-thousandths. Thus, 8-1/4 milreis would
be written 8$250 RS.

Suppose, for example, a Rio quotation is given at 8$400, with exchange
at 7-1/2 d.