Chamber of Commerce, a body of merchants, traders, bankers, and others, associated for the purpose of promoting local and general interests of trade and commerce by (1) representing and urging on the legislature the views of their members in mercantile affairs; (2) aiding in the preparation of legislative measures having reference to trade, such, for example, as the Bankrupt and Limited Liability Acts; (3) collecting statistics bearing upon the staple trade of the district; (4) acting in some places as a sort of court of arbitration in mercantile questions; (5) attaining by combination advantages in trade which might be beyond the reach of individual enterprise.
The oldest chamber of commerce is that of
Marseilles, which dates from the end of the 14th or commencement of the 15th century. It shared in the municipal jurisdiction and in the administration of justice in mercantile questions. It was several times suppressed and re-established, and it was not till 1650 that it received its ultimate organisation. The chamber of Dunkirk was established in 1700. The same year a council-general of commerce was instituted at Paris, which, in addition to six councillors of state, consisted of twelve merchants or traders, delegated by the principal commercial towns of the country, an arrangement which led within the next few years to the formation of chambers of commerce everywhere in France. We thus find that the chamber at Lyons was instituted in 1702, those of Rouen and Toulouse in 1703, of Montpellier in 1704, of Bordeaux in 1705, &c. These chambers were all suppressed by a decree of the National Assembly in 1791, but they were re-established by a consular edict in 1802. Their organisation was modified in 1832, in 1851, and in 1852. The members of these bodies are now elected by the chief merchants of each town chosen for that purpose by the prefect. The number of this elective body cannot be less than 9 nor more than 21. They hold office for six years, one-third of their number being renewed every two years. The functions now assigned to these chambers in France are—to give to the government advice and information on industrial and commercial subjects; to suggest the means of increasing the industry and commerce of their respective districts, or of improving commercial legislation and taxation; to suggest the execution of works requisite for the public service, or which may tend to the increase of trade or commerce, such as the construction of harbours, the deepening of rivers, the formation of railways, and the like. On these and similar subjects the advice of the chambers, when not volunteered, is demanded by the government. In most of the other countries of continental Europe there are similar institutions.
The oldest chamber of commerce in Great Britain is believed to be that of Glasgow, which was instituted 1st January 1783, and obtained a royal charter, registered at Edinburgh on the 31st of the same month. That of Edinburgh was instituted in 1785, and incorporated by royal charter in 1786. The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce was the first public body which petitioned for the abolition of the Corn Laws, and the adoption of free-trade principles; and it stood almost alone in the United Kingdom in advocating the Suez Canal project. It also originated the movement which resulted in placing the telegraph service in connection with the Post-office. Between five and six hundred of the bankers, merchants, and ship-owners of Edinburgh and Leith constitute the chamber. The London Chamber of Commerce (1882) may now be regarded as the most important in the United Kingdom. The main branches of commercial enterprise are dealt with by separate departments of the chamber, while by public lectures and the frequent publication of detailed reports it maintains communication with chambers of commerce throughout the country, and serves when necessary to unite and concentrate their action in the promotion of reforms in our mercantile system and in the development of the commercial resources of the empire. The Manchester chamber, so famous for its exertions in the cause of free trade, was not established till 1820, and for many years it continued to be the only institution of the kind in England. Its members number over 900. In Hull there has been a chamber of commerce since 1837, but those of Liverpool, Leeds, and Bradford, notwithstanding the great trading and manufacturing interests of these towns, were not established till 1850; in which year also a similar institution was established in South Australia. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce numbers 550. The annual income of the Manchester chamber is upwards of £1400, contributed entirely by the subscriptions, ranging from £1, 1s. for individual members, to £10, 10s. for large firms. There are now similar chambers in all the great mercantile towns of Great Britain and Ireland, and in 1860 there was established an 'Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom,' which meets in annual conference for the promotion of commerce. The Chamber of Commerce of New York, organised in 1768, was incorporated by a royal charter in 1770, afterwards superseded by charter granted by the state government. Its aims are similar to those in Britain, and it comprises some 800 members, who have established a court of arbitration for differences amongst members. Like bodies have been formed in other large American cities. In Canada the Dominion Board of Trade consists of the Chambers of Commerce, or Boards of Trade, as they are indifferently called, of the most important cities of the Dominion.