In the Utah Territory in 1879, Zion's Central Board of Trade was established by John Taylor, the newly sustained President of the LDS Church, not long after the death of his predecessor Brigham Young. Young had attempted and failed to successfully institute the United Order a second time among the members of the church. President Taylor had seen the success of the Cache Valley Board of Trade and saw it as vehicle to prepare the people for voluntary economic unity.
Purposes &amp; Objectives.
General Purposes.
The long-run purpose of the association was "to prepare the way for a more completely cooperative society" among the Mormon settlements. Utah historian, Edward Tullidge, reported that the movement promised to overcome the perennial conflict between Capital and Labor through the creation of industrial cooperatives. This perspective was echoed by the editor of the Deseret News at the time, "Here is the grandest opportunity for the building up of a self-sustaining, industrial and powerful system of cooperative effort ever offered in the history of the world... What is needed? Practical cooperation. Union of capital and labor, mutual interest between consumer and producer."
Specific Objectives.
The Preamble of the Articles of Association of Zion's Central Board of Trade offers a long list of specific objectives for the association:
Activities.
Stake Boards of Trade.
LDS historian, Leonard Arrington, reported the following activities of the local boards of trade:
Demise.
"[T]he enforcement of the Edmunds Anti-polygamy Act in 1884 and thereafter destroyed Zion's Board of Trade. There is no alternative explanation. Board of Trade activities were not declining, but gaining momentum when 'the raid' started."
References.
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