El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-16
Government Control of
All German Syndicates
xII.-THE GERMAN ADVANCE.

! neither by means OF rebates, private
car lines, nor superior influence as a
large customer. can the great syndicate
secure any advantage whatever over
the small manufacturer When the
great coal and steel syndicates succeed
n convincing the national railway ad-
ninistratiOn that a readustment Of
freight rates is necessary to advance
the interests of those two all-powerfuI
combinations, the government will not
fail to favor them. But at the same
time the reduced rates are made avail
able for the benefit of the smallest pr
ducer of coal or the most Insignificant
ironmaster in the empire.
Both syndicates and cartells are vol
untary organizations of constituent
Companies, but in themselves they are
not corporations. That is to say, the
syndicate or cartel is not capitalized
but is. controlled by committee rep
resenting each constituent corporation
each OF which remains under the con-
troll OF its own separate set of stock
holders The German law does every
thing possible to encourage the forma-
ton of syndicate to fix prices and 20
eliminate wasteful methods of unre-
str1cted competition, but it " I'll not per-
nit such a syndicate to capitalize it's
cooperation nor to organize a holding
company.
German Cooperation.
If the Germani laws were in force n,
the United States, the steel trust would
control an even greater percentage of
the iron and steel industry than it now
does but there would be no steel
common" quoted on the stock ex-
Grange, and Mr. Carnegie would have
no steel corporation bonds. The steel
trust would be an amalgamation of all
the once fn66naDdnn<
but 1t would be owned separately by the
original stockholders. In other words
the German system encourages the CO.
operative industrial features of the
American trust system, but prohibits
its financial features
There Is considerable political op-
position IN Germany TO the control Of
the industries by the syndicates and
cartells, but it is not based upon any
objection 20 their cooperative orraniza,
ton, nor does it proceed from any de-
votion to the theory Of individuaIistic
competition It is rather movement
IN opposition to the protective tariff
since 1t is voiced in a demand that the
tariff be so changed as to prohibit the
possibility Of the syndicates and car
tells charging higher prices a home
than they do abroad.
No Objection to Syndicates
On the whole there is little or no OBJ
lection to the German syndicate system
on account OF It's trust features. rhe
manufacturers, both large and small,
approve because they profit bv the
elimination Of throat-cutting eompeti-
ton and wasteful sales methods; the in
dustrial workers approve because syn
dication enables their employers 20 paw
higher wages; the general public APP
proves because it believes that the
present prosperity of the country Is the
result of the prevailing svs.em. So
cially there is little OF no -nn1ity to
the syndicates and cartells The aris-
tocratic and plutocratic clemens AZ >
interest, and the socialists approve ae-
trial combination brings them nearer
10 the day when every hing is combined
in the state
partner in the sy1dica.es and "a. tells
the Prsssian government owns e7
percent of the stock Of the powerful
potash syndicate-there is concrete
Justification for the socialist position
The German banking system has felt
the influence of the tendency ts:Hard
combinations. and syndicate Of banks
are partners in Industrial syndica:eS
The banks are much more closely asso-
ciated with the industries thIn they are
in America, so closely In fssct .hai Il
would be impossible for German bauss
to profit from the disasters Detailing
industrial concerns in times Of anic
Government Controls Business
Not only are the Germaa syndicates