The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-05
of Finance


 industries were strong factors in do- | nestle and foreign trade. S1lk-rlb- bon manufacturers of France and l Germany conducted their export trade | in accordance with a joint agreement. I In Italy, Russia, -Austria-Hungary, l Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Argen-
 tina, Chile. and Ecuador central or .ganizations unite the interests of pro 1 ducers in various industries such as coal. iron and steel, agricultural ma
 chinery, oil. sulphur, superphosphates, cement, matches, chocolate, embroid- l cry, silk goods, watches, cotton goods, | condensed milk, canned fish, entrants, Iqdebracho, iodine. cacao, etc.
 1 In Japan an export organization of textile manufacturers is rapidly ob-
 taining the rich cotton goods trade ] of North China. The trade in tea is controlled by a nationwide 'stea, coun- 1 cil.'' One great Japanese firm, which 1 in itself combines manufacturing,
 mining, shipping and merchandising enterprises, is rapidly extending Jap anese trade in all lines throughout the I Far East, and the Japanese govern ment is directly assisting the deve1- opment of shipping banking, and trading for foreign business.
 1 British manufacturers have relied more fully upon an unusually effec- tive merchandising organization for foreign trade, long established in for eign markets and giving British pro- QucIS 8 SuQSTlOTa aEGQI0S0IlEdbIOA atIA0ISs but in various important industries they have gone much further. Thus, most of the great coal export buSi- ness is done by powerful organizaA tions. combining mine operators, mar keting companies. shipping lines, and foreign distributing companies This gives British coal it's grip on the rich South American market. British ce- ment manufacturers are united in strong and successful union for the extension of their overseas trade. Re gently number of large British man lfaeturers of machinery of all sorts have formed the representation for British Manufacturers, Ltd, an or ganization to handle all their busi- ness in certain important foreign mar. kets and to carry on an aggressive tca1apalgn for it's extension.
 Similar organizations for foreign trade are in process of formation among other British manufacturers. In the electrical, cotton textile, pot tery. tobacco,s wallpaper, iron and steel, and various other industries, strong associations and examinations are Important factors th foreign and domestic business.
 It is against such organizations as these, uniting powerful groups of foreign concerns, backed by great hank&. aided by railway and ship lines and vigorously assisted by for eign governments that hundreds o@ cunI.are lively small Ameriran na..E-. rscturers and producers must cor peEc for trade beyond our sheres. some of the foreign trade 9Is3t.. na- tons. which enjoy overwhe1n1 1y .at vaTlEages in international trade. have established branches and plans here which e npete with Anerican nns n-s U .at iIie ea..s for the home trads. Inle over, in some industries our smaller h. hnufaI ILrers must compete abr0ad J ufIh gre at American companies hay-| Ing most efficient worldwide. selling ors.sln izs.tiers
 In varfnuk manufacturing industries tho IacF of raw materials, higher ma n ufactur.ng costs and si>nilar assnlicaps make It extremely difficult at best for Americans to compete win 1o~e iGners for trade al5ros a. { Therefore, with Americans snffes-iiso F;gircus competition from Powerful foreign conbinatIona, and sor..ed sto e goose the secrets of the.f ovCrsnasl business to their foreign competitors ana to risk effective discri ] nction asainsr tf.eir trade through depend ence on foreign cables teIegraphs. and especially our smaller producers, are frequently at a decisive disadvan- tage in foreign trade.
 Foreign Buying Combinations Which
 Depress American Export Prices
 In various markets American man ufacturers and producers must deal with highly effective combinations of foreign buyers. Thus exporters of lumber find such combinations in Australia and on the continent Of FsiI rope. Cottonseed products are hand led by combinations of buyers in Efol- land, Denmark and Germany; and Austrian cotton-textile manufacturers have a buying combination to import their raw cotton. The Wholesale Col ar Sfn iSI7 7, ingly comprehensive wholesale buying organization maintained by 1,400 CO., operative societies in Great Britain, has one buyer in New York who an nua1Iy purchases millions of dollars worth of American products. c ona-i binations of British coal brokers fix the contract price for bunkering ships at Newport News Four London firms, known as the Fixing Board, daily set the price of silver for the world, and American mining compa- nies must sell their silver for either the English or the great Indian mar ket to one of these four houses. For years the copper trade of the world has been ruled by a vast German met a1-buying organization centering in the Metalbank und MetaIIurgische Gesellschaft A. G. of Frankfort on the Main. This com bination has sub sidiary and affiliated companies in Germany. England. France, Spain, oWbIACI1dIO, All eA11A Australia, controls copper and lead mines and sme1ters in the United States, Mexico and other countries, and works in agreement with otPer German metal buying concerns.
 These combinations constantly make individual American producers bid against each other, and are thus able to buy at prices near or below the cost of production. By such tac- tics the present contract price for bunkering ships in Hampton Roads has been fixed at to 7 cents per ton below the domestic price. By similar means and the manipulation of the foreign future markets the German metal buying combinatio o n over a series of years has bought mil lions of tons of American copper at noarIU