COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 101

In 1913 total imports $f raw materials admitted duty free for
manufacture into export goods were valued at 329,000,000 marks, or
about $80,000,000, and the total duty-free imports of articles finished
or improved abroad from German materials were valued at 55,000,000
marks, or about $18,000,000. The principal raw materials thus imported
 were rice, lumber, mineral oils and their products, and scrap
iron.
Trade associations.—Trade associations have flourished in Germany
 and are highly developed. In 1913 there were between 500
and 600 general associations of manufacturers and producers and
over 5,000 branch organizations in the Empire.
Practically every kind of industry is organized into one or more
associations, some covering large portions of the Empire and others
embracing particular districts. Thus the Association of German Iron
and Steel Manufacturers (Verein Deutscher Eisen- und Stahlindustrieller,
 Berlin) has almost 400 members and is organized in
six groups—the Northwestern, the Eastern, the Northern, etc. In
addition, there are probably a dozen other important associations
among the iron and steel manufacturers. Among machinery manufacturers
 there are a number of important associations such as that of
the machine tool manufacturers, of the manufacturers of agricultural
machinery and implements, of piano manufacturers, of chemical
manufacturers, etc.
In addition to these associations in particular industries there are
a number of district associations in which manufacturers of various
lines unite for the promotion of trade in their particular regions.
Thus the Bavarian Manufacturers’ Association, with headquarters at
Munich, has 700 members; the South German Manufacturers’ Association,
 with headquarters at Mannheim, has 700 members and 12
branch organizations and is affiliated with two or three other manufacturers’
 associations.
These numerous associations are federated in three great general
organizations. These are the Centralverband Deutscher Industrieller
(Central Association of German Manufacturers), the Bund der Industriellen,
 and the Hansa-Bund. Prior to the war the first named
had a meinbership of some 200 associations and 600 individuals and
was a very comprehensive and active organization. The Bund der
Industriellen had some 5,000 individual manufacturers and 80 associations
 representing 30,000 concerns. The Hansa-Bund was a new
but large and vigorous organization. It had over 700 provincial,
district, and local bodies, and possibly 900 associations and other
organizations allied with it. It was sending out annually nearly
70,000 confidential bulletins to members, and its annual conventions
had been attended by as many as 10,000 members.
A reeset
18tat. Jahrbuch f. d. Deutsche Reich, 1915, p. 247.