COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 119

France, the courts are more favorable to them than formerly and
have declared certain forms to be altogether legitimate. (See pp.
121-122.)
Fors or CompinatioN.—The term “syndicate” is used in France
in a generic sense to indicate all kinds of combinations, whether commercial
 or industrial organizations for fixing prices or selling through
a central agency, or associations of employers or employees for regulating
 conditions of employment. It is only with producers’ industrial
 syndicates that this discussion deals. Of such organizations
there exist in France various forms, most important among which
are the simple trade agreement or cartel, the selling company or
comptoir, and the merger.
Mergers—This form of combination has not been as popular in
France as in England and the United States, though some notable
examples of it have attracted considerable attention. In the electrical
 industry, for example, four combinations have developed,
which by means of banking concerns and holding companies have
come to dominate the whole industry in France, including the development
 of electrical power and traction companies and the manufaeture
 of electrical appliances.
La Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, a notable example of consolidation
 in the glass and chemical industries, is described later. (See
pp. 125-126.)
A merger of about 15 manufacturers of paper was effected in
Trance about 15 years ago, but it has not secured a monopoly of the
product. The same is true of the silk industry, where 17 manufacturers
 of unbleached and dyed silk merged in 1898 under the title
of La Soie and attained considerable success in France and abroad.
but never became a dominant factor in the industry.®
Cartels—Most combinations in France have the simple form of a
trade agreement or cartel, under which each concern preserves its
administrative, technical, and commercial independence.’
The ordinary French cartel has no central selling agency. Each
member takes care of his own clientele, makes his own contracts,
and ships under his personal invoices; but he does this within the
price and selling limitations of the agreement. Such an organization
has its general assembly and appoints committees to supervise certain
 phases of its operations. Usually there is a head office to which
members report contracts, sales, etc., and to which their accounts and
correspondence must be open. Usually production is not limited, but
prices for certain territories are rigidly set, sales are limited to the
1p, Passama: L'integration du Travail. Formes Nouvelles de Concentration Tndustrielle,
 Paris, 1910, pp. 14, 55-57.
2 J. Chastin, Les Trusts et les Syndicats de Producteurs.
8. Laur: De ’Accaparement, Paris, 1900, vol. 3, pp. 420-429.
¢ Revue économique internationale, vol. 51, pp. 109-110.
» Jules Gernaert: Associations industrielles et commerciales, D. 15.