CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES. 201

snd must market his output, will push the sales of his goods more
vigorously than any outside party who has no such investment and
whose business includes the sale of many other wares. In one case
energy and effort and purpose are divided, in the other they are conrentrated.

While much of the export business of smaller manufacturers will
continue to be done by export houses, nevertheless direct representation
 will in many cases have a decided advantage. The smaller
American business men frequently emphasize the fact that the most
efficient American exporting organizations are those of a few of the
great corporations, whose resources permit the maintenance of direct
representation. They complain that their lack of concerted action
prevents them from developing similar effective joint exporting organizations
 of their own and results in giving the larger American companies
 an undue share of the export trade.
The Commissioni has been strongly impressed with the effect that
the doubt as to the application of the antitrust law has had in the
formation of cooperative export organizations among American manufacturers
 and producers. There are a few such organizations, but they
are nearly all among noncompetitors. Most manufacturers decline
to join any such association or cooperative organization so long as
there is any doubt as to its legality. This is true even of those who
believe such organizations legal for export trade. It thus results
-hat this doubt acts as an effective preventive of the formation of cooperative
 export organizations among manufacturers and producers,
and particularly keeps the smaller business concerns from participating
 in foreign trade as freely as they should.
It is a striking fact that the great majority of the respondents
to the Commission’s inquiries believe that cooperative organizations
 for export trade should be restricted to some degree in the
general public interest. Two chief dangers are pointed out: First,
the possibility of improper use of such organizations in the domestic
market and, second, their use unfairly against other Americans in
foreign trade. (See Pt. IL, pp. 368, 377-378, 384, 434-436, and
142-450.)
The first of these dangers is regarded as rather remote by most
respondents, but as safeguards ¢hey suggest the advisability of restricting
 such organizations solely to export trade, and the wisdom of
subjecting them to the supervision of some branch of the Government
competent to deal with improper activities in the home market.
Business men are emphatically of the opinion that these organizations
 should not be permitted to use their power unfairly against other
Americans in foreign trade,