CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES. 297

know in advance almost exactly what will be the requirements of the
slientele, and it consequently keeps the members advised several
months in advance as to what the situation will be.
The purpose for which the comptoir was formed was to purchase
from the associated companies and to resell in France, in the French
colonies, and in the countries under the French protectorate all the
pig iron which they manufacture, except that used in their own plants
or exported abroad. The comptoir also studies possible improvements
 in the production of pig iron, and aims at the reduction of
transportation costs, the exclusion of foreign pig iron, the reduction
of selling costs by eliminating middlemen, and the lessening of net
-osts by a joint purchase of fuel.?
It has been claimed for the comptoir that it has effected great
savings in transportation expenses through the geographic distribution
 of the orders, and in selling expenses as a result of handling the
sales of all its members through a central office. It has sought to
enlarge the home market, and seems to have been able to render the
domestic selling prices more stable than they were prior to its formation.
 It is claimed that the lower selling prices prevailing are due
largely to the lowering of the members’ costs under the régime of
the comptoir. In preference to restricting their output, the members
 have usually thrown their excess production on the foreign market,
 even at a sacrifice.? :
The Comptoir d’Exportation des Fontes de Meurthe-et-Moselle,
the comptoir of the pig-iron manufacturers of Meurthe-et-Moselle,
was organized in 1905, with the main office at Longwy, and has
the same offices, membership, personnel, and management as the
Comptoir Métallurgique de Longwy.* The comptoir was organized
for selling abroad for its members that part of their production
which they do not use themselves and which is not to be sold to
the French clientele by the domestic comptoir. The comptoir also
seeks by means of its organization to regulate the sale of pig iron
abroad and to render prices more stable in foreign markets.
While the members of the domestic organization are not required to
sell their foreign orders through the exporting comptoir,® the producers,
 judging from the list of members, seem to find it advantaceous
 to sell through the exporting medium, rather than to attempt
the sales individually.
The comptoir probably succeeded in establishing uniform current
prices and a normal disposition of the pig iron of its members in

1 Obrin, op. cit, pd. 51-59, 61-63.
* Laur, op. cit., Vol. IIT, p. 188.
3p. de Rousiers, op. eit., pp. 210-213 ; Obrin, op. cit., table in appendix; Laur, op. cit.,
ol. 111, p. 179; Chastin, op. eit., p. 74.
¢ Comité des Forges de France, Annuaire, 1914-15, p. 701; Chastin, op. cit, pp. 74, 80.
$ Laur, op. cit, Vol. III, p. 171.
3 Obrin. op. cit., p. 159.