CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES.  : 261

REsTRICTION OF OUTPUT.—One of the surest means of decreasing
stocks is what is known in France as ‘“chémage,” or shutting down;
but it is expensive, as the fixed expense per spindle is 2 centimes, or
1,000 francs a day for the ordinary factory of 50,000 spindles. The
cartel accomplished its purpose by requiring each factory “to stop
spinning altogether for one day in each week”; but it also provided
that ““ the spinners who prefer not to reduce their work may turn over
to the common treasury each week a contribution of 1 centime per
spindle.” Thus the producer who had the money and the business
might prefer to pay the indemnity which was less than the loss resulting
 from chémage; but those who had difficulty in disposing of their
spinnings during a period of “dead sales’ or sales at a loss, resorted
to chOmage rather than lose by the low prices and the indemnity.
An effective restriction of output was thus accomplished which was of
course superseded by industrial activity as soon as prices warranted
the change. When the cartel was formed in 1899, the stocks had run
ap to 5,500,000 kilograms, but during the five or six months that
chémage was practiced, production was reduced by about 1,500,000
kilograms.
EXPORT BOUNTIES.—As the cartel had no comptoir or central selling
bureau, it adopted the plan of giving export bounties whenever the
situation demanded it in order efficiently to reduce surplus production
 by exportation. In 1899 the bounty was fixed temporarily at
five centimes per kilogram, then raised to 10 centimes and later to 15.
The first bounty was not large enough to have much effect, but when
it was doubled an immediate increase in exports was secured. - Eventually
 stocks at home were so reduced that domestic prices advanced
and exports diminished; whereupon the bounty was increased to 15
centimes and exports increased for a time, only to relapse for the
same reason as before. During the period of the operations, how=-ever,
 the Nord spinners had exported nearly a million kilograms, so
that by means of both chdmage and bounties the surplus had been
reduced by about 2,500,000 kilos.
For a number of years following, the surplus continued to decrease.
The home market became normal, exports declined, and the bounty
was reduced to 5 centimes. In 1905 in a number of countries cotton
spinning experienced a period of prosperity; but in France prices continued
 low, and as the spinners were not equipped for exporting they
did not share in the increase of business. Stocks began to increase
and the cartel was compelled to make use of artificial means again,
but this time only the export bounties were employed. All three of
the cotton-spinning departments agreed on a bounty of 5 centimes
for certain grades of the product and 10 centimes for others, with the
result that a large exportation ensued. In the Department of Nord
the figure went to 3,527,000 kilograms as against 920,000 in 1899.