369 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXIORT TRADE,
tity of exports, 96 per cent went to Europe. Germany took one-third
»f the exports to Europe. In addition to the quantity purchased by
the great German metal-buying combinations, headed by the Metallsesellschaft,
 many of the large consumers of copper acted in concert
in their purchases, through their cartel arrangements. According to
one large American copper-producing company, they had reports from
their Berlin agent of the existence of more than 50 combinations of
copper-consuming companies for the regulation of prices, distribution
of territory, and for concerted action in buying. According to John
D. Ryan, of the Amalgamated Copper Co., European buyers, from
1903 to 1913, because of a buying combination, paid £# of a cent
per pound less for copper delivered abroad than domestic buyers for
copper delivered at New York.*
Zinc.—The German zine syndicate (Zinkhitttenverband) was organized
 in February, 1909, with a capitalization of 2,000,000 marks, for
the apportionment of the output and for the fixing of the sales prices
of zine. The active organizers of the syndicate were the Metallbank
»f Frankfort, controlled by the Merton interests; the Frankfort metal
selling and holding company, Beer, Sondheimer &amp; Co., which, through
she Tellus joint-stock company, controls over a dozen metal and
chemical concerns; and the firm of Aron Hirsch und Sohn, in Halberstadt.
 Both the latter metal dealers established their own new zinc
works at the moment of the organization of the German zinc syndiaate.?


Seven zinc works of Silesia and six zinc concerns of the Rhenish-Westphalian
 region at once joined the syndicate. The Metallbank,
Beer, Sondheimer &amp; Co., and Aron Hirsch und Sohn were made the
sxclusive selling agencies of the syndicate and the agreement was to
sontinue for three years. Only one important concern, the Georg
von Giesches Erben, retained its right to deal directly with the consumers,
 under the condition, however, that it should comply with the
orice lists of the syndicate.®
Immediately upon the organization of the German Zinc Syndicate
(Zinkhiittenverband) an agreement was made with the Austrian and
Belgian producers, of which the Vieille Montagne had works in Belgium,
 France, Algiers, Germany, Italy, England, Sweden, and Spain,
and agencies in Tunis, America (United States), Japan, and Turkey.
A Dutch concern (Zincs de la Campine) also joined the syndicate.
The syndicate embraced altogether 18 firms.
Ten Belgian and some Fret.ch works formed another syndicate; so
did six English works. During the same year, 1909, the competition
of the United States concerns drove all these three groups together

3Ibid., p. 646.
18ee Pt. II, p. 261. ] a Da
\Eartell-Rundschau, 1009, p 278, 3