CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES. 363
into the International Zinc Syndicate (Internationaler Zinkhiittenverband).!

The International Zine Syndicate was continued on November 10,
1910, up to April, 1914. The syndicate agreement left the English
and the French works free to fix their prices, and it is said that in
some cases they underbid the German works.? The agreement also
provided that in case the reserve had reached 50,000 tons and the zinc
prices in London had gone below £23 per ton the output should
be reduced. Before the outbreak of the present war a 20 per cent
reduction of output was ordered.
The price changes made by the German Zinkhiittenverband always
correspond to those made by the International Zinc Syndicate for the
London Metal Exchange, which, it is said, gets its instructions from
the Metallbank of Frankfort, i. e., from the combined Merton, Beer,
Sondheimer &amp; Co., and Aron Hirsch und Sohn interests. The zinc
and other metal dealers of Germany act in unison as purchasers from
any foreign concern.
By the end of 1912 the German Zinkhiittenverband controlled onehalf
 of the world’s output of zine and three-fourths of the European
output.?
The International Zinc Syndicate regulates output only, while the
German syndicate (Zinkhiittenverband) regulates both output and
prices within its sphere. The actual price regulation is carried out
by the Koélner Zinkhiittenverband ® which appears to be but a subdivision
 of the German syndicate (Zinkhiittenverband). It must be
remembered that the German syndicate has two distributing agensies—one
 in Cologne and the other in Kattowitz (Silesia). The published
 price quotations, however, do not represent strict sales prices,
but form only the basic price on which the actual sales prices are
computed.*
Leap.—In 1908 an agreement was reached between German lead
works and Australian lead mine owners as regards prices and apportionment
 of markets. The competition of Spain and of the
United States compelled the lead interests to organize in the spring
of 1909 the International Lead Convention. The Australian Broken
Hill mines, the American Smelting &amp; Refining Co., some Spanish and
some Mexican mines, the Usines des Désargentation of Antwerp, and
the German Bleihiitte “Call” formed a common sales agency under
the leadership of the Metallgesellschaft in Frankfurt, a. M., in Germany,
 and of the Henry R. Merton &amp; Co., in London. This convention
 was continued in June, 1910, for several years.

t A. Stange, Die Montan-Industrie Deutschiands (Berlin), 1910, p. 120,
 Kartell-Rundschau, 1014, p. 790.
$ Kartell-Rundschau, 1913, p. 607.
VIbid., p. 1005,
VL. Silberberg, Kartell-Jahrbuch, 1910,2, p. 30.