12 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE,
product of this class. It controls practically all of the “A” products
in Germany.
Ewtent of monopoly of exports—The exports in 1911, all controlled
by the Verband, amounted to more than one-third of the entire steel
production in class “A,” i. e., 87 per cent of the half-finished steel, 44
per cent of railroad supplies, and 25 per cent of structural steel.
{See table, Leisse, p. 185.)
Selling methods at home.—As mentioned, in selling, the difference
between products “A” and “ B ” is that the products “A” are sold by
the Verband (are syndicated), while the “ B ” products are only regulated
 as to output, but are sold by the plants. The result is a very
complicated distribution of these products. The Steel Verband buys
the “A” products from mills on its own account and disposes of the
same at wholesale on its own account. However, the Verband does
not aim to make profits for itself, but distributes the profits among
the members at the close of each fiscal year, after deducting the costs
of administration, discounts, and sinking fund as a reserve, and the
selling expenses. The surplus is distributed among the members of
the Verband as a dividend on their capital stock. The result is an
extremely low selling cost for the distribution of the products of the
mills. During recent years the selling costs only amounted to from
27 to 41 pfennigs per ton (6.4 to 9.7 cents).! The high costs of 1910
of 41 pfennigs (9.7 cents) were due to the large exhibit of the Verband
 at the International Exhibition at Buenos Aires, Argentina,
also the installation of a technical department and a large contribution
 to the International Congress for Mines and Metallurgy. -
The Verband deals directly with a few large concerns, the dealers’
unions mentioned in the introduction. The Steel Verband was instrumental
 in the formation of five geographical divisions of dealers,
and entered into well-defined relations with these dealers to prevent
 speculation, which is always bound to bring loss and disorder in
the market. The Rhineland-Westphalia Beam Union, called the
Rheinland-Westfalen Trigervereimgung Koln, composed of nine
large iron wholesale houses, in turn formed a union in their district,
with the help of the Steel Verband, of 120 smaller dealers.
The size and importance of these dealer firms may be seen from the
example of one member of the Berlin Union, the ee Ravené’-schen
 Stabeisen und Triigerhandlung, which consolidated 42 large
wholesalers with the old Ravené firm and increased the capital stock
from 8% to 23 million marks ($2,023,000 to $5,474,000).
Dealers’ unions are obliged to purchase exclusively from the Steel
Verband or suffer a raise in price of 5 marks ($1.19) a ton. Dealers
ere assigned a purchase quota, based upon their average sales of the
last three years. The actual purchases of each dealer at the end of
the year are added together and those dealers who have exceeded
their quota are required to pay an indemnity to those who have fallen
behind their quota. Prices and conditions of payment are the same
for all dealers’ unions of the first order and all dealers in them. The
Steel Verband has a seat in the general assembly or directorate of
pach dealers’ union, but has no vote. The Verband seldom makes

1 Leisse, Wilhelm, * Wandlungen in der Organisation der Eigenindustrie und des Eisen.
handels seit dem i des Stahlwerksverbandes.” Miinchen u. Leipzig: Duncker
§ Hasibioy 22 (XII, 208 B.). Staats- und sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungen. H. 158.
e, D. ,