SPECIAL REPORTS FOR FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 31
Siegerlinder Eisenstein Syndikat, which syndicates the products
of the mines of the Siegerlinder district, which, owing to their
peculiar quality—high percentage of phosphorous—are in a class by
themselves. ~The Siegerlinder Syndicate has a contract with the
Vile Oberschlesischer Hiitten, which unites the syndicated
mines of the upper Silesian industrial district.
Schrottvereinigung: This is a scrap iron syndicate formed to
prevent overbidding in the purchase of scrap iron. The members are
Die Dortmunder Handelsgesellschaft fiir Bergwerks- und Hiittenprodukte;
 Hermann Tigler G. m. b. H., Oberhausen; M. Cosmann,
W. Salomon in Essen ; Lob &amp; Klucken, Duisburg ; Mackmann &amp; Moll,
Gelsenkirchen; Reinbard &amp; Breuer, Gelsenkirchen.
Ostdeutsches Roheisen Syndikat for the pig iron production of
sast Germany.
Rheinisch-Westfilische Schweisseisen Vereinigung for the syndication
 of malleable iron. ’
The history of the pig-iron combinations in Germany shows the
same grouping and regrouping which has been noted in other
branches. ‘The Roheisen Syndikat (Pig Iron Syndicate) Diisseldorf,
 which was founded in 1897 and broke up in 1908, was composed
of the Rhenish- Westphalian Pig Iron Syndicate, founded in 1873
with about 20 furnaces; also the Union for the Sale of Siegerlinder
Pig Iron, in Siegen, which was founded in 1882 for the syndication
of the iron of that district; and, thirdly, the Lorraine-Luxemburg
Office for the Sale of Pig Iron, in Luxemburg, called the Lothringisch-Luxemburgisches
 Kontor fiir den Verkauf von Roheisen,
composed of nine works situated in Lorraine, Alsace, and the Saar
district, was founded in 1879. The Diisseldorf Syndicate also intluded
 the Thomas-Roheisen verkaufsstelle in Diisseldorf, founded
in 1891. As mentioned, all these united syndicates, which were
known as the Roheisen Syndikat in Diisseldorf, dissolved in 1908.
None of the combinations had ever succeeded in uniting all the iron
smelters in Germany. Various strong outsiders, such as the Hasper
Kraftwerk and Litbecker Hochéfen, controlled by Graf Henckel
von Donnersmarck, and several strong outsiders of the Luxemburg
district, such as Gebriider Stumm, remained outside and kept the
various syndicates unstable. Out of 106 works, with 884 furnaces in
Germany, 12 works, with 84 furnaces, were free Tances. The economic
depression of 1908 brought a decrease in the annual output of 1,232,000
tons, or 9.4 per cent. All previous organizations went to pieces on
the 31st of December of that year. In November, 1908, the prices
for next year’s deliveries sank for hematite 75 to 56 marks ($17.85
to $13.33) ; for No. III, 69 to 53 marks ($16.42 to $12.61) ; for Luxemburg
 iron, 52 to 43 marks ($12.37 to $10.23).
Six weeks after the dissolution of the old rings the present Roheisenverband-Essen
 was organized, which- leaves as outsiders only
the Norddeutsche Hiitte, Bremen, Oberscheldener Hochofenwerke,
Siegerlinder Hochofenwerke, and the group of the Luxemburger
Hiittenwerke, except the Deutsch-Luxemburgische Hiitten A.-G.
Even the large smelting interests of Graf Honokel von Donnersmarck
 joined the combine.
Organization—The Pig Iron Union, Essen, is organized on
ractically the same lines as the Steel Works Union and the Coal
ie Co. The organization may be terminated by two-thirds
vote of the members should a competition of crude iron arise amount.