H6 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

the dealers’ association only result in opening the door to the outsiders
 among manufacturers. Under the disorganization in the
home market there is no attempt made to monopolize exports.
Selling methods at home and terms of sale and delivery.—The association
 leaves the distribution of the products of each member free
to the member. Each factory maintains its own selling force of
traveling salesmen, who visit the trade, except in those products
which are handled’ directly through the dealers’ union. By selling
in this way, instead of through a central selling agency or office—
as in the case of well organized industries, such as the Coal Syndicate
 Co. and the Steel Works Union—all those economies and advantages
 which are so apparent, are lost. The important point of
the entire wall-paper trade at the present time is the seemingly
acute depression (slump) which has overtaken the industry. This
is due to the fact that the bottom dropped out of the building trade
in 1912. The slump in the building trade followed a boom, covering
perhaps 15 years, which ended in an overproduction of dwellings
and undue speculation. In 1913 there were 76,000 unrented apartments
 in Berlin alone. When the reaction came hundreds of building
 speculators failed, some for several millions with heavy losses
to all the allied industries, including wall paper.
This market condition is of importance in considering the terms
of delivery and payment. The wall-paper dealer buys from the
manufacturer on a 90-day note, three months after delivery,—i. e.,
the dealer has an uncovered credit of three months, at the expiration
 of which time he gives his note for three months more, which
amounts to six months’ credit for the factory. As the market became
 worse, the manufacturer found it more advantageous to prolong
 the dealer’s note rather than to embarrass him, so that often
credit of nine months or a year resulted. Under the stress of competition
 and the efforts on the part of the factories to distribute
their production over the year, the usual custom of deliveries in
February for payment in March was gradually changed to earlier
deliveries during the preceding winter or even preceding summer,
with payment in August or later, so that the manufacturer did
not realize on his product until nearly a year after delivery. The
danger was not only in the loss of interest during this long period,
but in the fact that the wall-paper dealer delivered his paper in the
new building just about the time that the building went into the receiver’s
 hands, the small margin of construction capital having been
used up during the earlier building stages. The wall-paper dealer
was exposed to heavy losses in no proportion to the small margin of
profit. The result has been an absolute demoralization of the wallpaper
 industry.
elling methods abroad and dumping.—Wall-paper manufacturers,
 independent or united, have dumped wnt ST abroad
whenever it seemed advisable, being satisfied if a price covering costs
was realized. There being no central selling organization, each individual
 factory has sold abroad, usually through agents, sometimes
Girectly. In view of the high quality and unique designs in German
wall papers, together with the extremely low prices, the export has
been considerable. The entire export problem, however, has little
to do with concentration or combination in the industry.