90 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

The production controlled by German cartels, etc., varies from 40 to
ew per cent of the entire mol foo of the country in their respective
es.
Numberless broad decisions in favor of cartels or combinations and
against a plaintiff member thereof have been rendered by the courts
in cases Where the combinations’ extreme aggressiveness led to breach
of the combination agreement on the theory that it offended good
morals. Actions brought against cartels, etc., by outsiders on similar
 grounds are rarely successfully concluded, unless it is proven
beyond a reasonable doubt that the extreme measures adopted by a
combination with the view of getting rid of an independent legitimate-competitor
 are such as to seriously threaten his existence and to
grievously offend public interest.
No special Enh of any sort, such as export bounties, preferential
freight rates, etc., are. granted to combinations to the detriment of
independent concerns, and the success of such combinations ‘in Bavaria
 is largely regulated by the laws of supply and demand and
primarily due to the high efficiency resulting from cooperation, as
expressed in both quality and price.
Dumping in home territory is avoided on general principles, and,
as this method of unloading a surplus production in foreign markets
would, if it became general, cause the immediate and rigorous interference
 of governmental authorities interested in home markets. this
practice is comparatively seldom resorted to.
Reserves for the special purpose of combating unfair competition
are known and permitted to exist. The object of these reserves in
Bavaria, however, appears to be instructive rather than destructive.
The general tendency is to endeavor to include in cartels and combinations
 all the important concerns in their respective lines, particularly
 those whose previous competitive activities gave rise to the
formation of the cartel or combination. It frequently occurs, howpver,
 that the fittest, strongest (financially), and best-known concerns
 decline to pool their interests with others less favored. Inability
 to induce strong outside interests to join cartels occasionally
results in the dissolution of the cartel.
Not a single instance of a dissolved cartel appears to be the direct
result of the war.
No cartels of any sort created for the purpose of purchasing American
 goods exist in the Kingdom of Bavaria.

ENGLAND.

Special report of Consul General Robert P. Skinner, London, England, December
 20, 1915.

The trust movement.—The trust movement in British industry is
very fully treated in H. W. Macrosty’s work on the subject (Longmans,
 Green &amp; Co., 1907), and since that date it has i
progressed in many directions.
It is very frequently suggested that if industrial and trading combinations,
 commonly denominated trusts, exist less strikingly in
what until the last few weeks was a free-trade country than ‘elsewhere,
 their comparative rarity must be attributed to that system
but the fact is that if free trade has limited the power of domestic
trusts to control trade prices beyond a point which would admit
foreign competition, it has not prevented them from coming into