102 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

there are no traveling salesmen representing this comptoir abroad,
but all business is secured by means of established agencies in various
cities, such as an importing and exporting house in Buenos Aires, an
importer in Rio de Janeiro, etc. Each agency is placed in charge of
a large exhibit of samples, consisting of cross-section cuttings of
various sizes of rails, beams, and channels mounted on a wooden
frame, and each agency has various advertising matter for distribution,
 all at the expense of the comptoir. The sales are made by the
comptoir outright to the agency, which finds the customers and carries
 the accounts in the district allotted to it.
“The work for each year is based on reports from the several stockholders
 at the beginning of the year as to their probable allotment
of their products to this particular comptoir for the ensuing 12 months.
The promised allotment from each stockholder may be increased or
diminished, within reason. The comptoir carries no stock on hand,
but as orders are received they are referred, in proper proportions,
to member stockholders, according to their promised allotments for
the year. Member stockholders sell independently, or through other
comptoirs, those of their products that are offered in France, or that
are not included in the classes of products named above.” ?
As in the case of the Comptoir des Poutrelles, its business is conducted
 on a purely commission basis. It takes all the export output
of its members for sale abroad and reimburses them when payment
has been made by the customer.
The terms usually offered are £. 0. b. a French or Belgian port, net
cash against documents, but occasionally a discount of one-half per
cent is allowed.
Since the war the comptoir has not been engaged in the export
trade but has confined its activities to obtaining supplies for the Government
 and private consumers from abroad. In these transactions
the comptoir simply endeavors to put the inquiries of French customers
 before steel makers capable of submitting prices while, as
stated before, the Comptoir des Poutrelles acts as purchaser for its
clients, charging them a commission sufficiently large to cover the
cost of operations. ~
Tn normal times the comptoir’s foreign sales are made to all forsign
 countries. In six years, principally through its efforts, the
exports of the products in which it is interested increased from 40,000
to 200,000 tons, and it has opened the markets of Brazil, Argentine
Confederation, and China to the French producers.
Comptoir des Essieux (Axle Comptoir).—The Comptoir des Essieux
 was founded in 1892 for the sale in France and for the export
to French colonies and protectorates and foreign countries of the
axles manufactured by its members. The comptoir terminated its
existence on December 81, 1915. No statutes of the organization
could be obtained, as the edition is exhausted, but if the comptoir
is renewed, which is doubtful until present conditions have returned
to the normal, it will be reconstructed on a different basis and consequently
 new statutes will be enacted.’
Tts offices are located at 13 Rue Saint Lazare, Paris.
The usual sales terms are 90 days net, or 30 days with a discount
of 1 per cent. The business of the comptoir is run on the same lines

| Report of secretary to American commercial attaché at Paris.