134 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

Syndicates and cartels, such as those existing in Germany, or
other systems under which combinations of capital can be fostered
rnd successfully operated, are totally lacking in the purely Ottoman
business world. The spirit of cooperation is not conspicuous in the
Near East. One, therefore, fails to discover strictly Ottoman concerns
 of any magnitude. Even State and municipal monopolies are
usually owned and managed by foreigners in Turkish form.
The Oriental Carpet Manufacturers (Ltd.).—The Ottoman Cloth
Co. in Smyrna produced cotton cloth almost exclusively for the
army. As a competing factor in gray goods, it became an element
 of opposition to American “Cabot.” This concern, along
with two or three subsidiary companies, was ultimately absorbed
by the Oriental Carpet Manufacturers (Ltd.), a British corporation
 with headquarters at Smyrna, which is the nearest approach
in Turkey to modern trusts. It started its operations by combining
 into one. association a number of important brokers dealing
 in Turkish rugs and carpets. The corporation had in mind
monopolizing the manufacture and sale of Turkish rugs. In order
to carry out this scheme, it was found necessary to enter the Persian
field, and to establish looms and agencies in that country. Offices
were located in Cairo, New York, London, Paris, and Hamburg for
the sale of oriental carpets. The Turkish Government soon became
a valuable customer, buying its supply of wool from the Oriental
Carpet Manufacturers (Ltd). The latter, having thus become a
purveyor to the Government, took over the cotton mills in Smyrna
in order to furnish army cloth. Without having other Government
encouragement than the assurance of a remunerative market for
wool and gray cloth, the Oriental Carpet Manufacturers (Ltd.)
promised to become a rather powerful institution; more particularly
as a rug trust, when the present war broke out, which crippled its
business because of its belligerent nationality. Producing, buying,
aud selling Turkish and Persian rugs, the concern, it is estimated,
exported about 30 per cent of such rugs and carpets as were exported
from Turkey, thus leaving a large field to the independent traders,
who were mostly merchants or commission agents established in Constantinople.
 In the beginning the ats Carpet Manufacturers
(Litd.) attempted to re.ail its products, but later abandoned the plan
in favor of wholesale operations exclusively. The branch houses
abroad are equipped with luxurious exhibits. However, the organization
 is not a model one, it is claimed, being but loosely knit
together, and its future is deemed problematical.
Other combinations.—Similar tactics have been pursued in other
lines of manufactures and produce, but as yet without success. The
Smyrna Fig Packers (Ltd was intended as a fig trust, but did not
prove profitable, as the producers organized against the operations
of the trust and in this struggle secured the cooperation of the
Turkish Government through the Banque Agricole. A drug trust
(Droguerie Centrale d’Orient) was organized in Constantinople
some two years ago. It has not interfered much with the freedom
of trade nor impressed the public with any superiority of organization.

While thus there are no syndicates in Turkey under Ottoman or
foreign protection of any special interest, it is deemed worth while
to describe more fully certain trade methods practiced by combinations
 of manufacturers organized abroad and operating in Turkey.