SPECIAL REPORTS FOR FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 135
TurkisE Trappe or THE NATIONS.

Great Britain—One does not discover, in studying modern British
trade methods in the Levant, any mone evidence of modern
tendencies toward combination. British commercial supremacy
here dates back to the days of the Levant Co. which obtained its
exclusive charter from Queen Elizabeth and ultimately outdistanced
Venice, Holland, and other rivals. Great Britain has maintained
its position in the Levant largely on account of its shipping and
banking facilities and because of the inherent aversion of the natives
to change. British manufacturers, furthermore, gained a reputation
in early days for quality of goods and for fair dealing which they
consistently have endeavored to maintain. Of late years, however,
the United Kingdom’s trade with Turkey has not, in general, kept
pace with that of other nations. Just before the present war broke
out it seemed as if the British leaders of finance and commerce had
determined that the “laissez faire” policy, hitherto pursued, did
not properly meet modern conditions. A bank was established in
Constantinople with British capital (National Bank of Turkey), and
public concessions were sought. British concerns succeeded in obtaining
 concessions for the construction of harbors at Trebizond
and Samsoun and for certain irrigation projects in Mesopotamia.
They also secured important arsenal and dock concessions.
British manufacturers of allied trades, machinery for instance,
have been in the habit of appointing a joint representative on a
salary and commission basis to reside in Constantinople. Attached
to the agency there would be usually two or three young engineers
or other experts sent out and paid by thé home concern to assist its
representative and to gain experience.
In other lines, as, for example, linoleum, the Scotch manufacturers
 formed a syndicate and selected a representative to operate
in Turkey on a commission basis. By eliminating competition between
 themselves, these manufacturers practically succeeded in
driving out their Belgian and German rivals. At times competition
caused the syndicate to resort to temporary dumping. However,
the success of the enterprise is attested by the largely increased sales
of British linoleum at higher prices.
France—France’s trade ly Turkey shows a record which must
not be gratifying to that country’s economists. A brief study of
the Turkish markets suffices to reveal the unquestionable fact that
France’s loss is due to the lack of a comprehensive organization of
its export trade.
However, the French reign supreme in the Turkish financial
world. Aside from the German and Austrian banks, French capital
is interested in practically all other impertant banking institutions
as well as public works and enterprises in general. But for this
financial hegemony, which commands a large amount of trade, France
might recede to a much lower position in the list of Turkey’s purveyors.

The commercial language in Turkey’s principal centers is French,
which is the case also in diplomatic and society circles. Turkey’s
modern tendencies have been largely inspired by French literature.
Up to the beginning of the present war, French schools in the
Levant were more numerous than those of anv other nationality.