140 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

ing on a combined salary and commission basis or on the commission
basis alone, and who are limited in their initiative and enterprise only
by a fixed uniform rule regarding prices and credits which, whether
known or unknown to the agents, applies to all transactions in Turkey
 of the manufacturers belonging to the cartel, and enables the latter
 successfully to meet foreign competition. While “ Verbands” and
syndicates operate in the open, the cartels are more in the nature of
secret organizations, They are less an organization than a systematization
 of prices and efforts in special markets from which, without
such methods, the German manufacturers might be driven out by
foreign competition or at least suffer loss of business and reduced
profits. This system is considered superior to dumping or other
coercive practices, which not only arouse the hostility of competitors
but also that of the trade and of the consumers. On the other hand,
by preserving their individuality, the manufacturers, members of
the cartel, benefit from the zeal and rivalry of their respective agents
in the foreign field. Germans seldom resort to dumping in Turkey.
However, they claim that Turkey is their cheapest market.
When cartels are planned all manufacturers in the given line of
articles operating in the given foreign field are invited to join. If
the a formed, those remaining outside will not as a rule attempt
 independent action in that foreign field.
The solidarity among German enterprises must be attributed not
only to the spirit of union and organization inherent in modern
German character but also to a well-considered foreign trade policy,
in pursuance of which the stock of numerous concerns is interowned.
It is not believed, however, that the system of German cartels alone
can successfully keep American goods out of the Turkish markets.
The German pick cartel, for instance, is successful not only because
all the German manufacturers of picks have joined but because the
latter kmow how to utilize waste in the iron industry better than
foreign pick manufacturers, and because of the superior German
organization of problems of transport and finance. Cartels usually
enjoy a more or less limited existence. They are difficult to hold
together in the long run and often are dissolved.
International combinations.—International combinations, as such,
are not officially operating in Turkey except in the financial domain
in which they reign supreme.” Most banks in Constantinople are
composed of groups whose members are large banking institutions in
various European countries. The same conditions apply to certain
railroads in Co in which German, French, Austrian, British,
and Swiss interests are combined; so, also, as already noted, in the
matter of the street and subway railways in Constantinople. While
the capital invested, in the cases recited, comes from different countries,
 the management is national; i. e., German or French, etc.
Purely merchandising combinations of an international character
can not properly be said to exist in Turkey.
America— American goods in Turkey are mostly imported through
the instrumentality of individual commission agents, and there are no
combinations of buyers of such goods. However, in London, Hamburg,
 and other European centers one finds large jobbing firms buying
 American manufactures for distribution’ to other parts, including
Turkey. This practice is detrimental to both the American seller
and the Turkish buyer. Among such articles may be mentioned flour
(via Marseille), cotton goods (via Manchester), leather (via Lon-