414 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE,

of Europe, by which I mean Austria-Hungary, Roumania, Bosnia, etec., operated
under a cooperative association known as the Accordat. These manufacturers
 manufactured, marketed, and sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000,-000,000
 feet of lumber a year. Their plants were located in different parts of
Austria-Hungary and the other States named within reasonable distance of the
Danube. This Accordat had its headquarters in Vienna. I think there were
five or six managing directors. They also owned and operated a line of something
 like 20 steamers, and some of the individual factors in the Accordat also
owned a number of vessels. The managing directors of this Accordat practically
 had control of the business of the organization. They made sales and
made terms and shipments. As an illustration, the prices that were made by
the Accordat in Alexandria, Egypt, or in Constantinople were not necessarily
the same, and were as a rule considerably higher for the same material delivered
 at Liverpool or any of the ports in France. There was competition at the
western ports and there was no competition in Egypt or Turkey, or, as a matter
of fact, in Trieste. This organization met competitive conditions where it was
absolutely necessary. Very naturally, when they delivered goods at Liverpool
or at Hamburg they had to meet the competition from Sweden, Norway, Russia.
United States, Siberia, and Canada. Everything considered, this Accordat did
not in any cause ask an unreasonable price. Their average f. o. b. mill realization
 ranged from $15 to $17.50. Their vessels were, as a rule, from 7,000 to
10,000 tons, and so arranged that they could carry grain from the wonderful
producing sections of Hungary and other States in the hold of these boats and
the lumber could be decked. In other words, the freight on the wheat just
about paid for the expense of the trip and the lumber was carried at an exceedingly
 low freight rate. As a matter of fact, some of these very same
boats during the time of the Servian-Bulgarian war some years ago were used
In transporting lumber and other products from our southern ports to France
and England. For the time being they could not be used on the Danube and
their owners wanted to keep them in commission. (From a journalist.)
LuMBER (GERMANY, Brrarum, AND CaNADpA).

Previous to the war in Europe there were associations and organizations in
Germany and Belgium of operators, but many of their policies were unknown
to us. There are associations and organizations in other countries, but we are
not familiar with the details of the same. (From a manufacturer of lumber.)
No facts—only Kearsay—that Canadian lumber is handled through agreed
combinations. (From a manufacturer of lumber.)
CrAIRS (AUSTRIA).

Our competition In the foreign markets (we being chair manufacturers) in
chairs of Austrian bent wood, and the imitations of same, marufactured in
Germany and Spain. To the best of our knowledge, the manufacturers in all
three countries work together on a selling agreement, and Germany and Austria
 receive reductions on freight from place of manufacture to port of shipment
 ; besides this, bonuses from the large German shipping companies, which
bonuses, as a rule, they split with the importers to whom they ship in large
guantities. (From a manufacturer of chairs.)
BepsTEADS (ENGLAND).

Know of only the British arrangement among nearly all bedstead manufacturers
 to give a yearly deferred 10 per cent back to any customer who byys
from no one outside their list of factories any bedsteads or springs.
This 10 per cent held back and called a deferred rebate acts as a club to
keep them from other markets. (From a manufacturer of bedsteads.)
WoveEN WALL COVERINGS (SCOTLAND).

Only competition met has been from manufacturers of woven wall coverings
In Scotland. We understand these different manufacturers have an understanding
 among themselves for stability of prices, (From a manufactuver of
cloth.)