INTRODUCTION 
THE electrical industry, in common with other basic industries, has been subjected 
to the criticism that it has lent itself in this country to the formation of rings ”’ 
and “ combines ”’, intended to maintain prices and control production, while it 
has been confidently stated by the same critics that our European competitors 
observe the open market doctrine and avoid combinations. We are not concerned 
at the moment with the ultimate effect of such criticism, or with the methods 
by which such doctrines have been disseminated. Competition explains many 
developments apparently obscure in origin, and propaganda has a habit of 
insinuating itself into the most intricate mazes. 
We are not concerned either with the ethics of the ring ” or the ““ combine 7’, 
since economic progress is something far removed from political rhodomontade 
or civic sentimentality, but we are convinced that some effort must be made 
now not only to discredit such criticism at the source, but also to show how 
inevitable the work of combination in the British electrical industry, if it is to 
survive at all, must be. No general of any ability opposes a platoon to a battalion 
and expects by this means to win a battle, and, in the same way, no industry 
confronted, as the British electrical industry is, by a series of international 
combinations of immense power, political and financial, would hesitate to tighten 
up its organisation and interpose a compact body of resistance. 
This investigation was undertaken primarily with a view to discovering the 
real facts of the international competitive situation, to unravelling the system of 
international affiliations and associations, both in electrical manufacture and 
power finance, which have characterised the post-war period. It should be 
possible, then, for the power supply company executive or the local authority to 
understand the facts and measure at their full value statements made by propa- 
gandists active on behalf of our competitors, or by irresponsible critics who, 
armed with a little knowledge, would desire to bring their theories into action, 
and, at the same time, bring to ruin a basic industry. 
The economic thought of this country has been saturated with doctrines 
which belong more to the world of mythology than to plain, unvarnished reality : 
the popular attitude towards the “ combine ” or “ trust > comes closer to the