capital account or whether they should be charged directly each month to the cost of production can be discussed and settled on broad lines.

Many large firms have expert cost men. If it were made possible for these men to come in contact with the smaller manufacturer, there can be no question but that the ideas of the former would impress themselves upon the latter, efficiency would be materially increased, and all the companies in the industry greatly benefited.

Economies in production, as distinguished from buying and selling, are promoted by many associations through technical discussions. The proportion of attention given by associations to such topics ranges through all degrees.

Credit bureaus, through which the members can profit by each other's experience with customers, are maintained by associations. Some have collection agencies also.

Coöperative buying of materials and supplies is perhaps commonest among agricultural associations, though it is occasionally found in other lines. The Wisconsin Pulpwood Co., for example, is a coöperative concern through which thirteen paper mills buy their spruce pulpwood. The National Association of Hosiery & Underwear Manufacturers has established a band-and-label department, to supply its members coöperatively with the special packings demanded by jobbers and large retailers.

Many associations have concerned themselves

actively with the cost of railway transportation. A considerable number have cheapened insurance for their members; some by starting mutual insurance plans of their own, others by making special arrangements with other associations or with regular insurance companies.

The various publications which many associations put out must also be regarded as contributions to the general good of the industry.

Bad practices have such a grip on some industries that no individual manu acturer can abandon them without placing himself at a serious disadvantage. In many cases these practices are not unlawful; in others they are, and can and will be reached by the Federal Trade Commission, or some other regulative body. But in all cases they are unethical and unsound and should be stopped. Here is a field of constructive work for trade associations, and some organizations have accomplished much in it. Coöperative effort is sometimes the only way by which an industry can free itself from bad practices into which unintelligent competition has led its members.

As the country has grown in manufacturing capacity, we have come to realize that the employes form a most important part of every successful establishment; that that management is successful which not only works out economies in production but which also has the real interest of its employes at heart. This is responsible for the desire to have as many of its workers as possible interested as stock

holders in the plant. Without the hearty coöperation and enthusiasm of its men the best results cannot be obtained. Many corporations and factories are now raising salaries and wages or reducing hours without any request from their employes. These efforts are commendable and should be supplemented by other movements for the general welfare of labor, planned and put into effect by trade associations. The question of giving our workmen continuous employment can be solved and other plans for their welfare can be worked out successfully through trade associations.

Our labor problems could also be more intelligently settled if corporations involved in differences with their employes would bring before a board of arbitration a financial statement showing the true condition of the business. This would give the actual profits of the concern and afford a sound basis upon which to judge whether labor's share should be increased.

One of the great and crying needs among American business men to-day is a broad view of business in general and a comprehensive grasp of the needs of industry as a whole. Too many American manufacturers and merchants centre all their energy and attention upon their particular establishment and the work of making profits for it. Men at the head of factories need the point of view of what might be termed the statesmanship of business. They need to appreciate the fact that their plant is a part of a

great industry; that their individual welfare depends very largely upon the welfare and progress of the industry as a whole, and of industry in general. Whatever promotes the welfare of other concerns in industry and the welfare of that broad group of people which we call the public, is bound to react favorably on individual concerns.

CHAPTER VII

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS IN GERMANY

N THE effective organization of business in
Germany, trade associations occupy an import-

IN

ant place. Our associations all too often contrast unfavorably with the strength and usefulness of the German associations.

There are more than 600 independent associations of manufacturers, producers, and business men in Germany to-day, and about 5,000 subsidiary organizations influencing the industrial system of the country.

From among the hundreds of independent commercial organizations I will discuss briefly only two: the "Association for Protecting the Interests of Germany's Chemical Industry" and the "Association for Protecting the Common Business Interests of German Electrotechnology." These two are typical of German coöperation and efficiency, and they represent two of the leading world industries of Germany.

The "Association for Protecting the Interests of Germany's Chemical Industry" is one of the most effective organizations in Germany. The interests of all the chemical trades are served by this one cen.