RELATED TOPICS 245 



to receive supplies of wheat in accordance with the' 'sack 

 capacity'' of the particular mill. "We therefore see 

 that everything was controlled by the directors of the 

 Association, who formed a central board. 



The Association thus, from a statement of its objects, 

 bears a close resemblance to the modern development of 

 combination in Germany. The analogous case is the 

 German kartel, which is " commonly an elaborate organ- 

 isation, public and formal, which fixes prices and 

 prevents the members from competing with each other. ' '* 

 It has a central agency, to which orders go, and by which 

 sales and prices are effected. So far, then, the objects 

 and methods of the Association are in accord with the 

 general aims and methods of the kartel. But the kartel 

 has as its objective the limitation of output, and it is 

 doubtful if the Millers' Association here has ever en- 

 deavoured to restrict the total output, though it has 

 apportioned and controlled the output of individual 

 mills. But it is difficult to determine whether or not 

 such would have been attempted had the Association 

 realised the anticipations of its promoters. The proba- 

 bilities are that such would have been the case ; for with 

 an import duty on iiour the flour-milling industry is 

 sheltered, and the temptation to raise prices artificially 

 would doubtless have been too great. This Association 

 then must be classed in the same category as the kartel. 



(&) The Operations of the Association. At the time 

 of foundation, out of a total of 40 mills in the Dominion. 

 30 had become incorporated in the combination. Soon 

 after the number increased to 33, but since that time it 

 has dwindled somewhat, and now about half the milling 

 strength of the Dominion, as tested by output, is 

 outside the Association. This is due to two large 

 mills, which have kept outside the Millers' Associ- 

 ation, and succeeded in their struggle with it to 



*Taussig, "Principles of Economics/' Vol. II., page 423. 



