NOTEBOOK “α” (“ALPHA”)

LIEFMANN ON THE FRANKFURT METAL TRADE

Robert Liefmann , “The International Organisation of the Frankfurt Metal Trade”. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv , Vol. I. Jena, 1913, p. 108 et seq.

The Merton concern grew out of the enterprises of Merton (Anglo-German family).

| | | “Probably more than 200 million marks have been invested in the Merton concern as a whole, not counting, of course, the private property of the capitalists behind it” (p. 121). | “Through its enterprises, particularly those of the Merton concern, the Frankfurt metal trade which, incidentally, includes also some other firms of considerable importance, embraces, therefore, virtually the whole world” (p. 122).

Diagram (p. 120) (town names added): [see p. 37 —Ed .]

Trading capital (of Merton) has passed here into productive capital.

“The characteristic feature of modern wholesale trade in almost all its branches is its penetration into production ” (p. 111).

After the electrical industry (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft in Germany, the General Electric Company in the U.S.A., etc.), probably “the most international branch of enterprise in Germany” (109) is the trade in metals (especially copper, zinc, lead, and rare metals—the chief centre of which is Frankfurt).

The present head, Dr. Wilhelm Merton (member of the board of most of the companies), is in Frankfurt. His father, Henry R. Merton , is in London.

The chief difference between all these companies and other similar ones is that the capitalists at the head of the business still have a direct (p. 119) part in all trading and production enterprises. They “supplement” their capital by capital from the public.

Of course, the number of “companies” in which they have “holdings” is immeasurably greater than shown in the diagram.