Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/150

 of the 26th of February [9th of March] 1896). Switzerland (law of the 26th of September 1890).

.—Sebastian, Trade Marks (4th ed., London, 1893; in this work the American cases are fully dealt with); Kerly, Trade Marks (London, 3rd ed., 1908); Kerly and Underhay, Trade Marks Act 1905 (London, 1906); Cartmell’s Digest (London, 1876–1892); Sebastian, Digest (London; cases down to 1879); Gray, Merchandise Marks Act (London, 1888); Safford, Merchandise Marks (London, 1893). The reports of the Departmental Committee of 1887, and of the Select Committees of the House of Commons appointed in 1887 and 1890 to consider the law with regard to merchandise marks and false marks, and the annual Reports of the Comptroller-General, throw great light on both the history and the practical working of the law. For American law, see Browne, Treatise on Trade Marks (Boston, 1873); Cox, American Trade Mark Cases (Cincinnati, 1871); Manual of Trade Mark Cases (Boston, 1881); Greeley, Foreign Patents and Trade Marks (Washington, 1899); Paul, Law of Trade Marks (St. Paul, Minn., 1903); and the reports of the commissioner of patents. As to foreign trade mark laws generally, see the following: ''British Parl. Papers; Reports relative to Legislation'' in Foreign Countries (1879; Cd. 2284, 2420); Reports from H.M.’s Representatives Abroad, on Trade Marks, Laws and Regulations (1900; Cd. 104); Summaries of Foreign and Colonial Laws as to Merchandise Marks (1900; Cd. 358, p. 850 seq.).

TRADE ORGANIZATION. The development of commercial organization which attended the growth of trade and industry during the 10th century assumed two distinct phases. In the first we see the creation of associations of persons engaged in trade and industry for the purpose of protecting their interests and of facilitating and fostering commercial relations. In the second, governments elaborate departmental organizations for the supervision of commercial matters, and utilize their consular services as means of commercial intelligence and influence. The associations belonging to the first category comprise three classes:-

a. Those which are themselves engaged in trade, like ordinary joint-stock companies, or which result from the combination of firms or individuals in the same or connected trades, for the purpose of facilitating or restricting production, limiting competition, regulating prices, &c.

b. Those which, without engaging in trade, aim at providing facilities for the transaction of commercial or financial operations. They chiefly take the form of exchanges, bourses, public sale rooms, &c., such as the Baltic, Lloyd’s, the Stock Exchange, the Corn and Coal Exchanges, the Commercial Sale Rooms.

c. Non-trading bodies, in the nature of public institutions, whose objects are to protect the interests of trade.

When, at the close of the 18th century and early in the 19th, the power of the old trade gilds and corporations of merchants had been broken, both governments and commercial men soon realized that the ancient societies would not follow the commercial evolution, and that new organizations must be created to meet new requirements. Two systems were evolved, which, from their prototypes, are known as the British

and the French systems. In the former, trade organizations were left to develop themselves in their own way, and in whatever direction they might think fit, without any official interference. In the latter, on the contrary, the government constituted itself the creator of trade organizations, which it incorporated into the administrative system of the country, and to which it gave an official status as an integral part of the machinery of the state. The former have grown chiefly into associations for the promotion and defence of commercial interests, whilst the latter have mainly become sources of commercial information and means of action at the disposal of the government. While organizations on the British system are, as regards the government, purely advisory bodies whose opinion might or might not be asked in Connexion with commercial matters, and whose duties are limited to the services which they are in a position to render to their members and to commerce generally, organizations on the French system not only must be consulted, in certain specified cases, by the government, especially in connexion with the drafting of commercial legislation and of regulations affecting trade, but they have also administrative duties to perform, such as the control of public commercial institutions, of testing, standardizing and conditioning establishments, port and dock works, &c. The British system obtains in the United Kingdom and the British colonies, in the United States and in Belgium, while the French has been adopted in most European countries, and in Japan. A.—Commercial Associations.

In the United Kingdom commercial associations arose with the growth of trade, without any assistance from the state and free from all government restriction or control. The first in point of date were the “commercial societies” which were formed, chiefly during the last quarter of the 18th century, in Birmingham, Exeter, Halifax, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, and which exercised a not unimportant influence upon commercial developments at the close of the 18th and in the early years of the 19th centuries. The modern associations which superseded them divided themselves into four classes, viz:—

a. Chambers of commerce and associations which aim at becoming representative of general commercial interests;

b. Associations or institutes which represent particular trades or branches of trades;

c. Trade protection societies, which look after the interests of retail as well as wholesale traders, and undertake to supply them with information as to the standing and credit of firms, expose swindlers, collect debts, &c.; and

d. Non-representative associations rendering general commercial services.

a. Chambers of Commerce and General Associations.—Most of the chambers of commerce in the United Kingdom were formed during the latter half of the 19th century, although a few were in existence much earlier. The oldest British chamber is the Jersey chamber, which dates from 1768. The Glasgow chamber was founded in 1783. Dublin followed in 1785, Edinburgh in 1786, Manchester in 1794, Belfast in 1796, Birmingham in 1813, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1818, Liverpool in 1851, Sheffield in 1857, &c. The London chamber was the last of the chambers of importance to be established; it dates only from 1881.

The London Chamber of Commerce, which has over 3000 members, is one of the most representative associations of its kind, and the organization adopted has been very effective in securing this. The chamber has been divided into trade sections, of which there are at present forty-four, and members

specify the sections to which they desire to belong. Each section has a separate organization, and is presided over by a chairman elected by itself, who may be helped by an elected committee if found advisable. The general council of the chamber confirms the election of chairmen of sections, and no action can be taken by the chamber on the recommendation of a section without authorization of the council. The, chamber has placed itself in connexion with a number of mercantile associations which, whilst preserving their separate organizations and their independence of act1pn, have found it advantageous to work in conjunction with it, either for general or for particular purposes and to have a voice in its council. The more imémrtant o, these are the Institute of Bankers, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Society of Accountants and Auditors, the General Ship Owners’ Society, the General Produce Brokers’ Association, the Federation of Grocers’ Associations of the United Kingdom, the West India Committee, the Corn Trade Association, the United Planters’ Association of Southern India, &c.

Particular reference should also be made to the Liverpool chamber, which, as regards division into trade sections and co-operation with independent associations, works on similar lines The to those of the London chamber. The African trade section of the Liverpool chamber has been prominent in connexion with African questions, and since its foundation in 1884 has been the leading voice in all matters relating to West Africa.

The Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom, which was formed in 1860, contributed much to give chambers of commerce as a whole a national importance. This association, like the chambers themselves, was of course purely voluntary, and at its foundation only sixteen

chambers decided to join it. The association is maintained by an annual subscription from the constituent chambers. It has been instrumental in passing many useful acts of parliament, and in otherwise influencing legislation upon commercial topics. The general meetings, which are held annually in March, in London, and at which delegates are present from all parts of the country, have come to be considered as a kind of parliaf ment of trade, and representatives of the Board of Trade, the general post office, and the foreign and' colonial offices are generally in attendance. Special meetings take place in September, and are held in provincial towns on the invitation of the local chamber.