Excerpt from India Rubber World
Similarly the Franken-berg firm, also in Manchester, making rubber articles in many lines, now control a large factory making other lines which originally was a separate concern and is still advertised under a name and style of its own. And the house of Mandleburg - we are still in Manchester - specialists in the waterproofing branch, have taken over and reorganized a factory in the mechanical line at Woodley, but without directly amalgamating the two businesses.
At the last annual meeting of the Leyland and Birmingham company - itself the result of an amalgamation only a few years ago - it was announced that during the twelvemonth two smaller concerns had been acquired, though it is not announced whether the latter will retain the names in use hitherto. Likewise the latest report to the shareholders of the Callender firm, in the insulation field, announces that they have acquired sole control of the Anchor Rubber Co., and invested a large sum in the shares of two other companies.
From the above it will be seen that within a year considerable progress has been made in the way of consolidation in the English rubber industry, while in the meantime we recall no new rubber enterprise in that country launched upon an important scale. There may have been no apparent decrease in the list of rubber factories, but there has been a falling off in the number of distinct, separate enterprises. A pertinent question is: How does the changed condition differ from that resulting in America when a number of factories are brought under a single control by the floating of a big public company under a new name?
It goes without saying that the various English rubber companies that have passed under the control of other concerns had become, for some reason or other, less able than formerly to maintain an independent existence. Or else, some advantage appeared likely from amalgamation with larger or more capably managed companies. And what about the buyers of these businesses? A firm like Macintosh, for example, being in a position to extend their business, found certain factories equipped for making certain lines of goods, with an established reputation for their products, but possibly with some weak element in their organization which led their managers to consider propositions for reorganization. And in this set of conditions, with the results present and prospective, we sec nothing essentially different from what has happened in the way of rubber consolidation in the United States. It might be added here that every important American factory that has entered any of the so-called "trusts" is still known to the people who buy their goods under their old-time name. In fact The India Rubber Would is in constant receipt of inquiries as to whether this or that rubber factory belongs to the "trust."
We are no advocate of trust building or of trust "busting," our interest being in recording the news of the trade. We have held to the idea, however, that the best thing for any trade is liable to be worked out by the combined intelligence of its leaders. Seeing, therefore, that the various combinations formed generally hold together, some salient advantages must result to certain concerns by the combination of the best talent which they possess, in the field of production, in the distribution of goods, and in financial administration. But while this may be best for some groups of concerns, other companies continue to succeed and to grow as independents, showing that large aggregations of capital are not always essential, and in this fact lies not the least hope of the rubber industry. The possibilities of success of an independent factory, even on a small scale, will encourage men to engage in the industry who otherwise might be debarred from it, and who, by working for themselves, may develop ability of a higher order, and consequently more progressiveness, than it is natural for most men. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге India Rubber World (Classic Reprint)