No. of Plants          Total Nominal
Groups             Number   Acquired or Controlled       Capital

1.  Greater industrial
trusts 7 1528 $2,260,000,000
2.  Lesser industrial
trusts 298 3426 4,055,000,000
3.  Other industrial
trusts in process
of reorganization
or readjustment 13 334 528,000,000
4.  Franchise trusts 111 1336 3,735,000,000
5.  Great steam
railroad groups 6 790 9,017,000,000
6.  Allied independent 10 250 380,000,000
--- ----- --------------
Total, 445 8664 $20,000,000,000

Sec. 11. #Motive to avoid competition.# This remarkable movement toward the formation of united corporations from formerly independent enterprises called forth a variety of explanations.  The organizers of trusts gave as the first explanation of their action that it was the necessary result of excessive competition.  It is not to be denied that a hard fight and lower prices often preceded the formation of the trusts.  But as this excessive competition usually is begun for the very purpose of forcing others into a combination, this explanation is a begging of the question.  It is fallacious also in that it ignores the marginal principle in the problem of profits.  Profits are never the same in all factories, and to those manufacturers that are on the margin competition may appear excessive.  It generally has been the largest and strongest factories, in the more favored situations, that, in order to get rid of troublesome competitors, have forced the smaller, weaker, industries to come into the trust.  In other cases the smaller enterprises have been eager to be taken in at a good price, altho they might have continued to operate independently with moderate profits.  When, therefore, it is said that competition is destructive, it may be a partial truth, but more likely it is a pleasantry reflecting the happy humor of the prosperous promoters of the combination.

Sec. 12. #Motive to effect economies.# Another advantage of the combination of competing plants that was strongly emphasized was the economy of large production.[9] The economies that are possible within a single factory may be still greater in a number of combined or federated industries.  The cost of management, amount of stock carried, advertising, cost of selling the product, may all be smaller per unit of product.  Each independent factory must send its drummers into every part of the country to seek business.  In combination they can divide the territory, visit every merchant and get larger orders at smaller cost.  A large aggregation can control credit better and escape losses from bad debts.  By regulating and equalizing the output in the different localities, it can run more