the approval of three-fourths of all the votes of the bureau. Nevertheless, if at this first meeting all of the votes of the bureau are not represented, a new assembling is to be made within a week, and at this second meeting the questions previously placed in the order of the day may be determined by three-fourths of the votes of the members present. ARTICLE 28. When the bureau is not able to dispose of all the available production, the council shall have the right of deciding, in the manner prescribed by articles eleven (11), twelve (12), and thirteen (13) of the present statutes, upon a proportional reduction of the deliveries of each company to the bureau. The reduction shall be calculated on the amount placed at the disposition of the bureau, and it shall not have reference to the quantity retained by each works for its own consumption. It shall be regulated in such a way that the bureau's supply shall never exceed half of the total amount forwarded in the preceding six months, and never be less than a quarter of this amount. Each of the companies may sell abroad, directly and freely, the pig iron which it has left available after having supplied its converting works and delivered to the bureau the quantum of production which has been assigned to it. ARTICLE 29. In order to permit the bureau to know in advance what is the quantity placed at its disposal, each company shall declare, in the first fortnight of January and of July at the latest, the quantities of each variety, and the qualities of pig iron which it will need monthly in the six months following for supplying its works. In case the stock of the bureau is reduced below the minimum fixed in article twenty-eight (28), the bureau may, in derogation of article twenty-six (26), exact from the associated companies that their deliveries to it be not less than those provided for by their declarations (of production), whatever may be the quantities actually consumed in the converting works. It may likewise require that these declarations shall not be increased by more than twenty-five per cent from one six months to another, unless said declarations have been made a year in advance, that is to say, in the first fortnight of January or of July for the six months commencing in January and July of the following year. Nevertheless, and by exception, for the first six months of the year nineteen hundred (1900), the declaration made in the first fortnight of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine (1899) may admit of an increase greater than twenty-five per cent of the declaration of the preceding six months. ARTICLE 30. Every company which may have blast and puddling furnaces, and foundries outside of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, forbids itself any sale of pig iron similar to that produced in Meurthe-et-Moselle and in the Meuse, whatever may be the production thereof, during the time in which it shall take from its furnaces of Meurthe-et-Moselle and of the Meuse, supplies of pig iron for its puddling furnaces and foundries, as well as during the period of two months following the forwarding of the last quantities to these works. ARTICLE 31. Each company shall so regulate its production as to deliver to the bureau, proportionately to its quantum, the qualities, kinds, and numbers of pig iron that the trade may demand. The council shall determine, at the end of each six months, the proportion of forge, Thomas, and foundry pig iron to be delivered to the bureau during the half year following. ARTICLE 32. The companies shall not deliver to the bureau monthly quantities of pig iron greater than those which shall have been assigned to them. However, it shall be permissible for them to produce in advance an indeterminate tonnage and to place it in stock at their expense and risk, without the power to sell it in France or to dispose of it, and upon the condition of ultimately reducing their production or of selling abroad the pig produced in excess of their quantum, so that this stock shall be wholly disposed of upon the termination of the company, penalty of a fine of 10 francs a ton on the quantity remaining at said time. under They may assign as among themselves all or a part of their quantum of production and make among themselves exchanges of the qualities and kinds of pig iron to be delivered to the bureau. With regard to the Thomas pig, the companies may even cause their share of this sort of pig iron to be delivered by other works than those belonging to the bureau, to be charged to their quantum of production or not, according to the decision of the council. At the end of each month all the pig iron not produced by each of the companies on its quantum of production or on the amounts which have been assigned to it by a fellow company shall be turned over to the bureau without indemnity therefor. The exchange of pig iron among the companies in order to facilitate exportation is permitted under the control and with the consent of the bureau. In this case the companies sending pig abroad must justify their shipments to the bureau. The exchange of pig iron for steel or for puddle bars is likewise permitted, on condition that in order to establish the quantum to be delivered to the bureau the pig iron shall be deducted from the capacity of production of the company so exchanging it. ARTICLE 33. The council shall have the right to annul the amounts which have not been produced and placed at its disposition at the end of each month, just as it may require such delivery in the following months. The companies which do not regularly furnish their quantum of production shall be responsible for consequences resulting, or which may result, from that fact. ARTICLE 34. There shall not be included in the quantum of production assigned to each works the pig iron named in article twenty-four, nor the very hard foundry pig iron (silvery pig), the spiegeleisen, ferro-manganese, etc., of the value of thirty per cent, at least, more than the price of ordinary pig iron. Such iron shall nevertheless be sold by the bureau for the account of the producing company and conformably to its instructions. It shall not be invoiced to the bureau except in proportion to, and as soon as, the deliveries to the trade. These grades shall bear their share of the general expenses, as in regard to the previous deduction provided for in article forty (40), but they shall not share in either profits or losses of the bureau. ARTICLE 35. The companies may sell directly the pig iron needed by other companies for the supplying of their converting works on condition that the quantities thus delivered be deducted from the productive capacity of the purchaser in order to determine the quantum to be furnished to the bureau. However, if the difference between the productive capacity of the purchasing company and the quantity retained from its production for supplying its converting works was less than the quantity bought, the difference shall be deducted from the productive capacity of the seller. ARTICLE 36. The bureau shall cause to be verified the quantities deducted by each company for its own consumption, conformably to article twenty-six (26). Each company undertakes for all the works belonging to it which produce or consume Meurthe-et-Moselle pig iron, to place at the disposition of the person unknown to the contracting parties and commissioned by the bureau with the supervision of the works, its records of production, books of invoice and of shipment, and generally all the documents, whatever they may be, judged exigible by the bureau as a means of verifying the correct execution on the part of the company of the present contract. ARTICLE 37. The foundry pig iron shall bear in relief a distinctive mark for each works; this mark shall be designated by the council. Foundry pig iron shall be classed into numbers one, three, four, five, bocages, grey, and mottled grey, in accordance with the type established by the Rehon works. Each of these numbers shall be produced in castings in chills and castings in sand, proportionately to the demands of the trade. The premium granted for castings in chills shall be determined by the council. The Thomas pig iron shall be of merchantable quality, such as the trade has accepted up to the present time. The forge pig iron shall be classed as cold-blast white, ordinary, hot-blast white, mottled white, mottled grey, and grey, according to the types previously established. Specimens of each of these types of foundry, Thomas, and forge pig iron shall be placed in the offices of the bureau and in each of the producing works. TITLE VII.-Purchases and sales. ARTICLE 38. At the end of each month each company shall forward an invoice to the bureau of the pig iron which it shall have produced and placed at its disposition. The invoice prices shall be fixed by the council in accordance with the averages of sales of the month. The difference between the different numbers and kinds shall be determined as follows: White pig iron.. Mottled white pig, increase of fifty centimes a ton Mottled grey pig, in bars and plates, increase of one franc per ton. Bocages, grey pig in bars and plates, increase of one franc fifty centimes per ton Foundry pig number (5), increase of four francs per ton.. Basis. 0.50 1.00 1.50 4.00 5.00 6.00 8.00 The statutory difference to be assigned to Thomas pig iron shall be established by the council in the first fortnight of June and December of each year. The council shall likewise fix the rate of deduction on the product of each works, premiums and bounties included, to be allowed the bureau, in order to cover its general expenses of all sorts, independent of the special deduction provided for by article forty (40). The prices thus established for the monthly invoices are only provisional. They are to be revised and definitely fixed at the end of each half year, taking as a basis therefor (1) the quantities of pig iron of each number and kind delivered to the public during the aforesaid half year; (2) the total proceeds of such deliveries. These proceeds shall be distributed among all the numbers and kinds of pig iron pro rata according to the quantity of pig, in accordance with the scale of differences herein established. The mean prices of sale thus calculated shall constitute the prices of invoice applicable to all the production of the half year. In consequence, the provisional invoices sent by the works shall be revised, either increased or decreased according to the occasion, and the difference placed in the account before the closing of the budget. ARTICLE 39. The pig iron shall be invoiced each month indiscriminately until four months from the end of the month of delivery, bearing interest in the account current at five per cent a year. This rate may be increased by a decision of the council when the rate of the Bank of France shall rise above four per cent. The bureau, which as a rule should distribute its receipts among the associated companies pro rata according to their invoices, commencing with the oldest, shall always have the privilege of releasing itself by payment in advance. The payment of invoices shall be in specie or in bankable paper at the option of the bureau, discounted at the bank's rate, and placed in the account current at their value on the day of remittance. The expenses of negotiating paper on banks located elsewhere (valeurs déplacées) shall be charged to the general expense account of the company. The sums which any company may prefer not to receive shall be placed in an account of deposit bearing an interest equal to that which the company can obtain from its bankers, it being agreed that the bureau shall not receive these deposits except in proportion as it can place them exclusively in advance of payment on the invoices sent, and that consequently the bureau can limit their amount. ARTICLE 40. A special reserve fund shall be created, designed to cover losses arising from bad debts. This fund shall be made up and supplied by a deduction of one-half per cent on the amount of all invoices sent to the bureau. If by a course of extraordinary mishaps this reserve fund is found insufficient to repair the losses of a budget, it shall be increased by means of an extraordinary reduction. The deduction of one-half per cent shall no longer take place when the reserve fund reaches three hundred thousand (300,000) francs. It shall be resumed when this maximum is reduced. At the time of the liquidation of the company, the remainder available from the reserve fund shall be distributed among all the companies proportionately to the contributions they have made to it. ARTICLE 41. To encourage efforts on the part of the companies to improve the quality of their pig iron, and to render them favorably disposed toward new methods, it is agreed that if a purchaser insists on a certain mark and consents to pay more for it than for others of the same class, the increase of price shall revert wholly to the producing company on the quantities which shall have there been produced, without the discount for general expenses and the special deduction provided for in article forty (40). If, inversely, the pig iron of a company, by reason of its bad quality, can not be sold except at a lower price than that obtained for other pig of the same numbers and kinds, the abatement in price must be borne by the producing company. Each company is responsible for the weight and quality of the iron shipped by it for the bureau's account. ARTICLE 42. In order to take into account the advantages resulting to the producers of pig iron of the Nancy group from their geographical position, these producers shall receive a premium of four francs a ton on foundry pig iron, three francs sixty-two and a half centimes a ton on Thomas pig iron, and three francs twenty-five centimes a ton on forge pig. In consequence, the average prices of sale which shall constitute the prices of invoice for the Longwy group of companies shall be increased by the difference above stated for all the pig iron which the companies of the Nancy group shall deliver to the bureau. The deliveries made by the Nancy group of companies for the bureau's account are discounted in the averages of sale to prices arising f. o. b. at Villerupt. The deliveries made by works of the Longwy group are likewise discounted in the averages of sale to prices arising f. o. b. at Villerupt. The excess in transport for the shipments of Gorcy remain at the charge of that works. ARTICLE 43. The bureau may rent at each works a plot of ground, where the pig iron invoiced to it shall be placed. It shall be the bureau's property and held constantly at its disposal. The loading of this pig on trains and on boats shall be done by the producer and at his expense. The bureau may always cause to be verified the quantities and the quality of the pig reserved on its plot, but this verification shall not diminish the responsibility incumbent upon producers by virtue of article forty-one (41). ARTICLE 44. When there shall be occasion to bring an action against a purchaser of the bureau, which shall be decided in meeting, or to defend on behalf of the bureau, the action in court shall be carried on by the director in the name of the bureau. In all contests based on a circumstance ascribable to one of the associated companies, especially over the quality or the nature of the pig, the bureau shall require as a guaranty, except by a contrary decision of the council, at least that this company will accept the consequences of the trial without being obliged to become a party thereto. ARTICLE 45. During the duration of the present agreement, the companies expressly forbid themselves to make any sales, direct or indirect, of pig iron produced in Meurthe-etMoselle and in the Meuse, except sales abroad. They likewise forbid all speculations, direct or indirect, in minette pig or other of similar quality. ARTICLE 46. In case new members come to form part of the company, the contracts concluded by them before their entry into the company and by the bureau shall be mutually handed over for the account of each. An equivalent in weight of the stock of the bureau and of the new members, on the day of the entry of the latter, shall be reserved and employed in carrying out the delivery of these sales to their extent; in case this stock is insufficient, the amount lacking shall be deducted from the current production at times of future deliveries. The quantities thus deducted shall be charged to the quantum of production assigned to each works, and the latter must reduce to that extent their deliveries to the bureau. TITLE VIII.—Inventories, appointments. ARTICLE 47. An inventory of the assets and liabilities of the company shall be made on the thirtieth of June and the thirty-first of December of each year. The stock shall be valued at an average sale price of the quantities remaining to be delivered on the contracts for each sort of pig iron, a liberally estimated deduction being made for the expenses of realizing on the same. Contracts at variable prices, known as the sliding scale, are not to be included in the averages, except for the quantities to be delivered in the six months following at an approximate price resulting from the market price of coke received during said six months. The profits or losses other than those resulting from bad debts shall be assigned to each company or borne by it proportionately to the value, bounties and premiums included, of all the pig iron which it shall have invoiced to the bureau during the period of the budget, with the exception of the special pig iron mentioned in articles twenty-four (24) and thirty-four (34). TITLE IX.-Contests, modifications, general dispositions. ARTICLE 48. Each of the associated companies or its attorney shall always have the right of access to the correspondence and all the books in the offices of the bureau, but without the power of authorizing a stranger to interfere in the affairs of the company. ARTICLE 49. Every contest between the associated companies on the subject of the execution of the present agreements shall be submitted to arbitration. One arbiter shall be named by the council of administration by a relative majority, excluding the votes of the dissenting company; a second arbiter by the dissenting company, and a third by the president of the chamber of commerce of Nancy. These three arbiters shall judge, without appeal, as compounders. The decision of the arbiters shall be made within a month. If not so made, their appointment shall be annulled and new arbiters appointed in the same manner. The parties to this agreement expressly forbid resort to the courts and the moving of an appeal from the arbitrated decisions. By an express condition they renounce henceforth the right to avail themselves of any provision of law contrary to the obligations which they accept by the present agreement. ARTICLE 50. In the manner provided for in article twelve (12) such modifications whereof experience shall have shown the need can be made in the present agreement, provided they do not conflict with the rights recognized by the statutes as belonging to each company. Resolutions establishing these modifications must, in order to be valid, be voted by a majority of five-sevenths of the votes. |