8. This agreement to be in force for one and one-half years, from 1st March, 1908, and to continue thereafter until terminated by six-months' notice to be given by either party. That is to say, the agreement will be operative for a minimum period of two years.
9. The details of this provisional agreement to be ar ranged between the representatives of the two companies in New York subject to the confirmation of the head offices in Hamburg and London.
10. This agreement is subject to a further agreement in regard to passage rates between New York and the West Indies, being concluded between the respective companies within three months from the date of this agreement.
This document illustrates nearly every form of agreement which carriers may make.
8. Divisions of 5 and 6 of the preceding pooling agreement give an example of an agreement to divide the territory to be served. This kind of agreement is not very common. The N.D. L. V. Agreement (Nord–Atlantischer Dampfer Lin ien Verband, or North Atlantic Steamship Lines As sociation) consisting of the Hamburg–American Line, the Holland–America Line, Red Star Line and the North–German Lloyd, assigned European ports to members of the pool. The Holland America Line was limited to the ports of Hol land and the French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer; the Hamburg-American Line served the ports of Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Stettin and the French port Havre; the North-German Lloyd had Bremen ; the Red Star Line took care of the Belgian ports and the Dutch ports Flushing and Tereuzen.
9. Alternate sailings.—Articles 4 and 7 of the pool ing agreement provided for alternate sailings by the contracting companies. Cooperation of this sort be tween lines serving the same territory is common. As a matter of fact, many lines had their origin in the agreement between owners of one or two vessels each to maintain such alternate sailings.
In the agreements between the lines in the Ameri can-Brazilian trade the sailings of each line are care fully regulated. The Prince Line, and the Lamport and Holt Line are allowed 24 sailings each from New York, and the same number was formerly allotted to the joint service maintained by the Hamburg American and North-German Lloyd lines.
10. Dividing the freiglit.—Article 2 of the pooling
agreement provided for the arranging of "carriage in the agreed proportion." This is another method em ployed to establish cooperation between lines serving the same ports. Other cases of this kind are found in the agreements which were entered into by some of the German lines serving South American ports and by a number of companies operating between Northern European and Mediterranean ports.
11. Pooling earnings.—Article 2 also illustrates a pooling of earnings. Of this method other examples may be found in the Baltic Pool, an agreement for merly existing between the Hamburg-American Line, North-German Lloyd, Wilson Line and the Scandi navian-American Line, and a number of companies serving the New York-West African trade.
12. Fixed rates.—Article 3 of the agreement quoted provided for a "joint freight tariff." This is the most common point of agreement between lines. Frequently the rates are not actually determined, but a minimum rate is established, depending upon the type of the vessel and the character of the service rendered. As a rule these minimum rates are the rates actually charged. When freight rates advance rapidly, the actual rate may far exceed the minimum.
The pre-war agreement between the Hamburg American and the Royal Mail Steam Packet Com pany illustrates, therefore, the following types of agreements : (a) territorial division; (b) alternate sailings ; (c) pooling of freight; (d) pooling of earn ings; (e) rate fixing.
One important aspect of such agreements is usually the provision made for a defense against outside com petition. This may take the form of establishing a fighting fund, of maintaining fighting ships, and of a system of deferred rebates to shippers. The most ruthless of these methods of defense is the use of fighting ships. The agreement given as an illustra tion is mild in its provisions for waif are.
13. Defense against competition.—Article 5 re ferred to a "case of war with the Koninklijke, West Indische Maildienst." The provision made for such a declaration of war calls for "the privilege of calling at Haitian ports served by the Dutch line." This is a very mild form of a defensive agreement.