Assuming that large concerns usually do pursue a common external “political” policy, the author examines the opportunities and eventual failure of such a policy in the first phase of the Hitler regime. His distinction between an independent and dependent “political” policy by business under a dictatorship may also be relevant for less developed countries with dictatorial governments.

Through an analysis of the formation of the International Harvester Company in 1902, Professor Kramer presents a suggestive case-study in businessmen's motivations toward merger.

In this second special issue devoted to government-business relations, the focus is exclusively on the United States' experience, just as the Spring, 1964 issue concentrated solely on experience abroad. This approach is in keeping with the Editors' view that business history is international in scope, that there are virtues in comparative approaches to the subject, and that public authority has formed and will continue to form significant parameters for private business decision-making.

Some two years ago, the Editors of the Business History Review adopted a policy of preparing one special issue per year devoted to a significant topic or area in business history. The first such issue, covering fashion, appeared last year and met an enthusiastic reception. The present issue represents our second major effort to highlight problems and approaches to important areas of business history. In this instance the subject is government-business relations.

Professor Simonson casts the recent history of the American airframe industry against the Schumpeterian concept of “creative destruction” in this study of business response to technological change.

Professor Aitken reveals a distinctive pattern of government-business relationships against the background of Canada's defensive economic development and its government's active role in the maintenance of national economic unity.

The abilities of Western grain merchants to adapt their business practices to changing market conditions are revealed in this analysis of mid-nineteenth century developments.

One of the aims of the States has continually been to provide a favorable legal framework for the work of responsible entrepreneurs and corporations issuing stock and to protect them both against illegitimate competition. This paper illustrates this relationship of government and business through a general survey of State administrative practices in executing corporate securities legislation and a closer study of the single State of California.

The profitability and the mechanisms of the old Cuban sugar trade are illustrated through Professor Ely's study of the leading businessmen involved.

The concepts of actual and potential competition as natural checks on trusts are examined through the literature which accompanied the framing and passage of the Chyton and Federal Trade Commission acts. The contributions of professional economists to these discussions are especially significant in the evolution of the public policies ultimately adopted.

The present policies and problems of government-business relations in India are examined by Professor Varshney against the background of his nation's historical experience.

As a challenge for further research and analysis, Professor Kirchner suggests some of the cultural differences encountered by Western businessmen in Russia which significantly shaped their conduct of trade.

The rise and fall of discriminatory legislation against traveling salesmen is fully documented in this study of a negative vein of American business history.

The important role of American business interests and technical assistants in Kemalist Turkey's drive for economic modernization forms the basis for an excellent illustration of the interaction of governments and businessmen in developing countries.

Rejecting the traditional explanation that the introduction of features and an increase in scandalmongering account for the growth of American newspapers following the Civil War, Professor Smith advances an interesting correlation between the introduction of wood-pulp paper and the lowered prices and increased circulation of the press.

The process of mutual accommodation between government and business in the United States is well illustrated in this study of the strategy and tactics of a key twentieth-century business association.

It has been widely held that the traveling salesman was a product of the railroad era. In the following paper, Professor Taylor shows that, at least in France, the commis voyageur played a role as early as the second half of the eighteenth century. These findings, important as they are for the history of marketing, pose new questions: Was France ahead of other countries in developing this form of sales organization? If France really led, did the other countries follow suit under French influence? Is it perhaps telling, for instance, that in Germany until late in the nineteenth century the Reisende was still called by its French name?

The pragmatism and experimentation permitted policy-makers by the American antitrust statutes is well illustrated in this analysis of federal attitudes toward business concentrations in the late 1930's.

Through a careful analysis of public policy and opinion, Professor Marburg considers the nature, allowable range, and economic effects of those business associations designated “cartels” in German usage. Marked contrasts with American theory and practice in similar fields emerge.

To facilitate fruitful conceptualization and research in business history among scholars throughout the world, the Review presents the second in a series of reports by our International Correspondents. These reports will supplement the American activities regularly recorded in our pages. It is our hope that comparative studies of common problems and the exchange of data and ideas will thus be encouraged.