In 1902 Mr. Gordon agreed to supply the four large German manufacturers and the Austrian manufacturers with monazite at a price of $150 a ton and a profit on the manufactured nitrates. A close combination thus formed, known as the German Thorium Convention, prevented other thorium manufacturers from acquiring any of the mineral mined by Mr. Gordon, and raised the price of thorium nitrate 100 per cent. For a considerable period Mr. Gordon exported the sand from the coast lands of Bahia, near Prado, Brazil, without interference. Finally the Brazilian government became acquainted with the value of the resources and decided that no private individual or state government had the right to mine, sell, lease, or remove any monazite on so-called state lands without the consent of the federal authorities. In 1908 the government advertised that coast lands in the State of Espirito Santo would be leased to the highest bidder for the exploitation of the sands. A contract was thus obtained for the firm of A. C. de Freitas & Co., of Hamburg, Germany. By the contract the firm agreed to pay to the Brazilian government a rental equal to 50 per cent. of the selling price of the monazite sands and to export at least 1,200 tons annually. To avoid trouble the German Thorium Convention arranged later that half of its supply should be furnished by Mr. Gordon and half by the de Freitas company. A new convention was formed by the four German chemical manufacturers with Mr. Gordon and the de Freitas company, preventing firms in other countries that had started to manufacture thorium nitrate from getting raw material. Consequently great efforts were made to find and develop new deposits of monazite. The high price for thorium nitrate made possible the mining of monazite in the Carolinas and its export to Germany, especially to one German manufacturer who was not in the German Thorium Convention. Ultimately there was an overproduction of thorium and in 1906 the price dropped 50 per cent. Monazite mining declined in all localities where the cost of mining was high, and production in the Carolinas and the interior of Brazil practically stopped. During the four or five years antedating the war the German Incandescent Gas Light Co., of Berlin, succeeded in controlling the largest manufacturers of thorium nitrate in Europe, except those in France. It controlled both the English and Australian companies and became the active competitor of the so-called Thorium Convention, which at that time had lost much of its power. Mr. Gordon still has extensive interests in Brazil, but he does not have a monoply. The exportation rights from Brazil are in the hands of Luis de Rezende & Co. (Rio de Janiero), Mr. Gordon, and others. Luis de Rezende & Co. is mainly a French concern, but has Brazilian and Portuguese stockholders. The company controls the French company, Société Minière, associated with the Welsbach Co.