What is a combination of companies or industries established to reduce competition and increase profits

he inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, knew he could invent a better lighting system, one that could be used anywhere. At the age of 31, he was already known as the "Wizard of Menlo Park." Among his many inventions were the phonograph and a highly efficient automated telegraph system. Now Edison vowed to invent a practical incandescent lamp—what we would call a light bulb. The main problem was finding a filament—a thin fiber or wire—that would heat to a bright glow when electric current passed through it, but would not melt. Edison tried thousands of materials, from platinum to twine to human hair. Finally, around 1879, he tried bamboo fibers that he had pulled from a Japanese fan. After carbonization—the process of converting a fiber to pure carbon—the bamboo filament burned and burned without melting. Edison finally had his light bulb.

Explanation:

supplies had to travel a long distance across water on ships that were often attacked, so they did not reach europe