Another point to be considered is that the number of independent persons in the three occupations does not coincide with the number of establishments. If a firm, for instance, has dozens of branch establishments, as is frequently the case in the tobacco trade, or if a concern runs a number of stores, each branch is enumerated as an individual establishment. The same is true of industrial enterprises, when, for instance, a machine factory also runs an iron foundry, a carpenter shop, etc. The figures then do not convey sufficient information regarding the concentration of capital on the one hand and the standard of living on the other. And yet, in spite of all these deficiencies, the results of the latest census of June 12, 1907, present a picture of the most powerful concentration of capital in industry, commerce and traffic. They show that, hand in hand with the industrialization of our entire economic system, a concentration of all the means of production into a few hands is rapidly progressing.
The independent small manufacturers and traders working alone, of whom there still were 1,877,872 in 1882, have become fewer again since 1895. In 1895, 1,714,351 were enumerated, and in 1907 only 1,446,286; a decrease of 431,586 = 22.9 per cent. The number of small producers and dealers has rapidly decreased from census to census. In 1882 it was 59.1 per cent.; 1895, 46.5, and, 1907, only 37.3 per cent. of all persons gainfully employed. At the same time the number of large manufacturing and commercial enterprises has grown from 22.0 to 29.6, and (1907) to 37.3 per cent. From 1895 to 1907 the number of persons employed by small concerns increased by 12.2 per cent.; the number of those employed by concerns of medium size, by 48.5 per cent., and the number of those employed by large concerns, by 75.7 per cent. Among 5,350,025 persons industrially employed in 1907, the by far largest group is employed by large concerns, while, in 1882, a greater number of persons were small, individual producers. In the seven following branches of industry the large concerns predominate, employing more than half of all persons engaged in these industries. Of each 100 persons the following percentage were employed by large concerns:
| Mining | 96.6 | per cent. |
| Machine manufacture | 70.4 | “ |
| Chemical trades | 69.8 | “ |
| Textile trades | 67.5 | “ |
| Paper trades | 58.4 | “ |
| Industry of pottery and earthenware | 52.5 | “ |
| Industry of soaps, fats and oils | 52.3 | “ |
In the other groups industry on a large scale already predominated in 1895, and everywhere its predominance has been still further increased. (In the malleation of metals, 47.0; in the polygraphic trades, 43.8; in traffic, 41.6, and in the building trades, 40.5 per cent. of all persons were employed by large concerns.) We see, then, that in almost every branch development has favored industry on a large scale.
The concentration of manufacture and the concentration of capital, which are one and the same thing, take place particularly rapidly wherever capitalistic production obtains full control. Let us, for instance, consider the brewing industry. In the German brewery-tax district, excluding Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden and Alsace-Lorraine, there were:
| Number of breweries. | [Commercial] | Producing 1000 hectolitres of beer. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1873 | 13,561 | 10,927 | 19,655 |
| 1880 | 11,564 | 10,374 | 21,136 |
| 1890 | 8,969 | 8,054 | 32,279 |
| 1900 | 6,903 | 6,283 | 44,734 |
| 1905 | 5,995 | 5,602 | 46,264 |
| 1906 | 5,785 | 5,423 | 45,867 |
| 1907 | 5,528 | 5,251 | 46,355 |
So the number of breweries decreased, from 1873 to 1907, by 8033 = 59.3 per cent.; that of breweries decreased by 5676 = 51.9 per cent., but the production of beer increased by 26,700,000 hectolitres = 135.7 per cent. This signifies a downfall of the small concerns and a tremendous growth of the large concerns, whose productivity has been multiplied. In 1873, 1450 hectolitres and in 1907 8385 hectolitres were produced by each brewery. It is the same wherever capitalism rules.
Similar results are shown by the German coal-mining industry and other mining industries of the German Empire. In coal mining the number of concerns that amounted to an average of 623, from 1871 to 1875, dwindled down to 406, in 1889. But at the same time the production of coal rose from 34,485,400 tons to 67,342,200 tons, and the average number of persons employed increased from 127,074 to 239,954. The following table illustrates this process of concentration in the mining of mineral coal and brown coal, until 1907:
| Year | Mineral Coal | Brown Coal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Concerns | Average No. Employed | Quantity 1000 tons | Number of Concerns | Average No. Employed | Quantity 1000 tons | |
| 1900 | 338 | 413,693 | 109,290.2 | 569 | 50,911 | 40,498.0 |
| 1905 | 331 | 493,308 | 121,298.6 | 533 | 54,969 | 52,512.1 |
| 1906 | 322 | 511,108 | 137,117.9 | 536 | 58,637 | 56,419.6 |
| 1907 | 313 | 545,330 | 143,185.7 | 535 | 66,462 | 62,546.7 |
We see, then, that, in the production of mineral coal since the seventies, the number of concerns has decreased by 49.8 per cent., while the number of wage-workers employed has increased by 216.9 per cent., and the output even by 420.6 per cent. The following table shows the development in the entire mining industry: