The following list shows the amount of horse-power used in Prussia:
| Stationary steam engines | Movable boilers and traction engines | |
|---|---|---|
| 1879 | 888,000 | 47,000 |
| 1896 | 2,534,900 | 159,400 |
| 1900 | 3,461,700 | 229,600 |
| 1905 | 4,684,900 | 315,200 |
| 1906 | 4,995,700 | 334,400 |
| 1907 | 5,190,400 | 363,200 |
So the amount of horse-power employed in Prussia in 1907 is six times greater than in 1879. How tremendously industry has developed since the census of 1895 can be seen by the fact that the number of stationary engines in Prussia has increased by 35 per cent. from 1896 to 1907. The productiveness of the machines has increased by 105 per cent. during this period. While, in 1898, 3,305 steam engines of 258,726 horse-power served to run dynamos, there are 6,191 of 954,945 horse-power in 1907. That is an increase of 87 and 269 per cent.[196] The following figures show the increased application of steam-power in the most important industries (expressed in horsepower):
| Industry | 1879 | 1897 | 1907 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining and foundries | 516,000 | 1,430,000 | 2,284,000 |
| Masonry and bricks | 29,000 | 132,000 | 255,000 |
| Metallurgy | 23,000 | 57,000 | 113,000 |
| Machines | 22,000 | 61,000 | 329,000 |
| Textile | 88,000 | 243,000 | 323,000[197] |
Notwithstanding this fabulous development of the productive powers and the immense concentration of capital, attempts are still being made to deny these truths. Such an attempt was made at the eleventh session of the International Institute of Statistics in Copenhagen in August, 1907, by the French economist, Ives Guyot. On the basis of careless statistics, he moved to abolish the word “concentration” from statistics. Among others, Carl Buecher answered him as follows: “An absolute increase in the number of manufactories may easily coincide with a concentration of same. Wherever the census enumerates individual establishments, it is unavoidable that many should be counted twice. A bank with 100 trust-funds is counted as 101; a brewery that has opened and fitted out 50 saloons, is counted as 51 establishments. The results of such statistics prove nothing in regard to the phenomenon in question. Investigation so far shows that agriculture alone does not seem to be subjected to the process of concentration. It is evident in mining, commerce, transportation, building trades and insurance. In industry it is difficult to recognize, because every civilized nation in a healthy state of development must present an extension of industrial production, for the following four reasons: 1. Because occupations that were formerly domestic in character have been taken over by industry. 2. Because natural products have been replaced by industrial products (wood by iron; woad, madder and indigo by tar-colors, etc.). 3. Because of new inventions (automobiles). 4. Because of the possibility of exportation. For these reasons concentration on a large scale takes place in industry without any diminution in the number of establishments, even with an increase in same. Wherever industry creates commodities ready for use of a typical character, the destruction of the independent small concerns is inevitable. The capitalistic forms of production are accordingly rapidly developing in the most important lines of industry. It is not wise to oppose the Socialists where they are right, and they are undoubtedly right in their assertions in regard to increasing concentration.”[198]
The same aspect presented by the economic development of Germany is presented by all the industrial states of the world. All the civilized states endeavour to become industrial states more and more. They not only seek to manufacture articles of industry to supply their own demand, but also to export them. Therefore we not only speak of a national market, but also of the world market. The world market regulates the prices of countless articles of industry and agriculture and controls the social status of the nations. That industrial realm which has attained the greatest importance in regard to the relations of the world market, is the North American Union. Here the main impetus is given whereby the world market and bourgeois society are revolutionized. The census of the last three decades showed the following figures:
| 1880 | 2,790,000,000 | dollars |
| 1890 | 6,525,000,000 | “ |
| 1900 | 9,813,000,000 | “ |
| 1880 | 5,369,000,000 | dollars |
| 1890 | 9,372,000,000 | “ |
| 1900 | 13,000,000,000 | “ |
The United States, accordingly, is the leading industrial country of the world. Its exportation of products of industry and agriculture increase with each year, and the tremendous accumulations of capital that are a natural result of this development seek investment beyond the boundaries of the country, and influence the industry and trade of Europe to a marked degree. It is no longer the individual capitalist who is the motive power underlying this development. It is the group of captains of industry, the trust, that is bound to crush the most powerful individual enterprise, wherever it chooses to turn its activities. What can the small man amount to in the face of such development, to which even the great must yield?