The breweries in general, this table shows, had decreased during this period 38 per cent., the industrially operated ones 31.1 per cent.; the output, however, had increased 68.8 per cent. The giant concerns increased at the expense of the middle and small ones. The identical development is going on in all countries of civilization, in all industries capitalistically operated. Let us now take up the brandy distilleries. In all the eight provinces of Prussia, there were in operation:—[165]
| Consumed in Distillery, | |||
| Year. | Distilleries. | Brandy (Double Quintal). | |
| 1831 | 13,806 | 1,736,458 | 5,418,217 |
| 1886-87 | 5,814 | 2,518,478 | 24,310,196 |
| ————— | ————————— | —————————— | |
| 7,992 | 782,020 | 18,891,979 | |
| Decrease = 38 per cent. | Decrease = 31.1 per cent. | Increase = 68 per cent. | |
Similar results are revealed in the coal and the mineral mining industries of the German Empire. In the former, the number of leading concerns—623 in number between the years 1871-1875—dropped to 406 in 1889, but the output increased simultaneously from 34,485,400 tons to 67,342,200 tons, and the average number of employees rose from 172,074 to 239,954. In the latter, the average number of leading establishments between 1871-1875, was 3,034, with an average force of 277,878 hands, that turned out 51,056,900 tons; in 1889, the number of leading establishments had dropped to 1,962, while the average force had risen to 368,896 hands, and the output to 99,414,100 tons.[166] We see that in the coal mine industry the number of concerns decreased during that period 35 per cent., while the number of employees rose 40 per cent., and production as much as 95.2 per cent. Similarly in the mineral mining industry. Here the number of establishments decreased 35.3 per cent., while the number of workingmen employed rose 33 per cent., and production 94.7 per cent. A smaller but much richer number of employers now confronted a greatly swollen number of proletarians. Nor does this technical revolution proceed in industry alone: it is also going on in the department of transportation and communication. German commerce had upon the seas:—
Year. | Sailing Vessels. | Tonnage. | Crews. |
| 1871 | 4,372 | 900,361 | 34,739 |
| 1893 | 2,742 | 725,182 | 17,522 |
| ————— | ——————— | —————— | |
| 1,630 | 175,179 | 17,217 | |
| Decrease. | Decrease. | Decrease. |
Sail navigation, we see, declines perceptibly, but in so far as it continues to exist, the tonnage of vessels increases, and the force of the crews decreases. In 1871, there came to every one sailing vessel 205.9 tons and 7.9 crew; in 1893, however, the average tonnage per sailing vessel was 271.7 and only a crew 6.4 strong. A different picture is offered by the German ocean steamship navigation. Germany had:—
| Year. | Steamers. | Tonnage. | Crews. |
| 1871 | 147 | 81,994 | 4,736 |
| 1893 | 986 | 786,397 | 24,113 |
| ——— | ——————— | —————— | |
| Increase | 839 | 704,403 | 19,377 |
We see that, not only did the number of steamers rise considerably, but that their tonnage increased still more; on the other hand, the force of the crews had relatively decreased. In 1871, steamers had on an average a 558 tonnage, with a 32.1 crew; in 1893 they had a 797.5 tonnage and only a 24.5 crew. It is an economic law that the number of workingmen decreases everywhere with the concentration of industry, while, relatively to the whole population, wealth concentrates in ever fewer hands, and the number of employers, rendered unable to hold their own and driven into bankruptcy by the process of concentration, mounts ever higher.
In the eight old provinces of Prussia, the population increased 42 per cent. during 1853-1890. But the incomes in the several grades rose in the following rates:—[167]