Saturday, April 5, 1919 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE Imperialism. the Final Stage of Capitalism seems ways point at private upon growing paper of a (Continuation)
By Lenin banks of Berlin. the names of the four leading other words, the Capitalism of yesterday with its Translated from the Russian by Andre Tridon Janks begin with D) sent to the board of directors of unrestrained competition and its necessary regulthe North Western Middle German Cement Syndicator, the stock exchange, is a thing of the past. In all natural and supernatural means.
ate the following letter: division its stead, there appears the new Capitalism, which of labor effects itself among a few hundred financial of the 18th of last month we see that at a general meet From announcements you published in the papers still preserves some characteristics of the old, a sort kings of the modern capitalist world: of medley of competition and monopoly. The question ing of your syndicate to be held on the 30th instant, arises. what does this new Capitalism lead to? And dustrial magnates that is their appointment to the your enterprise changes which are not acceptable to Owing to the growing influence of the various in resolutions will be adopted, likely to introduce into this question is disturbing the bourgeois professors of political economy.
directorship of banks, etc) and to the fact that one Thirty years ago, businessmen, competing freely boards of directors of provincial banks, a certain speexclusive industrial group is allowed to direct the to refuse you any further credit. If, however, the with one another performed 10 of the economic labor resolutions to which we object are not introduced at which does not belong to the category of physical labor.
cialization develops in the operations of large banks. that general meeting, and absolute guarantees are It is principally in the banking business that this ations between banks and industrial concerns.
At present clerks perform of that mental labor. That specialization is necessary considering the enormous size of banking operations and especially the rel with you the opening of a new credit. 40)
clange is noticeable. 34)
The Such are the woes of small capital onpressed by division of labor is effected in two ways: on one hand large capital, although, by the way. a whole syndicate Among the few banks which the process of concentration has placed at the head of the capitalist world, ly in the hands of one of the directors, and, on the capital. The old struggle between small and large the relations with industrial concerns are placed entire in this instance to have taken rank with small there is a stronger and stronger tendency toward mon other, every one of the directors takes it upon himself capital is resumed anew, but how the implements of opolistic combination, toward the formation of a bank to watch various concerns or groups of concerns, which warfare have been nerfected! Technical prowess can ing trust. In the United States two large banks, be are related among themselves by reason of their sne be fostered by billionaire groups of lasero banks in longing to the billionaires, Rockefeller and Morgan, cial line or special interests (Capitalism has reached way which were once unheard of. Banks supoort, control a capital of almost 3, 000, 000, 000. In Germany the which spies the absorption of the Schaffhausen Union Bank by the for instance, laboratories for technical research whose concerns. One of them in German discoveries are only placed at the disposal of friend. ment on the part of a financial review, the Frankfurter (Western Germany is the most industrialized part of lv enterprises. Such are the Society for Study of Gazette: Disconto Gesellschaft called for the following com industry another only WZNIS business Flectric Railroads or the Central Bureau for Scienthe country) Others may be in charge of the relations tific and Technical Research, and other similar organ The gradual concentration of the banking business with the various governments of the foreign trade, izations.
decreased the number of establishments to which a of the information relative to individual businessinen, businessman may turn to obtain credit, and makes stock exchange deals, etc. Besides, every one of the The heads of the leading banks themselves cannot lelo seeing that new conditions are prevailing in nalarge business more and more dependent upon a small directors may be assigned to one locality or one special tional economy, but they are helpless.
number of powerful banks. The close relations which branch of industry: one may attend especially the Whoever has observed in the past few years. Jeiunite industry and the financial world put restraints meetings of boards of directors of electrical concerns, industrial dels writes, the changes in the personnel of the boards upon the freedom of action of the various of directors of the leading banks. cannot fail to notice concerns which are in need of a hanks capistifica at the same time. sit on the directing board of insurFor another may have to supervise isolated concerns. and this reason industry looks upon the that the financial power is gradually passing into hands tion of banks with inixed feelings, furthermore we ance companies. etc. In other words, the larger of men who consider that the essential duty of the have on several occasions observed the opening the general develop negotiations between separate groups of banks with the operation are in which they engage, and the more the business of the big banks becomes the more varied bauks is to participate actively in inent of industry; this new type of directors and the a view to the elinination of competition. 36) complete must be the division of labor among their sider men disagree more and more for commercial reasons and sometimes for personal reasons. In fact, As said before the evolution of the banking bus directors. The result is that it raises those men, so clo not the banks suffer, as institutions of credit, from ci se relations existing between industry and the banks develops their judgment, it gives them a to broader that immersion in the industrial process of vroduction Are they not compelled to sacrifice solid princinles and Upis not quite so strikingly evident in that field. Problems affecting the various branches of industry thing to do with a bank function, which is to extend Bre incerned, the new role played by the banks is knowledge of industrial problems and of the special real advantages to a form of activity which has noIf. lank discounts the a certain concern and prepares them for efficient activity within the credit. an activity which leads the banks upon a ground its acco and so of industrial action of the bank. This system various operations is supplemented by the practice of placing on the where they are more affected by industrial Auctuations tered separately, do not affect in the slightest way that they ever were?
lependence of that concern, and the bank itself board of directors men well acruainted with industry, not play more than an intermediary part. But heads of enterprises, former officials, especially those Thus speak many old bankers, but the majority of ose operations become more and more frequent that have been active in railroad or mine manage younger men consider an active participation in inaud iniportant, if the bank gathers in enormous sums, ment. 38)
dustrial deals as an unavoidable development, due to if tlic carrying the same causes which have brought into being the the account enables the bank to col We observe the same methods, although in a slightly large industrial organizations of today, the lat ze banktot cure and more detailed information concerning different form, in French financial establishments. One he onomic condition of its customers, business of the three leading banks, the Credit Lvonnais, has financial becomes more and more dependent upon that bank. organized a special department for financial study is that the new form of activity displayed by the leadprises. The only thing upon which both sides agree Besides. certain banks contract alliances with cer which employs constantly some 50 engineers, statisttain large industrial and commercial concerns partic icians, economists, jurists, etc. every one of them ing banks is not based upon any strong principles and ipate in their operations, by holding some of their drawing good salary. That department is divided 110 concrete aims. 41)
stock, by the fact that some directors of the bank may The new up into eight sections, one of which collects data relThe Capitalism of yesterday is dead.
hecome members of the board of directors of certain Capitalism seems to be in a transitional stage. To ative to commercial enterprises, another gathers statindustrial concerns and vice versa. The German econ istics, another studies railroad and steamshin comp. reconcile monopoly and unrestricted competitions. is seek strong principles and concrete aims that will omist, Jeidels, has collected detailed information anies, another stocks and bonds, another financial ac forlorn hope this aspect of capital and business concentration.
Six counts, etc. 39)
large Berlin banks were represented by their directors The real facts of the case sound quite different on the boards of 344 industrial concerns, and Thus finance and industry come into closer contact, by from the official odes to organized capital sung by bers of their various committees on the boards or, as Bucharin puts it, become grafted onto each its apologists, Schultze Gaevernits, Liefmann and 107 more concerns, or 51 in all. In 280 companies. selves into institutions of universal character. am other, and on the other hand banks transform them other theoreticians.
they were represented by two men on the board of When did the leading banks begin to engarve in their control, some times by the chairman of that board.
using here the very words used by Teidels, who has new activities? Jeidels gives us a very definite Among those various concerns we find all possible studied the question more closely than any one erse.
branches of business activity: insurance companies, When we examine the multiple connections exist It was some time in the nineties that alliances bettransportation concerns, restaurants, theatres, art ing in the industrial world, we realize the universal ween industrial concerns, with their new component stores, etc.
character of financial institutions interested in finan parts, their new forms, their new orgaus, the large On the other hand, we found on the administrative cial enterprises. In spite of all that has been said to breaks. com banks organized for both centralized and decentralboard of those banks in 1910, fifty one industrial magaction, became characteristic of national econcertain ground, should specialize in one line of busomy: in nates, among them a director of the Krupp firm, a Sense, we might consider the vear Annas director of the large steamship company, the Hamburg. iness or one branch of industry, the leading banks are the beginning of that era, for in that year many large American Line. etc. From 1895 to 1910 every one of endeavoring to connect themselves with the most diventerprises combined and assumed a new form of these six farge banks took part in the emission of the ersified industrial concerns, producing the most differ riadenolicy of the banks.
We might say that the new decentralized organization owing to the new induststock and bonds of many industrial concerns, 281 in 1895, 419 in 1910. 37)
try to to do away with the uneven distribution of capita period began somewhat later, for it was the crisis of Private alliances between banks and industrial conamong the various localities or the various branches of industry, which we notice in the history of every centration both in industry and in finance, male it an groups and the government.
cerns are supplemented by alliances between those particular enterprise. One tendency is to establish stahl shed fact, transformed the relations lietween Directors positions. Jeidels writes, are willingly is to make those connections durable and intensive of the large banks, and maile those relations infinitely connections with industry generally. another tendency industry and the banks into a nwnopoly on the part offered to people with big names, and to former govthose two ainis lave been realized if 110t fully, at least closer. 42)
erument officials who may faciliate considerably. Thus the dawn of the 20th century appears to have all relations with the authorities. We usually find in a large measure, by six leading banks.
on the board of directors of a large bank members of marked the passing of the old Canitalism and the We hear frequently, in commercial and industrial coming of the new, the passing of the domination of the Reichstag or members of the Berlin municipal circles, remarks about the terrorism of the banks. capital proper and the beginning of the domination nouncil.
No wonder that such complaints are made when we if finance capital.
In the management and exploitation of the large know how far the domination of the leading bank: apitalistic monopolies resort is made, of course, to extends. On November 19, 1901, one of the so called ile he continued.
on, those sphere memanswer: