The years between 1890 and 1900 saw the rapid formation of trusts and combinations, and of larger industries. Consolidation took place on a great scale in railroads and in manufactures. Much of this has been of such a kind that it does not appear at all in the figures showing the number of establishments and of employees. Many discrepancies appear in the data regarding this movement given by different authorities, as there is no generally accepted rule by which to determine the selection of the companies to be included in the lists, and as the conditions are changing from day to day. A competent financial authority[1] gives the following figures regarding the "industrial" trusts (manufacturing and commercial) and gas trusts, organized in the United States between 1860 and 1899, not including combinations in such businesses as banking, shipping, railroad transportation, etc. The figures refer to the reorganization and consolidation of industries into larger units, some of which have much and others little or no monopoly power. Decade Number Organized Total Nominal Capital 1860-69 2 $13,000,000 1870-79 4 135,000,000 1880-89 18 288,000,000 1890-99 157 3,150,000,000 --------------- --- ------------- Total, 40 years 181 $3,586,000,000 The number organized and the capital represented by this movement in the last of these decades are eight times as great as in the thirty years preceding. In the last ten years can be traced the influence of general industrial conditions. Year Number Organized Total Nominal Capital 1890 6 $82,000,000 1891 13 168,000,000 1892 13 140,000,000 1893 5 226,000,000 1894 2 35,000,000 1895 7 104,000,000 1896 3 40,000,000 1897 6 93,000,000 1898 22 574,000,000 1899 80 1,688,000,000 --------------- --- ------------- Total, 10 years 157 $3,150,000,000 [Footnote 1: Compiled from data given by "The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin," reprinted in "The Commercial Year Book," Vol. V, 1900, pp. 564-569.]