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 Producing 1000 breweries. [Commercial] 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