05 it had increased to
$1,339,500,000. In the same five years the number of wage-workers
increased only from 618,000 to 749,000. Thus, in the group of larger
industries and the group of smaller ones we find the same evidences of
concentration: less establishments, larger capitals, and an increase of
wage-workers not equal to the increase in capitalization.[102]

In connection with these figures, the following table may be profitably
studied, as showing the relative insignificance of the small producer in
the total volume of manufacture. It will be seen that the two largest
classes of establishments have only 24,163 establishments, 11.2 per cent
of the total number. But they have $10,333,000,000, or 81.5 per cent of
the total manufacturing capital, and employ 71.6 per cent of all
wage-workers in manufacturing industries. It may be added that they turn
out 79.3 per cent of the total product. Of the petty industries proper,
those having a capital of less than $5000, it will be observed that they
number 32.9 per cent of the total number of establishments, but employ
only 1.3 per cent of the capital invested, and only 1.9 per cent of the
wage-workers. It is clear, therefore, that our manufacturing industry in
very highly concentrated, and that the petty industries are, despite
their number, a very insignificant factor.

TABLE OF MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS, 1905[103]

CAPITALS NUMBER PER TOTAL CAPITAL PER NO. OF PER
CENT CENT WAGE-WORKERS CENT

Less than
$5,000 71,162 32.9 $165,300,000 1.3 106,300 1.9

$5,000 to
$20,000 72,806 33.7 531,100,000 4.2 419,600 7.7

$20,000 to
$100,000 48,144 22.2 1,655,800,000 13.0 1,027,700 18.8

$100,000 to
$1,000,000 22,281 10.0 5,551,700,000 43.8 2,537,550 46.4

Over
$1,000,000 1,882 0.9 4,782,300,000 37.7 1,379,150 25.2

When we turn to agriculture, the criticisms of the Socialist theory
appear more substantial and important. A few years ago we witnessed the
rise and rapid growth of the great bonanza farms in this country. It was
shown that the advantages of large capital and the consolidation of
productive forces resulted, in farming as in manufacture, in greatly
cheapened production.[104] The end of the small farm was declared to be
imminent, and it seemed for a while that concentration in agriculture
wo