ialism is losing its grip because it is adjusting its
expressions to the changed conditions which the progress of fifty years
has brought about, utterly mistake the character of the movement. In
its abandonment of the errors of Marx it is most truly Marxian--because
it is expressing life instead of repeating dogma.

Doubtless Marx anticipated a much more complete concentration of capital
and industry than has yet taken place; doubtless, too, he underrated the
powers of endurance of some petty industries, and saw the breakdown of
capitalism in a cataclysm, whereas modern Socialists see its merging
into a form of socialization. But, when all this is admitted, it cannot
be fairly said that the sum of criticism has seriously affected the
general Marxian theory, as apart from its particular exposition by Marx
himself. So far as the criticism has touched the subject of capitalist
concentration, it has been pitifully weak, and the furore it has created
seems almost pathetic. The main results of this criticism may be briefly
summarized as follows: First, in industry, the persistence, and, in some
cases, even increase, of petty industries; second, in agriculture, the
failure of large-scale farming, and the decrease of the average farm
acreage; third, in retail trade, the persistence of the small stores,
despite the growth in size and number of the great department stores;
fourth, the fact that concentration of industry does not imply a like
concentration of wealth, the number of shareholders in a great
industrial combination being frequently greater than the number of
owners in the units of industry prior to the combination. At first
sight, and stated in this manner, it would seem as if these conclusions,
if justified by the facts, involved a serious and far-reaching criticism
of the Socialist theory of a universal tendency toward the concentration
of industry and commerce into units of ever increasing magnitude.

But upon closer examination, these conclusions, their accuracy admitted,
are seen to involve no very damaging criticism of the theory. To the
superficial observer, the mere increase in the number of industrial
establishments seems a much more important matter than to the careful
student, who is not easily deceived by appearances. The student sees
that while some petty industries undoubtedly do increase in number, the
increase of large industries employing many more workers and much larger
capitals is vastly greater. Fu