Notebook “ε”

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(“EPSILON”)

Contents

Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv (1916)

(foreign capital: Arndt) [1]

The Economist on the war and The Daily Telegraph [3 and 11, 14–15, 18–19].

Coal and Iron (Theses of N. l. Bukharin) [33–34].

CAPITAL INVESTED ABROAD[1][edit source]

Capital

abroad

Great BritainFranceGermany
18623.6
18721510 (1869)
18822215 (1880)?
18934220 (1890)?
1902(62)37 Diouritch 27Hilferding p. 492 12.5
191475–1006044
↑ ↑ ↓
((Arndt))Riessersee ε 1(Neymarck)


FOREIGN CAPITAL INVESTMENTS: ARNDT[edit source]

WeltwirtschaftlichesArchiv (published by Bernhard Harms), Vol. 7, 1916, I.

“TheStrength of French Capital”, by Professor Dr. Paul Arndt.

Theauthor refers to his article “New Data on Capital Investments Abroad” (in Zeitschrift fur Sozialwissenschaft, 1915, pp. 311 and 456) and he quotes from it figures on capital invested abroad: (p. 35)

||(Riesser, p. 395

and p. 404)

000 million francs
British£3,000million||62 (1900 Speyer)
=75,000millionfrancs
French60,000millionfrancs30 (1902 Dehn)
=60
German35,000millionmarks31 (25,000 mill. marks)
=44,000millionfrancs
__ __ __
((Σ= 179))

France,one of the “economic Great Powers” (p. 37), holds fourth place after Britain, Germany and “North America”.

SOURCE REFERENCES[edit source]

Source references:

William English Walling, The Socialists and the War, New York, 1915 (XII + 512 pp.) $1.50.

“As far as official party documents are concerned, the collection appears to be complete” (p. 188).

Zurich City Library of Social Literature:

Parvus, Nationalization of the Banks and Socialism.

Schumann,The German Reichs bank.

Schumann,The Last Four Private Banks of Issue.

Schär,The Bank in the Service of Merchant.

Schulze,Bank Failures in Saxony, 1903.

Schär,The Technique of Banking, Berlin, 1908.

Levy,Monopolies, Cartels and Trusts, Jena, 1909.

Kantorowicz,Problems of Cartels, Berlin, 1911.

Abel,Sick England, 1909.

Veritas,Austria’s Future, Zurich, 1892.

JakobLorenz, Italians in Switzerland, Zurich.

{{2 Schär, Nationalisation of Swiss Water-Power, Basle, 1905.

{{2 Schücking, The Organisation of the World, Leipzig, 1909 (41).

Lassalle,The Italian War, Berlin, 1859.

Staudinger,Cultural Foundations of Politics, Jena, 1914.

LloydGeorge, Better Times, Jena, 1911.

THE ECONOMIST ON THE WAR[edit source]

The Economist, April 17, 1915.

Article:“The End of the War.”

“Butthe longer the war lasts, the more prone will the peoples, as distinct from the governments, be to cry out against the carnage which is desolating day by day and week by week so many thousands of homes. Thus we are brought back again to the || problem of State versus Man’, and to the question N.B. ||| how far the rulers of the highly organised bureaucratic state will be able to hold out against internal revolutionary forces”....

Arguments of the Social-Patriots[edit source]

UptonSinclair’s pamphlet, with Blatchford’s reply, sets out particularly clearly, frankly, accurately and vigorously the new (not Plekhanov’s or Kautsky’s, etc.) argument of the social-patriots:

Yes,the war is in the interests of the capitalists, etc., but we are manifestly weak, manifestly powerless to prevent it. Talk of struggle against war, of “insurrection”, etc., etc., is “piano opinion”, hopeless “exaggeration” of our strength.

[BOXENDS:] [[ A variant of the “utopianism” argument, which was advanced also in Plekhanov’s lecture. ]]

Fromthis point of view, the Basle resolution is a well-meaning attempt to frighten the governments, and not a resolute pledge to carry out revolutionary actions or revolutionary propaganda.

[Thisformulation, which reduces everything to a “preventive war”, is extremely narrow—and was deliberately made so by Blatchford. The essential thing is to utilise the crisis for revolutionary propaganda and to prepare for revolutionary action.]

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, NOVEMBER 17, 1914[edit source]

TheDaily Telegraph, November 17, 1914.

Parliament.

...“Mr.E. Jones (Merthyr Tydfil) asked if censorship could not be applied to the writings of Mr. Keir Hardie in his journal”....

Later,at the end of the sitting, the same speaker said: I told Keir Hardie I was going to talk about him, and it is not my fault if he is not present.

Heread extracts from Keir Hardie’s articles of October 31 and November 7, in which Keir Hardie accuses the British and French of atrocities, and sneers at the loyalty of the Indian troops. Keir Hardie said that the Kaiser was brave, soldier-like, whereas he sneered at “our fireside-loving King”.

Canthe government tolerate such speeches from a Member of Parliament? “As a result in Merthyr Tydfil we have had considerable difficulty in the past few weeks in recruiting, although it had been going on handsomely before Mr. Keir Hardie began his tactics.”

ThenMr. J. A. Pease said: “May I just say, in one word, that so far as the Government are concerned, they believe all the suggestions made by Mr. K. Hardie and referred to by Mr. Jones to be entirely without foundation, and that they ought to be treated with contempt.”

(Endof the sitting.)

POPULATION AND AREA OF THE BELLIGERENT AND NON-BELLIGERENT COUNTRIES[edit source]

(p. 29. Deutsche Rundschau. No. 10).

Population (million) 1910
Great Britain . . . . . . .421Germany . . . . .78
Russia . . . . . . .167Austria . . . . .51
France . . . . . . .86Turkey . . . . .25 (approx.)
674(3 Great Powers)154
Japan . . . . . . .70
(4 Great Powers) . . .744
+ Serbia
+ Belgium
Non-belligerents
Belligerent group I . .744[750 versus 150]China . . . . .431
” ” II . .154U.S.A. . . . . .103
Belligerents . . . . . . .898Italy . . . . .36
+(3 Great Powers)570
Non-belligerents . . .570
1,468
Total world population = 1,600
1912
Square miles (million)Non-belligerents
Great Britain10.8Germany . . . .1.2China . . . .2.9
Russia . . . . . . .10.2Austria . . . .0.2(241,000)U.S.A . . . .3.7
France . . . . . . .4.8Turkey . . . .0.7Italy . . . .0.7
25.82.17.3
Japan0.3(260,000)
26.1
Group I . . . .26.1
” II . . . .2.1
Belligerents . .28.2
Non-belligerents7.3
35.5
Whole world — 52.0 million sq. miles.


THE ECONOMIST AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ON THE WAR[edit source]

TheEconomist, January 9, 1915. N.B.

Article:“The European Deadlock”....

...“Itis not surprising that under such, conditions [the “appalling conditions of modern warfare”] the soldiers should, in places where mud has made progress almost impracticable, conclude impromptu truces, such as are described by a correspondent in The Times of yesterday. These truces naturally occur only in the parts of the field where the trenches are close together, but they bring home to the imagination the cruel absurdities of the war, and suggest to some || N.B. a hope that from the soldiers in the field there might come a protest against the indefinite prolongation of its horrors” (p. 46)....

Idem, p. 54: “Industrial profits” Net profits (after payment of debenture interest, etc.)
Reports published

in quarter ending:

Number of

companies

(£ millions)±Total

capital

% of

profit on

capital
19131914%1914
March 3130120.522.1+8.4230.19.6
July 3126322.623.6+4.2181.913.0
September 3013110.69.5–9.5107.88.8
December 3121415.314.5–5.6116.412.4
______________
Σ90969.069.7+0.9636.010.9
“misfortunes” of the capitalists!!!

TheEconomist, December 19, 1914. “War Supplement”, p.10; Russia’s expenditure on the army and navy:

1903466 million rubles%
1904491+25+5.3
1905496+ 5+1.0
1906504+ 8+1.6
1907493–11–2.0
1908612+119+24.1
1909631+19+3.0
1910648+17+2.7
1911669+21+3.3
1912809+140+20.9
1913944+135+16.6

TheEconomist, December 19, 1914, p. 1059, article: “The War and Modern Business.”

...“Untilthe bloodiest storm in history burst at the end of July, it was hardly possible to tell where Krupp began or Creusot ended. War loans were inextricably mingled with peace loans, and deadweight debt with full capital issues. Whether to destroy or to construct, whether to build canals or forts, ocean liners or battleships, the whole world of business and finance seemed to have centred itself in London, Paris and Berlin. The financial houses were almost of necessity Anglo-German, Anglo-French and Anglo-American; directorships were interlaced, branches of agents existed in nearly all the cities of the Old World and of the New. Monster companies and corporations welcomed share holders of all nationalities, with very little regard for the diplomatic alliances.... It was a truism six months ago to say that nationality was no obstacle to business arrangements.... All this came to an end all of a sudden.... And yet the businessmen and the working classes are admittedly innocent. The guilt of war is everywhere traced to a few men—emperors, diplomatists, statesmen, militarists, or ‘philosophers’.... Let us hope for a swift disillusionment, a return of common sense, a revival of religion, and a reawakening of the human conscience”....


The Economist, 1915, No. 3724 (Jan. 9, 1915)[2] (p.51): N.B. "The Cost of the War to Europe"
for six months
£ millions£ millions
Army

(mill.)

__ __
Cost

of war

Loss of

produc-

tion
Value

of lost

lives
Popu-

lation 1913 (mil.)

Foreign

trade

(per

head)

Nation-

al income 1913

(per

head)

National wealth

1913

Germany4.35395830294681,063(15.6)2,100(31)16,000(235)
Austria-Hungary3.5032050014150264(5.3)......
Σ7.857151,3304351181,327(11.2)?3,000(25)?25,000(212)
Russia5.4490110218170269(1.6)......
France4.036560023240583(14.6)1,250(31)13,000(325)
United Kingdom1.09010083461,344(29.3)2,250(49)18,000(390)
Σ10.49458105332562,196(8.6)?5,000(20)?40,000(156)
ΣΣ18.251,6602,1409683743,523(9.4)?8,000(21)?65,000(174)
(α)


Alliance

countries

Entente

countries

Both sides
Direct (war) costs for six months7259901,715 (£ mill.)
Loss by cessation of production

(Yves Guyot (α))

1,3308102,140
Total costs for six months2,0551,8003,855
Normal national income for six

months (say)

1,5002,5004,000
Proportion of direct costs to national income48%40%43%
Ditto ... of total costs137%72%96%
National wealth25,00040,00065,000
(α) The Yves Guyot source is obviously not impartial!

Ibidem(January 2, 1915), p. 12:

“Disgustat the utter barbarism and ferocity of modern warfare is reported by all who have seen it. Everywhere people are beginning to ask how long human nature itself can endure the awful anguish of this || indescribable war, how soon exhaustion and the approach of starvation will drive the peoples into || revolt. Some of the German newspapers look for a revolution in Russia. They may have to count with one at home, for nothing is more likely than that the working classes of Germany will turn savagely upon the aggressive militarism which has been their bane.”

[LEFT-BOTTOM-RIGHTBOX END:] N.B. [[ This is from an article “The Realms of the Habsburgs”, which says that in Russia the position of the population and nations is worse than in Austria. ]]

January 9, 1915, p. 57: the Rumanians in Russia are worse off than in Austria....

Ibidem,p. 66: Russia’s war expenditure (1/2 year) = 6,234 million rubles (13 million rubles per day).

p. 72, a new book: P. Vinogradoff, The Russian Problem (1 shilling)?

TheDaily Telegraph (No. 18631) Dec. 29, 1914.

TheIndependent Labour Party and the War.

“Oneof the resolutions on the final agenda for the annual conference of the Scottish Division of the Independent Labour Party to be held in Glasgow on Saturday, when Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., is to address the delegates, asks that all members of the Independent Labour Party assisting the government in the present recruiting campaign be expelled. Another asks for an expression of regret that the National Labour Party did not call a conference at the outbreak of the war to determine the policy of the party.”

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND SOURCE REFERENCES[edit source]

TheBritish Review, 1915, July, “How We Ought to Feel About the War”, by John Freeman, pp. 87–88.... the “denationalised pamphlet” of Mr. Barrett (heading?) (from the “Workers’ Freedom Group”).

| “One war, he proclaims, remains to be fought, war against the rich, the new reformation war”... p. 88. || N.B.

Rechtund Wirtschaft, 1915, June.

“TheGerman Trade Unions in the War”, by Dr. W. Troeltsch.

(Eulogies!! Quotes from Sozialistische Monatshefte).

Thesplit in Württemberg (Stuttgart). Frankfurter Zeitung No. 319, second morning edition, November 17.

Indexof new books in the Winterthur City Library, 7th year, 1913–14 (has been appearing since 1907).

Infiction

LucienDescaves, La saignée (1870–71).

Nexö,Pelle the Conqueror.

A. Schnitzler, Novellen, 1914.


Literatureon Switzerland: [LEFT(SQUIGLY)-BOTTOM BOX ENDS:] [[

Paul Berger, After the Great Debacle: the Partition of Switzerland, Lausanne, 1914.

Written before the war; predicts a German victory, says Switzerland is threatened by partition.

N.B. p. 31, urges all-out struggle against “revolutionary socialism” in the army and schools. ]]

A. Rüegg, Experiences of a Waitress, Zurich, 1914.

section III (“General Knowledge and Science Books”):

Theories of Origin, 1914.

(Modern Culture, III, IV.)

Aug.Bernard, Morocco, Paris, 1913.

E. Haeckel, God-Nature, Leipzig, 1914.

Rud.Kjellén, The Great Powers of Today, Leipzig, 1914.

A. Manes, The Social Part of the World (about Australasia), Berlin, 1914.

Rud.Martin, German Rulers, 1910.

Uhde,Feuerbach, Leipzig, 1914.

A. Zart, Bricks of The Universe: Atoms, Molecules, Stuttgart, 1913.

Taylor,The Principles of Scientific Management.

COAL AND IRON[edit source]

Internationale Monatsschrift für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Technik (Leipzig), 1910, January (10th year, No. 4). Hans Arlt, Dr., mining assessor in Munich. “Coal and ton and Their Significance in the Present World War.” Statistics of coal and iron reserves in the belligerent countries.

(Iron ore resources of the world)

(Coal ” ” ” ” )

(Geologicalcongresses, Stockholm 1910 and Toronto 1913).

In coal resources the order is:In iron:
1. United States1. United States
2. Canada2. Newfoundland
3. China3. Germany
4. Germany
Coal output in 1913:
Great Britain–287.4 million tons
Germany–278.9 ” ”
(Consumption:250.3 Germany
233.8 Britain)

The important invention, by Thomas (1878), of the basic or Thomas method of obtaining iron did away with the Bessemer method.

The new method gave Germany a big lead, for it frees the ore from phosphorus, and German ore is rich in phosphorus (N.B.).

That is how Germany beat Great Britain. || N.B.

The chemical industry produces coal tar (1 million tons in 1912 in Germany).

German-occupied French areas contain
about 70%of French coal resources
” 80%” ” iron ”
(Without America, France would have perished long ago.)

Trade Union Leaders[edit source]

The Daily Telegraph, October 7, 1915.

“Afterhearing addresses by the Prime Minister and Earl Kitchener, and holding lengthy conferences on the subject of recruiting, the chosen leaders of Labour have issued a strongly-worded appeal for men, in which it is stated that ‘if the voluntary principle is to be vindicated, at least 30,000 recruits per week must be raised’.

“Mr.C. W. Bowerman, M.P., Secretary of the Trades Union Congress Parliamentary Committee, handed a representative of The Daily Telegraph a copy of the appeal yesterday afternoon. It reads as follows:

The Crisis[edit source]

An Appeal to Free Men

N.B.|| “Fellow countrymen.... At no time in the history of our nation has it been faced with a crisis of such gravity as the one which now exists.... Aggression [of Germany, etc... (the aim)]: secure such a victory as will free the world from the fear of that military tyranny which Germany would impose upon it....” An appeal to enlist in the army. For the sake of what?... “Not only because by so doing they will be defending their own interests, but also because their action will preserve the vital interests of the nation”....

“We know that defeat or an inconclusive peace would mean for us not only the loss of prestige as a nation and the certainty that the conflict would be renewed in a few years’ time, but the loss of those personal liberties and privileges which have taken centuries of effort to win”....

N.B.||H. Gosling}Trade Union Congress Par-

liamentary Committee.

C. W. Bowerman
J. O’Grady}General Federation of Trade Unions.
W. A. Appleton
G. J. Wardle}Labour Party Executive.
W. S. Sanders

Ibidem,October 9, 1915 (Saturday). In addition to mass meetings (x x) there is to be

N.B. || “the conference that is to take place on Monday (October 11, 1915) between the Earl of Derby, the new Director of Recruiting, and the signatories to the important Labour manifesto, published on Thursday (October 7, 1915) last.” “This conference, halls gratis || to which the Labour representatives have been invited by his lordship, will be held at No. 12, Downing Street”....

[DITTO:halls gratis || ] (x x)... “that halls have already been placed at the disposal of the Executive [= of the three signatory organisations], free of expense, for the purpose of holding the mass meetings”.... ))

Besides mass meetings, tours of propagandists, “workshop meetings”, “dinner-hour gatherings”, etc., are being organised.

...therewill be made available “a copious amount of propagandist literature, mainly in the form of hand-bills, for distribution at the various meetings”... etc. || N.B.

Ibidem,October 15, 1915. A eulogistic review of Ellis Powell, The Evolution of the Money Market (10s. 6d.), London, 1915 (Financial News). N.B. on finance capital

  1. See present edition, Vol. 22, p. 242.—Ed.
  2. Ibidem, p. 46—possibility of a protest of the soldiers when close together in the trenches. —Lenin