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APPENDIX 4 example of Germany, the proportion of workers to the whole of the occupied population actually declined.1 In Great Britain, between 1851 and 1921 it remained comparatively unaltered at about 50 per cent to 55 per cent. There has, however, been a striking increase in the numbers of salaried employees of all grades, skilled technicians and officials — the new class, very difficult to define, which stands midway between the workers and the employers.
Marx, of course, when he was expounding the fundamentals of his social philosophy, was unable to observe this class and form an estimate of its position in society, because it was only in process of formation in the 1840's. Now it has become clear that the highly complex organisation of the modern economic system needs an ever-increasing supply of technical and administrative personnel. Their numbers are increasing at a far greater rate than those of the workers. In Germany, between 1907 and 1925, this group increased by 1 1 1 per cent, though the workers increased by only 1 2 per cent. In England, during the same period, the tendency is similar though the increase is not so great. The salaried employees increased by 56 per cent as compared with a 7 per cent increase for the workers. In America, in the ten years between 1909 and 19 19, both social groups increased considerably, the workers by 38 per cent and the salaried employees by more than double that percentage — 83 per cent. For every 100 industrial workers in Germany there are 15-4 employees, in U.S.A. 15-9, in Great Britain io-8, in France 10-7. There is every sign that this tendency is being maintained.2
The existence and social significance of this new class has been more widely recognised and studied in Germany and America than it has been in Great Britain and other countries. In Germany it has been called the Mittel or ^wischenSchichten. It is a generally accepted fact now that this class, because of its frustration and social insecurity, played a large part in the rise to power of the Fascist party in Germany and Italy. It is another matter, however, whether its aspirations or any material improvement in its position and security have been realised under Fascist rule.
There is no English translation for Mittel-Schichten, nor has its political and social significance been realised by more than a handful of people. No books have so far been devoted to the study of this class, though many touch on it in passing. Census reports
1 Germany: 1895, 56-8 per cent; 1907, 55-1 per cent; 1925, 45-1 per cent.
2 Cf. E. Lederer. Die Umschichtung des Proletariats. Die Neue Rundschau. Aug. 1929, p. 145 sq.
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