ABSTRACT
At the opening of the List archives in Reutlingen in 1934 the Burgomaster complained that List had been unfairly accused of turning a blind eye to the harsh conditions of work in factories and to the wretched lot of domestic craftsmen displaced by new machines. 2 It has certainly been argued that List was so busy promoting the interests of the capitalists that he had little time to pay much attention to the social consequences of industrialisation. It is indeed surprising that one who was a leading publicist and journalist in Germany should have had so little to say about the widespread poverty and distress that existed in Europe between 1815 and 1848.
