ABSTRACT
Again for the fourth time in the century was the incapacity of the capitalist class to hanc!le the growing powers of man ovet· Nature to the advantage of society clearly exhibited. For the fatlure of banks and mercantile houses involved the discharge aud ~tn.rvation of workpeople, who for the fourth time in about forty years witnessed the very wealth which they created rise up before them as a monster, dooming them to wretchedness for a time at any rate. In Staffordshire the failure of a bank stopped work in the potteries, and threw 30,000 workers out. In Northumberland the failure of another bank brought collieries and iron-works to a standstill " The mischief by no means stopped short at the handful of speculators and merchants a.t the great trading and shipping ports, but extended to the manufacturers whose establishments were brought to a standstill for lack of orders, while the value of their warehoused goods constantly ditninished-extenJed to the carry· ing trade, since the foreign trade was in utter stagnation-extenJed to thousands of workers who were thrown out of work-extended even to the shopkeepers whose business was curtailed owing to the greater thriftiness of their customers." In short anarchy had full swing in our industrial orc!er, and the organisers of industry thl·ew the whole business machine out of gear.
