hand, there were on the Board of Directors of six banks, in 1910, fifty-one of the biggest manufacturers, amongst whom were the directors of Krupps, the Hamburg-Amerika Line, etc. From 1895 to 1910, each of these six banks had "participated" in the share issues of several hundreds of industrial companies. (The exact numbers vary between 281 and 419).35
The close connection between the banks and industry is completed by the close connection of both with the State. "Seats on the Advisory Board," wrote Jeidels, "are freely offered to reliable persons, especially to ex-civil servants, who are able to do a great deal to facilitate (!) relations with the authorities . . . . There is generally a member of parliament or a Berlin city councillor on the Advisory Board of a big bank."
The extension and the manufacture, so to speak, of the great capitalist monopolies is, therefore, going ahead at full steam, by all means, "natural" and "supernatural." The result is a fairly systematic division of labour amongst some hundreds of kings of finance who reign at present over modern capitalist society.
"Accompanying this extension of activity of individual industrialists" (sharing in the management of banks) "and together with the allotting to provincial bank managers of a definite industrial region, there is a growth of specialisation amongst the directors of the great financial institutions.
"Generally speaking, this specialisation is only possible when banking is on a large scale, and particularly when it has widespread connections with industry.
