The following article appeared in the March, 1961, issue of the Weltwirt-Schaftliche Archiv, published since 1913 by the Institut für Weltwirt-Schaft an der Universität Kiel. Because of the pertinence and broad interest of the study, publication in America seemed highly desirable. Reproduction rights were graciously extended by Dr. Anton Zottmann, editor of the Archiv, and by the authors. The article is printed here directly from galley proof supplied by the Archiv. Commentaries by American scholars will be published in a subsequent issue of the Business History Review.

As the oil industry grew, comfortable family firms, hitherto untouched by the ferocities of competition, found their position under attack and their independence menaced. The painful, inexorable process of substituting a new economic order for an old is here detailed from the viewpoint and records of one of the dispossessed.

In the intellectual career of one precocious scholar may be traced the course of jurisprudence and philosophy that joined law with economics, dealt with the fundamental problem of democratic restraints upon corporate power, and influenced in basic ways the direction of the New Deal program.

Harnessing the Niagara for large-scale commercial power exploitation was an entrepreneurial feat of major dimensions. The project also demonstrated the successful application of science to an economic problem. American investors proudly declined European financial assistance, but only too willingly solicited the advice of Europe's leading engineers.

If an “index of continuity” for business enterprise could be constructed, it would show a distinct rise over the years. Reasons for and significance of this trend are examined, and distinctive mortality rates in various kinds of enterprises are identified. Appropriate data, however, have only recently begun to be recorded. With a sound statistical base, some form of enterprise life insurance may be possible; indeed, certain starts have already been made in this direction.

French investors, their undertakings in Italy oppressed by “an unbelievable mixture of ignorance, government anarchy, and bad faith,” appealed for intervention by their government. The controversy gave rise to a remarkable report depicting the condition of Italian railroads and giving vital evidence about government-business relationships of the day.

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