Eugen Peter Schwiedland · 1912
Schwiedland’s brief review weighs Passama’s empirical contribution against weaknesses of organization and editing:
Dieses Buch enthält manche interessante Tatsachen und läßt seine unzulängliche Redaktion bedauern.
English translation: This book contains many an interesting fact and makes one regret its inadequate editing.
The review first clarifies the book’s conceptual scope. “Vertical” integration connects raw-material extraction or intermediate production with finished production, in either direction. Passama’s “horizontal” integration instead concerns large-scale retailing’s expansion across different kinds of goods, rather than combinations of similar industries in cartels and trusts. This distinction matters because Schwiedland then criticizes the conflation of industrial and commercial development, compounded by excessive chapter headings and careless corrections and citations.
His concluding judgment preserves the book’s merits without withdrawing these objections:
Diese Mängel sind um so bedauerlicher, als der Verfasser ein anerkennenswertes Streben nach Tatsachenmaterial betätigt, die Gabe einer knappen und klaren Darstellung hat und auch gesunden praktischen Sinn vermuten läßt.
English translation: These defects are the more regrettable in that the author displays a commendable striving after factual material, possesses the gift of a concise and clear presentation, and also gives reason to suspect a sound practical sense.
The review thus makes conceptual differentiation and clear organization conditions for presenting valuable evidence about economic concentration effectively.
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