The following paper was prepared by Mr. Tinsley, Vice-President and General Manager of the Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, to be delivered at the annual meeting scheduled for December 8, 1932. With his consent it is printed here.

Assuming that large concerns usually do pursue a common external “political” policy, the author examines the opportunities and eventual failure of such a policy in the first phase of the Hitler regime. His distinction between an independent and dependent “political” policy by business under a dictatorship may also be relevant for less developed countries with dictatorial governments.

The student of the various working-class movements which originated in the period of the Industrial Revolution in England has always to take account of the influence of Robert Owen on these movements. To each of them, this strange and interesting man brought a set of ideas and a range of experience which, when viewed in the light of his personal history, are of significance to the business historian.

Pressures for expansion of production brought by World War I caused labor problems which led many American manufacturers to begin organized personnel work. Morris E. Leeds, despite setbacks caused by the 1920–1921 recession, succeeded in creating one of the most comprehensive employee programs in the United States.

The pragmatic origins of government policy toward business are well illustrated in this study of the reduced-rate provisions granted to certain American railroads during the 19th century.