i 3 o CHARLES J. BULLOCK 



Moreover, those who believe in the permanence of com- 

 petition will not lose sight of another consideration which is 

 advanced by Professor Marshall, who writes concerning the 

 economies accruing from these sources: "But its weakness in 

 this regard lies in the fact that to keep its monopoly it must 

 be always bargaining and manoeuvring on a large scale. 

 And if its monopoly is invaded, it must bargain and manoeuvre 

 widely in matters of detail as well as in larger affairs.' ' 



The result of our discussion up to this point would seem 

 to be that any advantages of a monopoly over independent 

 concerns of a large size are but slight, except in the single 

 matter of effecting sales. We must now take into account 

 certain counteracting forces, upon which some writers rest 

 their belief that competition will ultimately prevail. These 

 economists contend, in the first place, that, outside the field 

 of the natural monopolies, the growth of a business enterprise 

 is limited by the fact that companies of a certain size will 

 secure "maximum efficiency" of investment, and that beyond 

 this point concentration brings no increase in productive 

 capacity. Without introducing the arguments of professional 

 economists upon the subject, it may be pointed out that this 

 view is entertained by many men who have a practical ac- 

 quaintance with our large manufacturing industries. This 

 position is based upon the belief that a factory of a certain 

 size will enable machinery to be employed in the most ad- 

 vantageous manner; that a reasonable number of such plants 

 will make possible all needful specialization of production; 

 that allied and subsidiary industries can be, and are, carried 

 on by large independent concerns; and that the cost and 

 difficulties of supervision increase rapidly after a business 

 is enlarged beyond a certain size, especially when it is at- 

 tempted to unite plants situated in different parts of the 

 country. For this reason, increased output does not decrease 

 the burden of fixed charges after a company attains a certain 

 magnitude; but, on the contrary, new charges arise. Among 

 such new expenses, not the least important are the cost of 

 employing the most skilled legal talent to steer the combina- 

 tion just close enough to the law, the expenses necessary for 

 "legislative" and "educational" purposes, and the outlays 



