From theologians I have received numerous valuable suggestions in connection with this study. Its reception on their part has been in general friendly and impersonal, in spite of wide differences of opinion on particular points. This is the more welcome to me since I should not have wondered at a certain antipathy to the manner in which these matters must necessarily be treated here. What to a theologian is valuable in his religion cannot play a very large part in this study. We are concerned with what, from a religious point of view, are often quite superficial and unrefined aspects of religious life, but which, and precisely because they were superficial and unrefined, have often influenced outward behaviour most profoundly.
Another book which, besides containing many other things, is a very welcome confirmation of and supplement to this essay in so far as it deals with our problem, is the important work of E. Troeltsch, Die Soziallehren der christlichen Kirchen und Gruppen (Tübingen, 1912). It deals with the history of the ethics of Western Christianity from a very comprehensive point of view of its own. I here refer the reader to it for general comparison instead of making repeated references to special points. The author is principally concerned with the doctrines of religion, while I am interested rather in their practical results. ↩
The exceptions are explained, not always, but frequently, by the fact that the religious leanings of the labouring force of an industry are naturally, in the first instance, determined by those of the locality in which the industry is situated, or from which its labour is drawn. This circumstance often alters the impression given at first glance by some statistics of religious adherence, for instance in the Rhine provinces. Furthermore, figures can naturally only be conclusive if individual specialized occupations are carefully distinguished in them. Otherwise very large employers may sometimes be grouped together with master craftsmen who work alone, under the category of “proprietors of enterprises.” Above all, the fully developed capitalism of the present day, especially so far as the great unskilled lower strata of labour are concerned, has become independent of any influence which religion may have had in the past. I shall return to this point. ↩
Compare, for instance, Schell, Der Katholizismus als Prinzip des Fortschrittes (Würzburg, 1897), p. 31, and V. Hertling, Das Prinzip des Katholizismus und die Wissenschaft (Freiburg, 1899), p. 58. ↩
One of my pupils has gone through what is at this time the most complete statistical material we possess on this subject: the religious statistics of Baden. See Martin Offenbacher, “Konfession und soziale Schichtung,” Eine Studie über die wirtschaftliche Lage der Katholiken und Protestanten in Baden (Tübingen und Leipzig, 1901), Vol. IV, part V, of the Volkswirtschaftliche Abhandlungen der badischen Hochschulen. The facts and figures which are used for illustration below are all drawn from this study. ↩
For instance, in 1895 in Baden there was taxable capital available for the tax on returns from capital:
| Per 1,000 Protestants | 954,000 marks |
| Per 1,000 Catholics | 589,000 marks |
It is true that the Jews, with over four millions per 1,000, were far ahead of the rest. (For details see Offenbacher, “Konfession und soziale Schichtung,” p. 21.) ↩
On this point compare the whole discussion in Offenbacher’s study. ↩
On this point also Offenbacher brings forward more detailed evidence for Baden in his first two chapters. ↩
The population of Baden was composed in 1895 as follows: Protestants, 37.0 percent; Catholics, 61.3 percent; Jewish, 1.5 percent. The students of schools beyond the compulsory public school stage were, however, divided as follows (Offenbacher, “Konfession und soziale Schichtung,” p. 16):
| Protestant. | Catholic. | Jews. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | |
| Gymnasien | 43 | 46 | 9.5 |
| Realgymnasien | 69 | 31 | 9 |
| Oberrealschulen | 52 | 41 | 7 |
| Realschulen | 49 | 40 | 11 |
| Höhere Bürgerschulen | 51 | 37 | 12 |
| Average | 48 | 42 | 10 |
(In the Gymnasium the main emphasis is on the classics. In the Realgymnasium Greek is dropped and Latin reduced in favour of modern languages, mathematics and science. The Realschule and Oberrealschule are similar to the latter except that Latin is dropped entirely in favour of modern languages. See G. E. Bolton, The Secondary School System in Germany, New York, 1900. —Translator’s Note)
The same thing may be observed in Prussia, Bavaria, Würtemberg, Alsace-Lorraine, and Hungary (see figures in Offenbacher, “Konfession und soziale Schichtung,” pp. 16 ff.). ↩
See the figures in the preceding note, which show that the Catholic attendance at secondary schools, which is regularly less than the Catholic share of the total population by a third, only exceeds this by a few percent in the case of the grammar schools (mainly in preparation for theological studies). With reference to the subsequent discussion it may further be noted as characteristic that
