This article deals with the relation between the working situations of the commercial white-collar workers on the increase in number and the development of the consumer goods-market for the mass of people from the late 19th centuries to the First World War in Germany. The author aims at contributing to a social- and economic-historical explanation about an important aspect of the white-collar workers' problem, the problem of the "new middle-class" ("neuer Mittelstand") of that time, with which socialpoliticians (for example, Schmoller), socialists (for example, Kautsky) and socialscientists (for example, Lederer, Speier) dealt at that time. After the Second World War the white-collar workers' problem was investigated in detail particularly under the business historical viewpoint. But the white-collar workers in retail stores, who constituted a very important part of the "neuer Mittelstand" and exerted great influence upon its interest politics, have not been taken sufficiently into consideration. In this article the author discusses particularly in the first place a few economic-historical aspects of the commercial white-collar workers' problem and deals secondarily with working situations of these employees in order to sketch thirdly the development of the unions of commercial white-collar workers and their social policies.

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The purpose of this paper is to explain the historical significance of "the Indo-Japanese conference (1933-34)", which represented the most typical example of the trade-friction problem in prewar days. The Indian government, in opposition to the rapid expansion of Japanese cotton cloth export to India, enacted "Safeguarding of Industries Bill" (April, 1933). At the same time, it annulled the Indo-Japanese treaty of commerce that included the most-favoured-nation treatment for the two countries in order to prepare for the application of the above law to Japan, which meant reduction of Japanese export to India. Japan had to avoid such a situation at any cost and tried to prevent it in the bud, for it had been obliged to reduce its export to China as the result of the anti-Japanese movement among the Chinese traders. The Indo-Japanese conference was held under such circumstances. At the conference Japan made a consistent concession, so that it might secure the most-favored-nation treatment which had power to invalidate the protection law. To be concrete, it accepted restrictions of Japanese cotton cloth export to India. At the sacrifice of this concession, it intended to obtain the most-favored-nation treatment to stabilize its export to India. Furthermore it expected to promote its export of miscellaneous merchandise. Japan also tried to gain the support of the United Kingdom which had taken great pains in putting pressure on it to give up the Indian cotton cloth market, on the condition that it should accept restrictions. It felt the necessity of cooperating with the United Kingdom when it faced such difficult problems as how to get Manchuria officially approved, how to deal with the anti-Japanese movement among the Chinese, and how to get its hegemony in East Asia officially approved. After all, the Indo-Japanese treaty of commerce was concluded again on the condition that Japan should accept cotton cloth control, however, the result was not up to its expectation : There was an article on exceptions added to the most-favored-nation treatment and it experienced the unexpected export restrictions of miscellaneous merchandise to India. While its foreign policy encountered severe criticism, the Japanese government hastily tried to get its hegemony in East Asia officially approved and at the same time, took a strong interest in capturing the Chinese market again. Japan, however, was beginning to follow its own policy toward China as it ceased to cooperate with the United Kingdom.

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