First published in 1931, this book contains the text of the inaugural lecture delivered that year by John Hilton upon his appointment to the Montague Burton Professorship of Industrial Relations in the University of Cambridge. Hilton, who was the first to occupy the Montague Burton Chair, discusses the state of industry as the ‘victim’ of external forces and the important role of the relationship between employees and employers. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of the study of industrial relations and the state of industry in inter-war Britain.