The Onsager thermodynamics of irreversible processes provides a unified approach to the study of electrolytic systems out of equilibrium, such as concentration cells with transference, the initial and final emf's of thermal cells, and thermal diffusion (Soret effect) of ions. For concentration cells, the method justifies the classical results obtained by Nernst from equilibrium considerations. For nonisothermal systems, the product S*dT is the thermodynamic driving force of a process, where S* is the entropy transported reversibly from the "hot" to the "cold" heat reservoir (in the limiting case of equal temperatures) by the occurrence of a reversible process in the system. The emf of a concentration cell, the initial emf of a thermal cell, and the Soret coefficient, all properties of systems out of equilibrium, are determined, according to the Onsager relations, by the ratios of the reversible fluxes of matter to electricity, of entropy to electricity, and of entropy to matter, respectively, as they occur in systems completely at equilibrium.