Book excerpt: Excerpt from History of Canadian Wealth, Vol. 1 The rapid concentration of wealth in Canada is no mere fancy. Already, it is estimated, less than fifty men control or more than one-third of Canada's material wealth as expressed in railways, banks, factories, mines, land and other properties and resources. To say that this small group of individuals control so vast a wealth and the agencies of its production does not imply that they own it all. Between ownership and control there is a difference, yet the reverse of that commonly sup posed. By means of their control of financial markets and distributive systems, a small number of men may effectively control sources of wealth which still may remain under in dividual ownership, as Witness the case of the farms, of which control farmers throughout Canada are bitterly complaining. Also it is not necessary for magnates to own all of the stock of railroads, banks, factories and mines; much of that owner ship may be distributed among small shareholders, yet by their predominantly large holdings of stock, and through their power of directorship, those magnates can and do control those diversified, and often financially interconnected, sources of wealth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.