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are otherwise in the hands of the public) with as little of their own capital as possible, for in the case of the Merton concern the reverse is practically the case. The capitalists at the head of the whole concern are, and remain, directly engaged in all production and commercial enterprises of the concern. Their object is not the withdrawal, as much as possible, of their own capital, but the supplementation of the same by foreign capital. Not a single one of these enterprises being in the hands of the public there had to be created a company, on the basis of the substitution of securities, whose securities could be issued to the public. This company might have been given a minority of the securities of all the various enterprises, and its entire capital might then have been issued. That would have been for the public who bought the shares a capital investment company, about the development of which the managers of the concern need not have troubled any further. But, considering their great capitalistic powers, it was a matter of course that they should secure the decisive influence also in those enterprises to which the public were admitted, and for this reason the Berg und Metallbank and the Schweizerische Gesellschaft fuer Metallwerke were established as con- trolling and promoting companies to the main com- panies of the concern.
All in all, there is probably invested in the Merton concern, apart from the private fortunes of the capitalists backing it, a capital of more than 200 million marks. It is, therefore, difficult to estimate the value of the capital of the Merton concern, because in a good many of these companies it is acting together with other groups of capitalists.
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are otherwise in the hands of the public) with as little of their own capital as possible, for in the case of the Merton concern the reverse is practically the case. The capitalists at the head of the whole concern are, and remain, directly engaged in all production and commercial enterprises of the concern. Their object is not the withdrawal, as much as possible, of their own capital, but the supplementation of the same by foreign capital. Not a single one of these enterprises being in the hands of the public there had to be created a company, on the basis of the substitution of securities, whose securities could be issued to the public. This company might have been given a minority of the securities of all the various enterprises, and its entire capital might then have been issued. That would have been for the public who bought the shares a capital investment company, about the development of which the managers of the concern need not have troubled any further. But, considering their great capitalistic powers, it was a matter of course that they should secure the decisive influence also in those enterprises to which the public were admitted, and for this reason the Berg und Metallbank and the Schweizerische Gesellschaft fuer Metallwerke were established as con- trolling and promoting companies to the main com- panies of the concern.
All in all, there is probably invested in the Merton concern, apart from the private fortunes of the capitalists backing it, a capital of more than 200 million marks. It is, therefore, difficult to estimate the value of the capital of the Merton concern, because in a good many of these companies it is acting together with other groups of capitalists.