Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/84

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62
WEALTH AND INCOME OF

The total for the end of 1920 includes $345,534,260 on account of outstanding government, provincial and municipal loans, leaving $1,455,000,000 for private investments. Of this $175,422,500 was in railroad bonds, $83,284,000 in public utility bonds, and $45,957,500 in industrial bonds, a total of $304,664,000.

Ten large producing mining and metallurgical companies of American ownership, operating in Canada, had about $106,000,000 invested in property and plant in the Dominion at the end of 1916; at the end of 1920 the same companies had about $128,000,000. There is a good deal of American capital invested in smaller mining enterprises in Canada. It would be reasonable to figure the total investment of American capital in Canadian mines at $150,000,000 at the end of 1916 and at $180,000,000 at the end of 1920.

This gives us about $500,000,000 specifically accounted for in Canada at the end of 1920, leaving about $950,000,000 for real estate, factories, banking interests, private loans, etc. Although that figure looks rather high the available material affords no grounds for reasonable criticism, and the grand total is well authenticated. We may infer from it a grand total of about one billion dollars at the end of 1916, with $800,000,000 outside of government, provincial and municipal loans, and use those figures, viz. $800,000,000 for the end of 1916 and $1,450,000,000 for the end of 1920.

Mexico

The amount of the investment of American capital in Mexico is very difficult to estimate. In the main it is represented by interests in railways, lands, mines and the petroleum industry. According to a report