orkers with machinery produce. The control over
public affairs and over the forces that shape public opinion give him
who exercises it the power to direct the thoughts and lives of the
people. It is for these reasons that the keen, self-assertive, ambitious
men who have come to the top in the rough and tumble of the business
struggle have steadily extended their ownership and their control.

2. _The Wealth of the United States_

The bulk of American wealth, which consists for the most part of land
and buildings, is concentrated in the centers of commerce and
industry--in the regions of supreme business power.

The last detailed estimate of the wealth of the United States was made
by the Census Bureau for the year 1912. At that time, the total wealth
of the country was placed at $187,739,000,000. (The estimate for 1920 is
$500,000,000,000.) Roughly speaking, this represented an estimate of
exchangeable values. The figures, at best, are rough approximations.
Their importance lies, not in their accuracy, but in the picture which
they give of relationships.

The Total Wealth of the United States, Classified by Groups, with the
Percentage of the Total Wealth in Each Group[39]

_Total Estimated
Wealth_

_Amount_
(000,000 _Per Cent_
_Wealth Groups_ _Omitted_) _of Total_

1. Real Property (land and buildings) $110,676 59

2. Public Utilities (railroads, street
railways, telegraph, telephone,
electric light, etc.) 26,415 14

3. Live Stock and Machinery (live
stock, farm implements and manufacturing
machinery) 13,697 7

4. Raw Materials, Manufactured Products,
Merchandise (including
gold and silver bullion) 24,193 13

5. Personal Possessions (clothing,
personal adornments, furniture,
carriages, etc.) 12,758 7

Total of all groups $187,739 100

The bulk of the exchangeable wealth of the United States consists of
"productive" or "investment" property. If, to the total of 110 billions
given by the Census as the value of real property, are added the real
property values of t