ABSTRACT
Capital is wealth used in production, that is to say, it is that portion of wealth which is definitely set aside for the production of more wealth. In these days, however, of municipal trading it is possible to visit the gas, water, or electric light undertakings of the same municipality, and there find considerable amounts of wealth which is being definitely utilised for the production of wealth. A superficial observer might think that by organising human labour on the land, wealth could be produced without further assistance, but the moment one begins seriously to consider the conditions of production it is realised that under modern conditions land and labour, if unassisted, would be sterile and unproductive. Prior to the passing of that Act, co-operation of either capital or labour in production or distribution was not protected by the law except in the case of certain favoured chartered corporations.
