Note 2 — III The Dictators
Reading edition
A large proportion of the capital of modern joint-stock companies is provided by debenture-holders, who normally have no voting rights whatever, and by preference share-holders, who may vote at meetings only when their dividend has been in arrears for a prescribed period. Even ordinary share-holders may have no voting rights, and the entire control, including the appointment of directors, can be vested in the owners of a particular class of share representing less than a tenth of the company’s total capital.