Corporate Cataclysm: Abitibi Power & Paper and the Collapse of the Newsprint Industry, 1912-1946

Description

In this absorbing narrative, Barry E.C. Boothman traces the history of Abitibi Power & Paper Limited alongside the rise and fall of the newsprint industry and the advent of Canadian corporate capitalism. In the first half of the twentieth century, Abitibi was Canada’s biggest manufacturer – an apparent success story after the Wall Street crash of 1929 and a company deemed "too big to fail" – but the company eventually ended up at the centre of the longest and most controversial bankruptcy in Canadian history. Moving from the frontier areas of northern Ontario to the heart of the continental economy, Corporate Cataclysm shows how competitive strategies, industrial organization, corporate finance, and law combined with the empire-building dreams of entrepreneurs and the concerns of politicians to generate an economic disaster. It then chronicles the disputes and intense strife that plagued Abitibi’s fourteen-year receivership. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Figures and Tables Praecipe Abbreviations 1 Empire Ontario A young, giant land A grasping colonial mind-set Corporate capitalism and law 2 Anson’s Folly Make haste slowly An excellent speculative opportunity A few strokes of the pen 3 An Industry in Transformation Who could lack faith with this record? Struggles for dominance Rather good statements 4 Building the Corporate Realm A romance of Canadian industrialization Businesslike politics Economical business coordination Capitalists of all degrees 5 From Prosperity to Crisis Johnny Canuck’s material assets One of the greatest industrial coups Cat out of the paper bag 6 From Crisis to Catastrophe Your market had run away Crack of doom An almost impossible condition Plates 7 The Vale of Receivership A loose and irregular administration In an entirely friendly way Too many chickens 8 A Time for Investigations A pretty good business A public accounting Posterity does not vote The royal inquisition 9 The Search for Stability Now nearly useless Snugging up The liquidation of the liquidator I never met a group of men so disloyal 10 Reorganization Plots We, the insolvent A spider web of intrigue I am bewildered 11 The Battle of the Plans Hopes, squabbles, and plagiarism All interests asunder Paying for the show 12 Darkest Hours The anomalous position Abolish the whole thing Abitibi fat in the frying pan From sitzkrieg to blitzkrieg 13 A Constitutional War The unfortunate, extravagant, and futile course Wartime paper Pith and substance 14 The Path towards Dawn Clean up the Abitibi mess The dirty end of the stick The longest receivership 15 Epilogue Destinies Concluding perspectives Appendices Appendix 1 Newsprint Annual Supply and Demand, 1899–1946 Appendix 2 Traits of the North American Newsprint Industry, 1890–1940 Appendix 3 Capitalization of Paper Companies, 1920 and 1930 ($ Millions) Appendix 4 Reorganizations among Canadian Newsprint Companies Appendix 5 Abitibi Power and Paper Ltd.: Capital Structure and Major Proposals, 1932–1946 Appendix 6 Battle of the Plans, 1937 Participants Notes Bibliography Index