56
more  income  than  the  all-British  List  from
the  very  commencement.
2.—The  all-British  List  improves  in
value  during  the  first  five  years  by  £2,902,
but  this  improvement  gradually  disappears
again  and  in  1906  the  value  is  substantially ­
  the  same  as  it  was  in  1893.
The  International  List  rises  in  value  but
gradually  ;  this  rise,  however,  is  maintained, ­
  and  a  final  increase  in  value  of
£2,245  is  recorded.
Another  very  important  point  in  favour  of
the  Geographical  Distribution  of  Capital  is  that  :
No  set  of  circumstances  could  cause  all  the
stocks  in  a  Geographically  Distributed  Investment ­
  List  to  show  a  simultaneous  depreciation
below  cost  price.
This  is  an  advantage  which  an  all-British
Investment  List  does  not  afford  its  owner.
For  an  investor  who  stakes  his  Capital  Stability
on  the  trade  prosperity  of  one  country  frequently ­
  finds  that  every  stock  in  his  possession
is  quoted  below  “  cost.”  Now,  nearly  every
investor  desires  at  times  to  realise  some  part
of  his  invested  capital,  and  to  be  able  to  do
so  only  at  a  loss  is  disastrous.  It  is,  therefore,
well  to  remember  that  an  investor  who  confines ­
  himself  to  the  stocks  of  one  country
may  and  must  find  himself  at  times  in  this