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governments, and are geographically situated
widely apart, will nearly always differ in
activity at any given moment.
Lastly, we have shown that the trade of the
world, considered as a whole, is constantly
increasing, and that a decline in the trade of
any one country simply means the transfer of
it to another country, and not a loss of trade.
These three facts taken conjointly and
utilised as the basis upon which the fluctuations
of investment values should he averaged, con
stitute the practical means of freeing the act of
investment from the taint of speculation. Their
application resolves itself into the Geographical
Distribution of Capital. Let us take the
important points of this system of invest
ment seriatim, and explain their individual
importance :—
1.—The Speculative Element Reduced to a
Minimum.—Although it is impossible to
predict the future of any single invest
ment, it is possible to predict the result
of distributing invested capital amongst
a number of different investments which
embrace the world’s area. We have
already seen that the value of all sound
investments is dominated by the trade
of the country to which they belong, and
similarly the total value of a number of