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way  equally  safe  investments  of  wide
geographical  distribution  would  yield
about  5  per  cent.  In  fact,  without  in
any  way  diminishing  the  individual  safety
of  the  investments  held,  the  yield  from  a
Geographically  Distributed  Investment  List
must  always  be  materially  larger  than  the
yield  from  an  all-British  Investment  List.
A  glance  at  the  all-British  Chart  of  pricemovements
  and  income  yield,  and  at  the
Geographically  Distributed  Chart  and  income
yield  given  in  this  book,  will  confirm  the
three  contentions  which  we  have  advanced
above.
In  addition  to  the  points  which  we
have  already  enumerated,  there  is  another
important  contingency  which  can  only  be
guarded  against  by  adopting  the  principles
of  a  world-wide  Geographical  Distribution  of
Capital.  This  contingency  is  the  permanent
depreciation  which  may  possibly  overtake
some  portion  of  any  capital  sum  invested.
For,  no  matter  how  carefully  investments  may
be  chosen  at  the  outset,  it  is  quite  impossible
to  guard  against  a  certain  percentage  of
the  stocks  selected  failing  to  realise  the
reasonable  expectations  formed  concerning
their  future.  Truly  this  percentage  of  the