Safeguarding Invested Capital. 13 
Colonies, were regarded as fields for speculation rather 
than for solid investment. 
The only then known method of distributing invest 
ment risks consisted in holding a number of different 
investments possessing varying qualities, and covering 
different classes of enterprise. 
Experts in finance in all parts of the world believed 
that the methods described above afforded the best 
means for safeguarding invested capital. Banks and 
insurance companies having invested their funds on 
these lines private investors were advised to adopt 
the same practice. As a consequence, success in 
investment was left to chance, so that in the past most 
investment lists produced very unsatisfactory results, 
and are likely to continue to do so in future unless they 
are placed on a sound footing. 
An ill-constructed list of investments has always been, 
and must always be, a speculative venture. There is 
no way to ensure its producing stable results, except 
by thoroughly reconstructing it on lines which practice 
has proved efficacious. 
Most investors have no desire to speculate. They 
have placed their money on what they have hitherto 
regarded as a safe plan, exercising great care in select 
ing their investments. Naturally, therefore, they 
attribute their past losses of capital and income rather 
to inevitable misadventure, than to reparable causes. 
They are inclined to sit still, awaiting the return of 
“ good luck,” rather than admit to themselves that