8 
In such a case as the above the investor 
would simply sell his holding of stocks and 
re-invest again on the same easy and safe 
basis from which he started. His position 
would have remained unchanged, and his 
unimpaired £10,000 can nearly always be 
made to yield per cent., or £450, with safety. 
In fact, investment lists, whose income yield is 
less than 4|- per cent., can, save under excep 
tional conditions, always be brought np to a 
4^ per cent, basis without disturbing their 
capital safety ; indeed, in many cases the 
capital safety can be increased. 
But, supposing that both capital and income 
had dropped 20 per cent., and the realisable 
value of the stocks held had fallen to £8,000 
and the income to £360, then the case would 
be serious indeed. To produce £450 per 
annum on £8,000 necessitates an investment 
which yields over per cent., and to make 
up the capital to its original amount means 
dispensing with income entirely for a period 
of four years ; both of which are unsatisfactory 
contingencies. 
The position which we have here illustrated 
has recently arisen in the case of some of the 
finest British investments, as many of our 
readers are unfortunately aware by their own 
actual experience ; we will therefore not