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of  any  industry  as  permanently  to  extinguish
a  company’s  dividend-earning  capacity.
But,  on  the  other  hand,  although  these  internal ­
  influences  are  apt  to  he  so  permanently
disastrous  in  their  effects,  it  seldom,  if  ever,
happens  that  the  holders  do  not  receive
ample  warning  of  the  malady  from  which
their  stock  is  suffering.  Whether  trade  is
passing  into  the  hands  of  competitors,  or
whether  mismanagement  is  reducing  the  company’s ­
  assets,  or  whether  death  or  retirement
has  removed  the  chief  organising  brain  upon
which  the  company  relied  for  its  prosperity
in  times  past,  it  is  impossible  for  these  events
to  occur  without  notice  of  them  being  given
in  the  reports  and  balance-sheets  issued  to
shareholders.
Public  companies  and  nations  do  not
suddenly  drop  down  dead  from  financial  heart
disease  ;  but,  rather,  a  slow  mortification  sets
in,  and  the  investor  who  has  the  nerve  and
the  courage  to  amputate  promptly  may
generally  escape  with  no  more  than  the  loss  of
a  limb.  Budgets  and  balance-sheets  constantly
convey  warnings  to  investors,  and  if  they  do
not  disregard  them,  they  may,  by  facing  their
first  comparatively  small  loss,  succeed  in
getting  out  of  an  undesirable  »investment
without  waiting  for  the  final  catastrophe.