The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-05-23
Investments at Homes and Abrs ad ,

~ WtS 6NetVf W HtC TCSS.
Belfast man invested $500 in Cardiff. Tenn.
and lost his money. The same man put $500 into
business enterprise In Belfast, and on June 1st
VIII receive an annual dividend of 20 per cent,
wnlle the capital stock of the concern has doubled
moral; invest your money at home and develop
22d. --"'
The above item Is bit of journalistic
logic which will hardly stand the test of
true syllogism. Substitute the following
terms; the facts will warrant It,
A Portland man invested $500 in Maine sill
ver mining company and lost his money. The
and mas Just sold it for $4,000. Moral: Invest
your money wisely, whether at home or abroad!
Er post fGcto wisdom in the matter of in
vestments is very common in this epoch of
boom" towns. farm mortgages and unfiuit-
full ventures in California climate, but the
writer does not know that it has given birth
to any new business principle or to any in
fallibe rule Of business conduct.
Capital will now. as always, be attracted
Dy the prospect OF large returns, and by
promising investments anywhere; the fail
ure OF the Cardiff enterprise, In the above
instance, has no significance whatever ex-
cept as plausible illustration Of specious
argument, by force of which. II long ago ac-
cepted, this c0untry's development would
have been confined to the Atlantic coast.
Every man prefers to have his money near
him; the force Of gravitation in finance is in
banks reports show that this Is far from be-
ing wholly overcome by the attraction of 10
per cent in Tennessee. 1t Is wholly a uues
tion Of opportunity and the results of expe-
rience. OF prudence and not of principle.
Bad investments have been made In Maine
enterprises, and doubtless will be again, but
any reputable man, with business scheme
for Maine can secure from capitalists a re-
spectful hearing and careful inyestiga-
tion, as readily today as ever.
The Belfast concert alluded to seems to
have found no difficulty In placing its capital
have with half the showing intimated in the
above item.
The common sense of the people expressed
In our statutes, recognizes the lack OF 0ppor-
tunity for the investment of trust funds at
home when 1t allows our savings banks to
invest in certain kinds of security in many
remote states, and it is little difficult to un-
derstand the moral difference between In
veStments in Western bonds and Southern
blast furnaces, when the income only Is ex-
pended at home In either case. 1t Is notice.
able also that such implied fault-fnding
does not as rule proceed from those who
have money but from those who have 1t not.
The man who has accumulated fortune
freely admits the right of everyone to do
what he will with his own; having made his
money by virtue Of this same right he is not
likely to be shackled in its disposition by
purely sentimental consideration as to place
nor to claim the privilege of debating to
others. Between equally promising oppOr-
tunities at home and abroad, in nine cases
out Of ten he will choose the former, but
other things being equal, the probable per
centum will control the capital, be 1t in
Maine or Minnesota.
And it is well for the country at large that
1t is so. 4. d. +.