The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-12-15

and modest men or business, VINO, GET
ting little more money than they care
to use, wish to "Salt it down y
who really need some rules to go by, in
order to insure their future safety.
There are three classes of investors
in the various popular securities: l.
Spectators, who care nothing about
the intrinsic value of security pro-
vided they can, in some way, manipu-
late it so as to get profit out of it in
the rapid handling, or take advantage
of the manipulation of others:2. Bus
mess men who invest for direct or in
direct business results; and 3. Invest
Ors for income, that shall be received
surely and regularly to supply the
means of life.
Suppose a railroad scheme is started.
Spectators look to see how they can
make anything out of it. Schemes
more numerous than we have space to
describe are entered upon to speculate
in lands, in contracts, in bonds, in any
thing. Business men, to forward their
own interests, help it along. 1t will
open up their land to settlement and
improvement, raise the value of their
property along the line. help their
markets, facilitate their business in
tercourse, and benefit them in so many
ways that they subscribe to the stock,
or take bonds; yet they will often do it
without the remotest expectation that
the road will pay as an investment, or
that they can even, in any direct way,
get their money back. TO these men
of speculation and business, we have
nothing to say. They know their own
risks and will take care Of themselves;
but the third class of investors are
always called upon to aid the project,
and they are, of course, uniformly bit
ten. With an experiment in railroads,
or manufactures, or any sort of business
enterprise, the investor for income has
nothing, or should have nothing, to do.
No promise of large dividends should
seduce him; no trust in the proposed
management, no show of confidence on
the part of shrewd business men. should
be permitted to throw him off his
guard. He should let every untried
enterprise alone, and touch nothing.
under any circumstances, that has not
demonstrated it's ability to earn the in
come promised in his bond, or expected
in his dividend. Allnew railroad bonds
should be Stunned as temptation of
the devil. If the business world cannot
build it's railroads without calling for
help from those who have no money to
lose, let them remain unbuilt until it
can. Nothing will suffer by the delay.
The grand desiderata with all invest
ors for income are genuine security in
the payment Of interest, and punctual-
lty. For these in the natural order of
things, we have always to pay, in one
way or another, premium. In other
words, to get these we must accept
moderate rate Of interest. High Der-
centages Of interest walk hand i'm hand
with risk: and with risk the investor
for income should have just as little to
do as possible. MOI banking institu-
ton, no new mandatory, no new rail
road, no new steamship line. no new
business enterprise of any kind or. to
put the whole matter in it's briefest
form and truest light, no experiment
should ever receive dollar from him
There is always good bank stock for
sale at its value. There are ALWAYS
good railroad bonds in the market at
their value There are Government
and State bonds always to be had for
their value. The investor for income
must be content with moderate inter
est, for the sake of security and for the
sake of punctuality, and in the stock
of weli-established banking institu
tiOns, i'll the bonds of old and prosperous
railroads, and in State and National Sc
curities, he can always find what he
wants. Better than any of these in
vestments is the mortgage on real