The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1903-12-12
PERCY POND ON INVESTMENTS
THAT ARE SAFE FOR YOUNG men
Paper Read Before the Problem Club at Its
Meeting Thursday Evening--practicaI Talk
by Business Man.

per on safe Investments for Young
Men" at the meeting of the Problem
Club Thursday evening:
Mr.. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the
Life Problem Club.
Great as has been the progress of
social organization and practical phi
ianthropy in recent years, .lifes race
still remains for each of us very much
as thee@ld proverb has it-"Every man
for hxhself and the devil take the hind
mosts'
True, asylums, hospitals, dispensa-
ries and charity societies abound. No
one need starve. But the young man
OF today requires more than mere food
and shelter, the necessities Of physical
existence. His very nature cries out
for the broader growth and develop
ment OF an enlarged experience. He
must taste the pleasures of books. of
travel, of art, of social intercourse. He
must assume the responsibilities and
burdens of a home and family. Among
his fellows he Graves the respect that
is yielded only to manly independence
and successful achievement. None of
these things does society guarantee.
For them he must look to himself and
to himself alone. And the price of
them whether yielded in brain or
Drawn is usually measured in dollars
Life, then, viewed from the stand
point Of the young man of small means,
is to a large degree financial prob
lem. Reduced to it's simplest terms
the problem is this. First; the full
development of earning capacity Sec
ond; the wise expenditure of but
portion, Of the earnings Third; the
saving and investment Of the remain
der. The last topic is the one upon
which I have been requested to ad-
dress you tonight, viz: "The Intelli-
gent Investment of Savings"
1t is now some years since we in
Hawaii began our wanderings in the
wilderness of financial depression. Yet
the minds of some of us are still
haunted with delusive longings for the
feshpots of Egypt. the four cent sugar,
the monthly dividends of two per cent,
the fond dream of waking some morn
ing to find ourselves rich from the ap-
probation of stocks. The promised
land of small profits and sound busf-
ness methods is still unattractive to
our pampered tastes. Before going
farther, therefore, let me urge upon
you the paramount Importance in in
vestment of safety even though safety
is commonly attended with but low
rate of interest. There is no more
fruitful source of disaster to investors
than the seductive temptation to sacri-
flee safety for the gain of an addition
al per cent or two of interest A four
and one half per cent in the bank is
better than g. twenty per cent in
prospectus.
Again. buying a pig in a poke is
proverbially foolish. This principle
will at once eliminate from the field of
choice of the small investor all enter
prises that, whether from distance or
otherwise, do not admit of thorough
Investigation, and careful watching.
This bars practically all foreign in
vestments. and also such local propo-
sitions as are not frankly open to in
quiry.
shall consider tonight, therefore,
only the various classes of investment
afforded by our local market, viz, the
savings banks, secured loans (stock
loans, mortgage loans and bonds), in
stalment investments such as building
and loan, and life insurance, stocks,
and real estate.
These various forms of investment
differ widely in many respects, such
as the interest they produce, the Gus
tomary period of time they cover. the
ease with which they can be negotiated,
or converted into cash, the skill and
training required for their selection,
the time consumed in looking after
them. In choosing the. class of invest
ment and the precise individual of that
class best adapted to the investors
needs, it will be necessary to consider
with the utmost care, labor, and rect1-
tude of purpose every element OF his
situation The investment must not
merely be sound, it must be suitable.
The widow dependent upon the income
from small capital fund, or the man
of family who finds it hard to keep the
wolf from the door must accept the
more conservative forms though the in
terest be small. On the other hand
person of larger means or less heavy
responsibilities may properly, for the
larger profits offered, hazard in a more
speculative way SuCn d poItioii VI Asi'
savings as he feels he can afford to
lose. In the settlement of questions OF
this character it will generally be wise
to consult some friend or business asso-
ciate of greater maturity of Judgment
and broader business experience.
First of all the investor will nat
urally have recourse to the savings
bank Many are the benefits it confers.
1t offers the broadest option both OF
amount and period of deposit. 1t yields
a fair rate of interest,-four and one
half per cent, and though not hedged
about by law as strictly here as in the
States, it is nevertheless thoroughly
safe. Most of us would be much bet
ter off today had we confined our in-
vestmeats to the uninteresting but safe
records of our savings bank books.
If however the investor decides to
seek higher interest rate, his next
choice logically will be some form or
secured note. If "a" give you his note
for twenty-five dollars, you must rely
solely upon his willingness and capaci-