Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1919-10-31
TAKING CHANCES
ON INVESTMENTS
RISKY BUSINESS
THE MAN WHO MADE VAST FOR.
TUNES" IN STOCKS" Is
LARGELY MYTHICAL.
WHAT'S BEHIND COMPANY
Good Business Demands That Safety
Of Principal BE Guarded and
That There % Outlet for
Product.

"You can't get rich without taking
. chance" says the smooth promoter
Of the risky propositions that a large
share Of the public delights to buy.
The the promoters words are ~
false as his stock viii be revealed to
anyone who cares to study the meth
DDS which have made men successful
in their lines.
Ask any man who is accustomed to
getting good returns on his money how
he decides whether a proposition 10
worthy of investment. and his answer
probably will be that he first Of all
learns the identity of the men compos-
Ing the company. The reason for this
is obvious. or what use to invest In
a company that has an actual mountain
full of gold, or a hundred thousand
acres bubbling with oil. unless the men
composing the company are honest and
will give the investor his share?
Yet of the hundreds Of thousands OF
small investors who annually sunk
5000, 900 900 in worthless securities be-
fore the war, perhaps only one in 80
ever even inquired as to the reputa-
ton of the men selling the stock md
not one In 500 investigated the shad-
owy figures composing the company"
Having assured himself that the
men he Is to entrust with his money
are honest, the man who Is determined
not to lose his capital must ext as
sure himself that the concern whose
stock he buys has a sufficient demand
for It's goods or outlet for It's product
to enable It to pay dividends. In tho
case of old and w~ell-established busi-
nesses this Is usually very easily
done.
In the case Of new companies, the in
vestigator always has the sanguine,
hopes Of the promoters, however hon
est there may be, to discount in the!
light of known facts. Statistics show
that an enormous number Of new busi-
ness and manufacturing enterprises
fail every year, despite the honest and
vigorous efforts Of those starting
them. Unforeseen conditions or I'M
toward developments turn their ex-
pected dividends into deficits.
In the light of these facts, can you
put trust in the word Of the man wi
says, "Take a chance with your hard
earned money? Hardly. The wise
man takes the chance that the growth
Of the company will make his returns
bigger, but not the chance that his
money is safe, or that he will get u
fair return on it at all times. The Ia
who makes huge sums of money in
stocks" Is more a character Of fiction
than reality. Many men have made a
fortune out of some n particular
stock. They prospered because they
had spent years in studying the op-
portunities of the company behind the
stock.
Hardly. The reason that successful
men put large sums into government
securities Is that not a moment need
be spent in Investigating the safety
Of the money that is invested. They
never have to worry about safe
ty, and have their minds free for pros.
ecution of their business.
Before the war. $50 and 500 bonds
were not available for the man Of small
means. Nowadays the beauty OF in
vestment in government securities II
that whether q man has $50 or $780,
900 he can put 1t into Treasury Saw
ings Certificates. put them away nd
forget about them. assured Of the alb
solute safety OF his money and Of .
good return. He is further assured
that he can turn his securities back
into cash at almost an hours notice.
At present he has the word Of all
| financial authorities Of the country that
government bonds bought now will
yield him q substantial increase in
price in coming months The history
OF all wa issues Of government bonds
has been that they sold at a premium
during a period many years before
maturity.
II you are willing to lose money that
has taken you months or years to save.
take chances with it,; II you desire
to keep 1t. buy Treasury Savings Ger
ttR