The New Books (Continued) the author would reply that republican institutions live by criticism and perish when thought is shackled." SCIENCE Introduction to Astronomy (An). By Forest Ray Moulton, Ph.D. The Macmillan Company, New York. $2.25. Learning to Fly. A Practical Manual for Beginners. By Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company, New York. 75c. Organism as a Whole (The). From a Physicochemical Viewpoint. By Jacques Loeb, M.D. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. $2.50. Physical Basis of Society (The). By Carl Kelsey, Ph.D. D. Appleton & Co., New York. $2. Practical English Composition. Book IV. For the Fourth Year of High School. By Edwin L. Miller. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 45c. Year with the Birds (A). By Alice E. Ball. Illustrated by R. B. Horsfall. Gibbs & Van Vleck, New York. $3. Mr. Horsfall's color pictures of birds are admirable-truer to life than those in many more pretentious books. The editor has selected and written poems which apply nicely to the various birds. MISCELLANEOUS Advertising and Its Mental Laws. By Henry Foster Adams, Ph.D. The Macmillan Company, New York. $1.50. Mr. Adams's work is a careful analysis of the psychology of advertising which cannot fail to be of some benefit to advertising experts. However, it is too technical and intricate to have much appeal to the general public. Amateur Circus Life. A New Method of Physical Development for Boys and Girls. By Ernest Balch. The Macmillan Company, New York. $1.50. Annals and Antiquities of Raiast'han. By Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod. In Two Volumes. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. $4 per set. City Types. A Book of Monologues Sketching the City Woman. By Marian Bowlan. T. S. Denison & Co., Chicago. $1.25. Dressmaking. A Manual for Schools and Colleges. By Jane Fales. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Book of Burlesques (A). By H. L. Mencken. The John Lane Company, New York. $1.25. A collection of satires and extravaganzas, with American Philistinism, chiefly, for their target. Greek and Roman Mythology. By Jessie M. Tatlock. The Century Company, New The author has been a successful teacher and understands the value of simplicity and brevity. The volume is handsomely and fully illustrated. University Debaters' Annual. Constructive and Rebuttal Speeches Delivered in Debates of American Colleges and Universities during the College Year 1915-1916. Edited by Edward Charles Mabie, A.M. The H. W. Wilson Company, White Plains, New York. $1.50. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Third Edition of the Merriam Series. G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, Mass. $3.50, $5, or $6, according to binding. Compact, easy to handle, the largest of the "abridged Websters." Over 1,200 closely printed but legible pages. Woman's Suffrage_by Constitutional Amendment. By Henry St. George Tucker. The Yale University Press, New Haven. $1.35. Writing for the Magazines. By J. Berg. Esenwein. (The Writer's Library.) Edited by J. Berg Esenwein. The Home Correspondence School, Springfield, Mass. $1.50. Writing the Popular Song. By E. M. Wickes. Introduction by Harry von Tilzer. (The Writer's Library.) The Home Correspondence School, Springfield, Mass. $1.25. Ye Towne Gossip. Third Series. By K. C. B. (Kenneth Carrol Beaton). Duffield & Co., New York. [Advertisement] DOES EDUCATION MAKE US HAPPY? The Experience of a Man Who Went to School at Thirty What I did has meant so much in my life that it should prove helpful to everyone who, like me, missed the advantages of college training. I am in no way exceptional, nor do I possess more than the average ability. Yet I have found that deep satisfaction that comes only with the appreciation and ability to enjoy the finer things in life. I possess happiness that never before seemed possible to me. The financial circumstances in which my family was placed limited me to the ordinary public school education. Just when I was old enough to appreciate all that further education would mean to me, I was called upon to contribute my mite to the family stipend. For twelve years, until August, 1915, I plodded along in the dally routine of office work. I applied myself diligently and faithfully, rising to a position that paid $30 a week. There I stopped. Men with whom I had started side by side were being promoted above me. I became dissatisfied with myself and began to worry. Among my friends, I was a social failure. I suppose they liked me well enough, but I felt inferior. I was embarrassed by ignorance of facts, the knowledge of which they took for granted. In conversation, I could repeat only what I read in the papers or got from hearsay. I contributed nothing of my I was a social nobody. own. At home, it was the same story. My wife and I had nothing of interest to tell each other. It was a continuous re-iteration of petty talk and gossip that gave us nothing worth while. We only bored each other. Making no headway in business, unequal to the demands of social life, dissatisfied with the humdrum relations of home, at the age of thirty-one I decided to take stock of myself. The drudgery of office routine had shut me off from the interests of the intellectual world. Culture seemed beyond me. I compared myself with the people I most admired to discover what they possessed that I lacked. In every case I observed that they were well informed on all matters of importance. They could reason well and use their minds to advantage when discussing topics that required education and a knowledge of the world's best thought. In the office, the men I envied were men whose educational training enabled them to tackle the fundamentals of a business problem. I thought of college, but the expense was beyond my meagre saving, and leaving my work for four years was impossible. My situation seemed hopeless. At this time my wife made the great discovery. Returning from the home of friends, she told me excitedly what at first seemed like a romance. She had never really enjoyed their company before. Now she spoke of the wonderful change that had come over them. Why, dear, they were as well read and as intelligent as Mr. Mitchell whom you admire so much. They talked about good books and the latest discoveries in science. It was really very interesting. I just had to ask him where he found out about all these things. He told me he had enrolled in the most wonderful university in the world. You get all the interesting courses in your home and are able to do them in your spare time. There are so many famous professors in it that it must be fine, and Fred said that it was real pleasure to take their courses. This is their address, let's write at once.' I wrote, and received the courses for the first month with complete instructions on how to make study easy. I had not even sent them any money. The letter I received from my instructor was a revelation to me. I saw at once why my previous unsystematic efforts had been futile Study used to be a hardship for me. They told me how to make it easy. The first month's courses covered an introduction to science, the wonders of the origin of life, and a history of our time that covered the political developments in Europe and America before the war. The last course gave me an understanding of the causes that led to this war and cleared up all my historical blindspots. Each course was written by a worldfamous professor in simple, clear style I could easily understand. I was delighted and enrolled at once. The courses they sent me were by: Prof. Brewster, of Columbia University; Prof. Councilman, of Harvard; Prof. Gilbert Murray, Oxford Univ.; John Masefield, the famous English poet; Prof. Bury, Cambridge Univ.; Prof. T. C. Smith, Williams College; Prof. Chas. McLean Andrews, Yale; Prof. Herbert Fisher, Yale; Prof. J. L. Meyers, Oxford; Bertrand Russell, Oxford; Prof. Frederick Paxson, Univ. of Wisconsin; Gilbert Chesterton, Prof. J. A. Thomson, Univ. of Aberdeen; Prof. Patrick Geddes; Prof. John Erskine, Columbia Univ.; H. N. Brailsford, W. E. B. Du Bois, Prof. William MacDonald, Brown Univ.; Granville Cole, Prof. Royal College of Science, Ireland; and as many others equally prominent. These courses covered the whole field of modern knowledge. Every so often I received personal letters from my instructor. By skillful questions he brought out my weak points and showed me how to overcome them. I was also provided with study outlines that proved of great assistance. Whenever any difficulties arose, I wrote, telling what I could not understand, and my instructor always cleared them up for me. At the end of the year they had sent me forty text-books, making a very handsome reference library. I was too interested in the courses to notice any change in myself, but my wife noticed it at once. She became very much interested on her own account, and soon we were studying together. Our home was no longer dull. At the office, too, I felt the change. The mental discipline the courses gave me, the lessons in concentration I received, and the ability to think systematically, soon showed their value in my work. The actual knowledge I acquired, combined with increased mental power and energy, soon won the attention of the chief executive and brought about my rapid promotion. I now hold an important executive position and have hopes of being taken into the firm. What I My case is not an unusual one. have accomplished any one can do. My enjoyment and the practical benefits it brought me are within your reach. You need risk nothing. The directors of The Home University realize that educational training is an inestimable asset to anyone no matter how situated. They are therefore anxious to offer educational opportunities to as many people as possible. So confident are they of your appreciation that they will send the first month's courses on approval. If they are not what you want, simply return them within five days. A request sent to them at 63 Fifth Avenue, New York City, will bring the courses to you immediately. Or, for your convenience, use the blank form below. Name.... Address. The Home University, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Please send me, prepaid, first month's courses and text-books of The Home University with direction on How To Study. I will return them within five days or send you three dollars. |||||||| ESTABLISHED 1865 you "I notice that they are offering in this town the stock of the Oil Company. I am a great believer in the future of oil. Would advise me to buy one thousand shares as part of a trust fund for my children? My son objects to this. They are selling it at one cent a share, so that I could buy one thousand shares for $10. What do you think of the proposition?" The unusual nature of this letter brings up a psychologically interesting side of the investment business, and one which deserves attention at this time because the habit of proceeding on generalities constitutes a serious danger to the inexperienced investor. At the same time there are principles involved in this discussion which may throw some light on the status of securities in general, in bad times as well as good. Every one knows that the country has been prosperous. That means a great accumulation of capital, consisting very largely of surpluses of commercial businesses, of the bank accounts of individuals in whom these business interests are vested, and of all classes of society participating in profits or increased wages. THE HIGH COST OF INVESTMENTS This surplus fund is for the most part invested. It has been invested to a great extent in stocks and bonds. As a result of the large and continually increasing demand for stocks and bonds to provide for the further investment of this accumulating surplus, prices which investments command have gone higher and higher, until highgrade securities yield so low a return as to be somewhat unsatisfactory to the buyer in point of yield. People who attempt to solve the high cost of living by seeking a higher return on their investments overlook the vital fact that prices for securities have risen along with the prices for all ordinary commodities. The theories of economics do not admit this to be the invariable rule, but the prosperity of the United States during the past year has been so overwhelming that bond and stock prices have risen with everything else. The facts are more pertinent than the theories. THE SUBSTITUTE As soon as leather shoes began to cost from $6 to $8 a pair a substitute for leather was offered. It is probably a good substitute. As soon as high-grade securities began to sell at prices which left the investor with an income of little or nothing over 6 per cent, if that, substitute investments were offered. They are almost invariably bad substitutes, either promotions or outright stock swindles. When capital flows freely, as it does now, it behooves every investor to differentiate between the established and seasoned, and the false and deceitful in investment offerings. To prevent substitutes many of the States have put into effect Blue Sky Laws intended to stop the sale of securities representing an interest in nothing but the wide blue sky. The promotions seem, however, to go on unchecked. Some of them are ridiculous, others clever and diabolical. Some are presented in literature resembling bill posters with the emphasis in red ink; others have all the appearances of high-class legitimate advertising matter. The former schemes usually catch the in experienced and gullible small investor who has no conception of business or finance; the latter will often prove the pitfalls of the unwary or trusting. There is a gamut of "investment" offerings lying between these two general classes in which every acquisitive instinct finds a sympathetic enord. QUALIFICATIONS FOR A PROMOTER Anything will do in the way of a business to promote so long as it has possibilities on which a loose imagination can generalize. The one essential qualification for the business of stock jobbing or swindling is outlined unconsciously in an advertisement which appeared last year in a New York paper to somewhat the following effect: Wanted-Well-educated young man to write literature and circulars for stock broker. No knowledge of securities necessary. Must have good imagination and flow of language and write in a convincing style. A further qualification is a due regard for the law and a sufficient knowledge of the postal regulations to realize that a promotion must have at least some small basis in fact to go safely through the mails. And therefore mining promotions, although losing popularity, still exist in large numbers. Oil companies continue to hold their attractions, due, no doubt, to the excellent records of the Standard Oil subsidiaries since the dissolution of the old New Jersey holding company. But the industrial stocks, particularly motor shares, receive the most assiduous attention from those who have "good imagination and flow of language and write in a convincing style." INTERESTING VARIETIES OF PROMOTIONS From the "Financial World," which has been active in the exposure of stock enterprises of doubtful character, we cite the following typical examples of the ridiculous and the insidious in promotion literature: 1. Stock is offered at 50 cents per share in a concern proposing to establish a large business in the sale of tooth-paste. A statement made in this connection, apparently by the promoters, is that ninety per cent of the population use dental cream. On this assumption, it is estimated that if every drug store in the United States sells one tube of the paste a day the profits will be 321 per cent a year. The "Financial World" is informed, on good authority-viz., by a manufacturer who has spent $100,000 in advertising a certain toothpaste--that not over twenty per cent of our population use a tooth-brush at all. 2. A promoter writing to his "clients," selected, as they often are, from lists of doctors, ministers, and school-teachers, informs them that he is presenting them with $20, which is inclosed. Instead of a $20 bill the recipient finds an option to buy a share of stock (par value $100) for the sum of $80. What the stock is really worth is of course a moot point, but the so-called investor is occasionally found who will accept the promoter's assertion of its value without investigation, particularly if the promoter's description is convincing. 3. The so-called "treasurer "" of a defunct concern writes the stockholders that their past losses have been due to bad management, that their enterprise has merit if properly directed, that it requires new working capital, which, if supplied, will put the company on a profitable business basis. In fact, a new company has been formed to take over the old, and the stockholder may recoup his former losses simply by exchang ESTABLISHED 1865 ESTABLISHED 1865. A Broad and 6% Investments $100, $500 and $1,000 Denominations We are fortunate in having available a desirable selection of high-grade 6% investments at a time when there is a noticeable shortage in the supply of such securities and a tendency towards lower rates. Send for Circular No. 975Z, which offers investments Well secured by various classes of prop erty : Protected by large established earnings: Maturing from two to twenty-five years: Bearing our strongest recommendation, based upon complete investigation long experience. and Peabody, Houghteling & Co. (ESTABLISHED 1865) 10 South La Salle St. Chicago ESTABLISHED 1865|||||| Write today for booklet No. 46, "The Partial Payment Plan," which explains thoroughly our method by which you may purchase Stocks and Bonds of Railroad, Industrial and Public Utility Companies in any amount -from one share or bond up, by making a small first payment and the balance in convenient monthly installments of $5, $10, $20, etc., depending upon number purchased. You may sell your securities at any time to take advantage of rise in market. Your investments may be divided Ask for Booklet No. 46 SHELDON-MORGAN & Company Promotions in Prosperous Times (Continued) ing his old stock for new and paying a small assessment. This is an old but infallible hoax, because it threatens the everhopeful stockholder with absolute loss unless the assessment is forthcoming. EARMARKS OF THE SWINDLE As a result of an analysis of numerous swindles, it might be said that there are certain earmarks of a stock or bond offering which indicate its doubtful character. Briefly these earmarks are as follows: 1. The argument that the investor should buy immediately because the price of the stock will be advanced within a short time. The arbitrary advancing of a price does not increase the true value of a stock. The true value as far as the stockholder is concerned is what the stock can be sold for, not what the promoter asks for it. 2. The argument that the association of prominent men with a company assures the investor of the merit of the stock as an investment. 3. The argument that other men engaged in a similar line of business have made millions from an original investment of little or nothing. 4. The argument that the company desires to place its stock in the hands of numerous small investors so that control may not become vested in a small group of capitalists. Or that, to this same end, only a limited number of persons in each State will be permitted to buy the stock. It is a trick of the trade to paint a picture of capital as an octopus eager to seize the wonderful idea to which the company has the exclusive right. The swindler sometimes expresses his delight at his opportunity to enrich those of us who find ourselves in moderate circumstances. 5. The argument that the company has orders and contracts in sight, or under consideration, or about to be signed, which will mean large earnings on the stock issue. Even where a company has such contracts in force on which earnings are anticipated the point to remember is that money may be lost as well as made on an agreement to do a certain thing at a contract price. In other words, a contract may be either a liability or an asset, depending on its terms. 6. The argument that certain newspapers or publications have given favorable notice to the company or commended its securities. Such an argument is usually supported with facsimile clippings. At this point many investors disregard the platitude, "Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers. 7. The argument that the company has assets largely in excess of its stock issue. If the business has liabilities, the liabilities have the first claim on the assets. The fact that assets are represented in a circular to be in excess of the stock issue is of no consequence if those same assets are opposed by liabilities. There are two sides to every balance sheet, not simply the assets side. Liabilities come ahead of the stock. PHYSICAL EARMARKS Physical earmarks are as follows: 1. A picture of the president of the promotion. It is apparently presumed that the investor will take a liking to his countenance. What he has done before is usually enlarged upon in a most impressive manner. 2. A picture of a factory or of an oil field or of a mine shaft, in some part of which is displayed a sign showing that the photograph is genuine, and proving that the property is actually the property of the Not One Dollar of Loss to our customers from the many million dol- New First National Bank, Department 12 Columbus, Ohio Write for this investment book Promotions in Prosperous Times (Continued) company. The literature which these pictures illustrate usually omits to inform the reader whether the property is leased or owned, and, if owned, to what extent mortgaged or attached. Pictures of automobiles, of motors, rubber tires, breakfast foods, and what-not serve the same irrelevant purpose. 3. Names are often copied in such a way as to deceive the investor into thinking by association of ideas that a firm is connected with some strikingly successful business of good repute. 4. Absence of a reputable financial or banking support. The Blue Sky Laws are particularly antagonistic to the sale of stock by the issuing company. The difficulty is overcome by the promoter through the creation of a firm of brokers to act as "fiscal agents" and "investment bankers." The creation of a legally separate concern complies with the letter, though not always with the spirit, of the Blue Sky Laws. A great many brokerage firms have come into existence recently for promotion purposes of a get-rich-quick nature. 5. The listing of high-grade securities in circulars of fly-by-night concerns sometimes serves to conceal their parasitical occupations. The character and reliability of the firm with which the investor deals is the first point on which any intelligent person would require assurance. Yet every week brings out another newspaper report of the investor who has paid for stock on which he cannot get delivery. Several brokers have been indicted recently for failure to deliver McClave & Co. stocks paid for by their clients. They are 67 Exchange Place, N.Y.City THE MORTGAGE GUARAN- STOCK BONUSES It is gener ally believed that four of the big Standard Oil subsidiary companies will shortly ratify increases in their capitalization, which will give shareholders stock bonuses ranging from 60% to 300%. And there are six more of the Standard Oils which have accumulated sufficient surpluses to justify nearby distribution of large dividends to stockholders. The ten subsidiaries in question, along with general information covering the Standard Oils, are listed in our fortnightly publication "Investment Opportunities" Anyone who is interested in increasing the earning power of his surplus funds should regularly receive this valuable publication. It will be sent without charge, begining with current issue, upon request for 38-OT, including booklet detailing "The Twenty Payment Plan" SLATTERY&6 Investment Securities 40 Exchange Place New York brokers as above described who were in business, not to sell and deliver legitimate securities, but to induce the unsuspecting to buy attractive certificates not worth the parchment they are printed on. 6. Sales on the installment plan. Buying stock of a new promotion on the installment plan is entirely different from buying a marketable listed stock from a reputable broker on the partial payment plan. In the first case it is practically impossible to sell a promotion stock, and equally impossible to require the return of the money invested. On a partial payment contract the investor may order the sale of his stock at the mar ket price and the immediate remittance of his balance. PROMOTIONS IN TIMES OF DEPRESSION When the periodical reaction sets in, as it always does in this country, either in mild or severe form, it will be impossible to enlist other people's money in new enterprises. People will be too pessimistic to entertain dreams of the boundless possibilities now so successfully pictured in promotion literature. Victims of deceitful flotations on being informed that liabilities are in excess of assets will discover, when the proceedings are closed, that the management and its affiliations are the preferred creditors. The promoters of many corporations by their own designing have brought them to an untoward end, thus to provide themselves with funds during hibernation until the time comes when new schemes can be launched. The real test of a security comes during a period of deflation. The thing to consider in buying stocks and bonds is, not the conditions which prevail now, when every business, whether efficient or otherwise, makes money, but what the conditions will be in the affairs of the corporation under discussion when competition of the most severe kind must be met. History will show that inflation is going on to-day. The case is very clearly stated by a writer for a re $100-6% Bonds on Partial Payments Here is a new form of investment which is making a strong appeal because of its guaranteed safety as to principal and interest-its high yield and the attractive partial payment plan enabling the investor to pay as he saves. Authorized by the Cuban Government Cuba is the second richest per capita country in the world. In order to further develop its vast natural resources, the Banco Territorial de Cuba, with a paid up capital of $5,000,000, has been exclusively authorized by the Cuban Government to issue Mortgage Bonds on Cuban Real Estate. These bonds are signed and sealed by an Official Comptroller appointed by the Government. Besides the capital of the bank, which is virtually under Government control, the assets behind the bonds represent aptimes the proximately three amount of the issue. Send for These Books |