第 4 节
作者:京文      更新:2022-11-28 19:15      字数:9314
  much the same thing。 The sort of bond that a trustee will call safe does not
  bring the owner more than about three and one…half per cent。'〃
  〃'Why; there are some six per cent bonds!' I said; and I pointed them
  out to him。〃
  〃'Selling   at   137   7…8;   you   see;'   said   Mr。   Beverly。   'Deducting   the   tax;
  there   you   are   scaled   down   again。'   He   pencilled   some   swift   calculations。
  'There;' said he。 And I nearly understood them。 'Now I'm not here to stop
  your   buying   that   sort   of   petticoat   and   canary…bird   wafer;'   continued   Mr。
  Beverly。 'It's   the   regular   trustee   move; and   nobody  could   criticise   you   if
  you made it。 It's what I call thoughtless safety; and it brings you about 3 1…
  2 per cent; as I have already shown you。 Anybody can do it。'〃 These words
  of Mr。 Beverly made me feel that I did not want to do what anybody could
  do。 'There is another kind of safety which I call thoughtful safety;' said he。
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  'Thoughtful;   because   it   requires   you   to   investigate   properties   and   their
  earnings;   and   generally   to   use   your   independent   judgment   after   a   good
  deal of work。 And all this a   trustee greatly dislikes。 It rewards you   with
  five and even six per cent; but that is no stimulus to a trustee。'〃
  〃Something   in   me   had   leaped   when   Mr。   Beverly   mentioned   six   per
  cent。 Again I thought of Ethel and October; and what a difference it would
  be   to   begin   our  modest   housekeeping   on sixty  instead of   forty  thousand
  dollars a year; outside of what I was earning。 Mr。 Beverly now rang a bell。
  'You happen to have come;' said he; 'on a morning when I can really do
  something       for  you   out   of  the   common。      Bring    me   (it  was   a  clerk   he
  addressed)   one   of   those   Petunia   circulars。   Now   here   you   can   see   at   a
  glance for yourself。' He began reading the prospectus rapidly aloud to me
  while     I  followed    its  paragraphs     with   my    own    eye。   His   strong;   well…
  polished thumb…nail ran heavily but speedily down the columns of figures
  and   such   words   as   gross   receipts;   increase   of   population;   sinking   fund;
  redeemable       at  105    after  1920;    churned     vigorously     and   meaninglessly
  through my brain。 But I was not going to let him know that to understand
  the circular   I   should   have   to   take   it   away  quietly  to   my  desk   in   Nassau
  Street; and spend an hour with it alone。〃
  〃'What is your opinion of Petunia Water sixes?' he inquired。〃
  〃'They are a lead…pipe cinch;' I immediately answered; and he slapped
  me on the knee。〃
  〃'That's   what   I   think!'   he   cried。   'Anyhow;   I   have   taken   20;000   for
  mother。 Do what you like。'〃
  〃'Oh well;' said I; delighted at this confidence; I think I can afford to
  risk what you are willing to risk for your mother; Mrs。 Beverly。 Where is
  Petunia; did you say?'〃
  〃He     pulled   down     a  roller  map    on   the  wall   as   you   draw    down     a
  window…blind; and again I listened to statements that churned in my brain。
  Petunia was a new resort on the sea coast of New Hampshire。 One railway
  system  did   already  connect   it   with   both   Portsmouth   and   Portland;   but   it
  was    not   a  very   direct   connection     at  present。   Yet   in  spite   of  this;  the
  population had increased 23 and seven…tenths per cent in five years; and
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  now     an   electric   railway    was   in   construction     that  would     double    the
  population in the next five years。 This was less than what had happened to
  other  neighbouring   resorts   under   identical   conditions;   yet   with   things   as
  they now were; the company was earning two per cent on its stock; which
  was   being   put   into   improvements。 The   stock   was   selling   at   30;   and   if   a
  dividend was paid next year; it would go to par。 But Mr。 Beverly did not
  counsel buying the stock。 'I did not let mother have any;' he said; 'though I
  took some myself。 But the bonds are different。 You're getting the last that
  will be sold at par。 In three days they will be placed before the public at
  102 1/2 and interest。'〃
  〃I was well pleased when I left Mr。 Beverly's office。 In a few days I
  was still more pleased to learn that I could sell my Petunia sixes for 104 if
  so wished。 But I did not wish it; and Mr。 Beverly told me that he should
  not   sell   his   mother's   unless   they   went   to   110。   'In   that   case;'   said   he;   'it
  might be worth while to capitalise her premium。'〃
  〃I liked the idea of capitalising one's premium。 If you had fifty bonds
  that cost you par; and sold them at 110; you would then buy at par fifty…
  five bonds of some other rising kind; and go on doing this untilI named
  no limit for this process; but my delighted mind saw visions of eighty and
  a hundred thousand a yearcomfort at least; if not affluence in New York
  and I explained to Ethel what the phrase capitalising one's premium meant。
  I showed her the Petunias; too; and we read what it said on the coupons
  aloud together。 Ethel was at first not quite satisfied with the arrangement
  of the coupons。 'Thirty dollars on January first; and thirty on July first;' she
  said。 That seems   a long  while to wait   for those payments; Richard。 And
  there are only two in every year; though you pay them a thousand dollars
  all at once。 It does not seem very prompt on their part。' I told her that this
  was the rule。 'But;' she urged; 'don't you think that a man like Mr。 Beverly
  might     be  able   to  get  them   to   make    an  exception     if  he  explained    the
  circumstances?        Other   people    may    be   satisfied   with   waiting    for  little
  crumbs in this way; but why should we?' I soon made her understand how
  it was; however; and I explained many other facts about investments and
  the stock market to her; as I learned them。 It was a great pleasure to do this。
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  We came to talk about finance even more than we talked of my writings;
  for during that Spring I invested a good deal more rapidly than I wrote。
  The Petunias had taken only one…twentieth of a million dollars; and though
  Mr。 Beverly warned me to rush hastily into nothing; and pointed out the
  good sense of distributing my eggs in a number of baskets; still we both
  agreed that the sooner all my money was bringing me five or six per cent;
  the better。〃
  〃I   have   come   to   think   that   it   might   be   well   were   women   taught   the
  elements of investing as they are now taught French and Music。 I would
  not   have   the   French   and   Music   dropped;   but   I   would   add   the   other。   It
  might be more of a protection to women than being able to read a French
  novel; and perhaps some day we shall have it so。 But of course it had been
  left   totally  out   of   Ethel's   education;   and   at   first   she   merely  received   my
  instruction   and   took   my   opinions。   It   was   not   long;   however;   before   she
  began to entertain some of her own; obliging me not infrequently to reason
  with her。 I very well remember the first occasion that this happened。〃
  〃We   had   been   as   usual   talking   about   stocks;   as   we   walked   on   the
  Riverside Drive on a Sunday afternoon in May。 Ethel had been for some
  moments silent。 'Richard;'   she finally  began; 'if I   had had the naming of
  these things; I should never have called them securities。 Insecurities comes
  a great deal nearer what they are。 What right has a thing that says on its
  face it is worth a thousand dollars to go bobbing up and down in the way
  most of them do? I think that securities is almost sarcastic。 And have you
  noticed the price of those Petunias?'〃
  〃I had; of course; noticed it; but I had not mentioned it to Ethel。 'I read
  the    papers   now;'   she   explained;     'morning     and   evening。    Of   course    the
  market   is   off   a   little   on   account   of   the   bank   statement。   But   that   is   not
  enough to account for the Petunias。'〃
  〃'Ethel; you are nervous;' I said。 'And it is the papers which make you
  so。   The   Petunias   are   a   first   lien   on   the   whole   property;   of   which   the
  assessed valuation'〃
  〃'What is the good;' she interrupted; 'of a first lien on something which
  depends on politics for its existence; if the politicians change their minds?