begun, like that of many of the English Trusts, at a bad moment, just before the 1890 crisis, which led to an American panic of 1893, complicated by difficulties in Australasia. Scotsmen maintain, and with good reason, that they know better than anyone how to manage investment Trusts, and that the remoteness of Edinburgh from London is by no means a disadvantage.
The Edinburgh Investment Trust does not publish a list of its investments, but Mr. Robinson was able to tell us that its policy "has been to invest considerable funds in common shares." Its chairman told him that the secret of investment Trust management is to "avoid losses on holdings and allow a portion of net revenue to accumulate at compound interest." This, of course, is the "reserve fund policy," the benefits of which have been so often shown in previous pages. In its report dated March 28, 1925, it stated that its investment funds are distributed over 397 investments, an average of £3,620 in each. According to the usual valuation the investments at the close of the company's year (March 15) were worth over £340,000 more than the amount at which they appear in the balance-sheet, which amount was £1,438,226 6s. 1d.
From the point of view of the curious inquirer,
