it is much to be regretted that so few Trust companies publish a list of their investments. It has been stated that only about a quarter of those quoted in London Stock Exchange official lists give this information. Mr. Robinson, in his bulletin quoted from above, says that it is felt that the companies "would be handicapped in realizing on their holdings if knowledge of the extent of these holdings were public property." And practical Trust company men do not see why they should give away the secrets of their business.
These reasons may be sound, but reticence on the point is the more unfortunate because an attack on the investment policy of the Trust companies, in one important particular, was made by Mr. Harman of the Rock Investment Company in a speech reported in The Times of September 3, 1925; since it is always useful to investors to hear criticisms, let me give Mr. Harman's words:—
"We feel," he said, "that there is something fundamentally wrong in one investment company—except in quite exceptional circumstances—making permanent investments in the junior stocks of other investment companies. I know that the practice is a common one, but I am sure it is a very bad one. . . . My real objection is that it tends eventually to lead to
