THE investment of money is a business, just as the manufacture of shoes and the selling of food are businesses. But modern investing is even more than a business; it is influenced by and covers all businesses, all enterprises, all industry. In the early days of the Republic, the situation was, of course, somewhat different. At that time there was but little wealth and therefore little capital. Population was sparse, privation was great, men were absorbed in holding body and soul together, in feeding and clothing themselves, rather than in seeking for luxuries. There was no leisure class in those days and, as a consequence, no investing class. For then, an investing class could only be drawn from a leisure class. Nowadays investors are made up from all classes, and a vast amount of money which is invested in stocks and bonds and other enterprises is the money of the poor, of the moderately-well-to-do and of the industrious, as well as of the merely rich and the non-industrious or idle. One hundred years ago only a very few could spare anything beyond their daily needs for investment in outside things. If they accumulated any wealth at all above their cost of living, it was used to buy or build a home, raise and educate a family or develop a small undertaking of their own. And, indeed, even though they acquired or possessed surplus wealth, practically the only forms of investment accessible were government securities or loans upon realty. There were no railroads, no trolley companies, no manufacturing enterprises of large size, or other fields for the productive employment of surplus capital. Even savings banks were practically unknown, and mining or exploration enterprises were largely of that uncertain, speculative nature that only the boldest and least timorous would look favorably upon.

But to-day the field of investment covers enterprises of every conceivable nature. Manufacturing corporations covering every thinkable need or luxury of the human being, distributing concerns selling every kind and class of necessity and luxury in the line of food, clothing, or what not, are all embraced in the investment field. Transportation methods of every kind from the stage-coach to the powerful locomotive, from the coal cart to the automobile, are operated with the capital of investors. Our department stores, our restaurants, our candy manufacturers, our theaters, our magazines and newspapers, the advertisements in the street cars, many of the metropolitan barber shops, the boot-black stands, and the news stands and book stores are operated by corporations, the capital in which is largely derived from investors. Not a large building is now put up on lower Broadway but that an enormous corporation puts in the foundation; another corporation erects the superstructure and still others put on the finishing touches, all being concerns whose shares or bonds are owned by investors in all parts of the country. The hats we wear, the umbrellas we carry, the suit of clothes, the shoes, the socks, the shave we had this morning, or the ham we ate this noon - all these were shaped and produced to a large extent by the money of investors. When we realize that one corporation in this country boasts of over eighty thousand stockholders, and that many others are known to have over thirty thousand, we begin to get a slight idea of the magnitude of the investment field.

But this is not all. Not only is all modern business essentially the investors' field, but all the obligations of municipalities, of counties, cities and States are held by investors.

The governments themselves build up their navies and armies, carry on wars and develop public works with the money of investors. A case in point is our own Panama Canal. And not only do the investors of one country supply funds for their own activities, but they also supply much for the activities of other nations. Thus, when the American is investing money in a Mexican gold mine or in Japanese Government bonds, he is supplying investment funds to undertakings in those countries, and when the Englishman or Frenchman buys our railroad or industrial bonds or stocks, he is supplying investment capital for undertakings in our own country. The investors' field in this country would seem, therefore, to be limited only by the wealth of the country itself.

But what about the methods for investing money? Where does the money come from? Does it all come into Wall Street and the other financial centers, or does it flow directly from the pockets of the investors into the undertaking or enterprise itself?

Speaking broadly, there are two methods by which money is invested in any given enterprise. These are, direct and indirect. The person who places money directly, or through a broker or banker, in a specific enterprise or undertaking is a direct investor. He personally becomes the stock or bond-holder in a corporation of his own choosing. But the man who deposits his money in a savings bank, insurance, or trust company or State or National bank, is an indirect investor. His money goes into an investment of some sort where it earns the interest which he receives and possibly a little more. In the former case, he sees his money at work; it stays presumably in the place where he puts it. In the latter case, he delegates the matter of actual investment to another - to the bank - which acts in the capacity of a trustee, and invests his money for him. And in both cases, the money may easily be invested in the same enterprise. Thus, in the latter case, he may place his money in a savings bank, and the bank may then invest it in New York Central Railroad 3 1/2% bonds. In the former case he may himself, through an investment banker, purchase New York Central Railroad 3 1/2% bonds. His money is in the same enterprise in both instances, the chief difference being that, in one case, he knows it; in the other, he does not.

This brief sketch of the investment field which obtains in this country to-day will give a rough idea of the breadth of the subject under discussion. And, in taking this broad view, we must bear the fact in mind that this is not a stationary condition, for the American investment field is broadening and intensifying every day. It is not only growing in size and volume, but also in density. We, even more, I think, than most other modern nations, are going through a quiet, steady, but most remarkable evolution in the methods of wealth production and distribution. Ten years ago we were referred to as "a nation of investors," but this appellation is far more appropriate today than it was then. The changes during the past ten years in this respect are in no way better illustrated than in the remarkable expansion of Wall Street. The mere growth of stock exchange business, while great in itself, is not a complete guide in this matter. We must necessarily take into consideration the vast expansion of investment business outside of the stock exchange floor.

While there are no accurate figures for demonstration, the acknowledged fact that a hundred first-class investment houses exist in the Street to-day where ten existed in 1896 is evidence enough in itself that the expansion has been great. In 1896 or 1897, if an investment bond house bought or sold $500,000 or $1,000,000 of bonds in one block or at one time, the fact was heralded far and wide as a notable event; nowadays such transactions and much larger ones are constantly going through and create no comment whatever. In those days, if a bond or investment firm made half a million dollars in any one year, it was regarded as a most remarkable showing, but at the present time, dozens of houses can be pointed out in the Street which are making this or a better showing every year. To-day, single firms buy entire issues of bonds or stocks sometimes running into the tens of millions in amount; ten years ago this was unheard of, and usually a "million dollar loan" was regarded as of such magnitude that it required a syndicate of half a dozen or more concerns to underwrite it. In the field of stock speculation and trading, in those days, a business of 15,000 shares in one day was regarded as very large. To-day many firms do 50,000 to 100,000 shares per day right along in normal times. Then, a firm carrying on margin $5,000,000 worth of stocks was a large firm; to-day many are constantly carrying from $30,000,000 to $40,000,000 worth. In the actual banking field the expansion has been equally great. Now many banks and trust companies in the city of New York can boast of deposits of $40,000,000 and over; in those days none could. And yet there are now several times the banking facilities in New York that there were in 1896.

While Wall Street is the main center of investment, it alone has not enjoyed all the expanding. Other cities, all over the land, can now boast of financial and investment centers of no mean extent. In most cases they have close alliances with the main center in New York, but they are all sharing in the general expansion of this particular phase of modern commercial advancement.

The fact should be consistently borne in mind that this great investment field is constantly being accelerated from several sources. Not only does it benefit by the steady growth of population and general development of the country, but it expands steadily because of the fact that it is becoming increasingly necessary to do things more and more on a large scale, and this tendency automatically involves the elimination of the smaller producer and competitor, and forces a steadily expanding element into the field of investment. Even the busy workers of today, as well as the leisure classes and those who pursue the professions, find it profitable to place their surplus funds more and more into enterprises outside of their chosen environment. It is this tendency of modern civilization which has much to do with making the investor class of greater importance in all parts of the country.