At a meeting of the Royal Statistical Society on Tuesday
Mr. George Paish read a paper on " Great Britain's Capital Investments in Other Lands." He said that the statement of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue as to our income from investments abroad was far from comprehensive. It showed our income from Indian, Colonial, and foreign bonds to be £31,039,083. The income from this source had expanded rapidly in recent years, chiefly in consequence of new loans to the Colonies and to Japan. The income from Indian, Colonial, and foreign securities, from coupons, and from railways, added to the income from Government loans, made, a , total of £79,560,116, as compared with a total of £44,508,000 twenty year ago. He had made inquiries as to investments in a great number of miscellaneous undertakings which were net taken, into account by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, and he had come to the conclusion that the total income frOm money invested outside Britain was about £140,000,000., This great sum. did not include the interest upon money, deposited in Indian, Colonial, and foreign banks, nor the large income derived from capital privately, invested abroad. British investors obtained an all-round return of 5'2 per cent. The investment of money abroad in the last sixty years had taken place simultaneously with an immense growth of British prosperity. In his opinion, this prosperity was largely the result of placing capital in other countries. In the following discussion the general opinion was that the investment of capital abroad had a good effect on our trade.
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