Although, for the purposes of Stock Exchange dealing and settlement, securities may be thus divided into three great divisions, from the point of view of the dealer in the market and of the outside investor and speculator, there are many more interesting divisions, dependent, generally speaking, upon the nature and rank of the security. At the top of the list come the trustee stocks, which are the securities in which the law of the land permits a trustee to invest the moneys he holds in trust without incurring liability for any loss that may occur. Roughly speaking, these include the Government securities of the United Kingdom and of India; certain Colonial Government securities; the stocks of the Banks of England and of Ireland; London Corporation and County stocks; the inscribed stock of any borough or county having a population exceeding 50,000; the stocks of the British railway companies ranking before their ordinary stocks, provided a dividend of 3 per cent. has been paid on the ordinary stock for at least ten years; various Indian railway stocks, the interest on which is guaranteed by the Secretary of State; the stocks of the water companies ranking in front of the ordinary stock, provided that stock has received a dividend of not less than 5 per cent. for at least ten years; and so on. These, of course, may all be regarded as securities of the highest class--as what are termed gilt-edged investments. Ranking next to them, perhaps, are the first debenture stocks of the railway and other companies which do not come within the Trustee Act. Such a statement as this is naturally only general. Some debenture stocks of industrial and mining companies are far less sound and secure than the shares of the lowest rank of some well-established undertakings. There are mortgage debentures and debentures which carry no right of mortgage, and there are, in the case of many companies, mortgage debentures of various classes, one class carrying a first mortgage, another a second, and so on. Mortgage debentures are secured by a specific charge on certain properties definitely scheduled, and in case of default in the interest payment the Court will appoint a Receiver in respect of such properties for the protection of the mortgage debenture holders. Debentures which are not mortgage debentures are secured by a floating charge over the properties and assets of the company, and in the case of its default they rank as ordinary creditors, being entitled to proceed against the company and levy execution. The mortgage debenture and debenture stocks of a company are frequently described as its fixed charge stocks, because not only does the interest never vary in rate, but has to be paid whatever the profits of the company. In fact, debenture holders, being creditors and not shareholders, receive interest and not dividend.