In speculation of this nature, there is a time to begin and a time to leave off. When stocks have attained a reasonably high level of value as a result of the recovery of a country’s industry, the chances for the speculator to profit by a continuous rise are of course gone, and he seeks in other directions to turn his capital to account; but the example we have given illustrates perhaps the most legitimate of all forms of speculation in Stocks, provided always the operator knows his business, and allows a sufficient margin for contingencies. [Sidenote: TEST OF A SPECULATOR’S PECUNIARY POSITION.] The marked difference between Stock Exchange business and other kinds is, that it is the custom to pay cash for all bargains when the settlement takes place. Special delays may be agreed to between persons who know each other well, but it is quite the exception, and certainly should remain so, for credit is already quite sufficiently extended throughout all branches of trade and commercial affairs. The one thing that keeps a tight rein on Stock Exchange operators is the test of their position which lies in fortnightly cash settlements.[39] The very nature of the business affords such facilities for incurring very large liabilities by extensive operations in various securities, that if settlements by bill accommodation were permitted, extending over two or three months as in trade, hopeless confusion would soon be the result, apart from the temptation which an insolvent broker or jobber would lie under further to involve himself so long as he could get the credit. The remarkably few failures that take place among stock-jobbers and brokers, when it is considered how much risk they run, and to what a limited extent they can make themselves aware, in time to avoid complications, of their clients’ actual means, reflects much credit upon them as a class. At the same time it must be admitted that the custom of frequent cash settlements, by testing the actual position of all concerned, is the best possible safe-guard against operators getting out of their depth; and although business generally would be very seriously curtailed if the custom prevailed in all branches of commerce when distance did not make it impossible, there can be no doubt that a vast deal of mischief and dishonesty would be nipped in the bud. CHAPTER IX. SPECULATION WITHOUT CAPITAL. [Sidenote: A FAMILIAR CASE.] [Sidenote: BITTER EXPERIENCE.] [Sidenote: THE QUESTION OF SEEING IT OUT.]