CORPORATION LOANS.
On the whole, the response given to new capital issues has been a satisfactory one, a circumstance due to the fact that in the main the issues have been of a good character and the prices of issue have been well judged. With all respect, how- ever, to our various Home Corporations, I cannot help think- ing that the investor still has the right to expect a full yield of
5 per cent. on those stocks, whereas the tendency is to offer them on terms which give well under that yield. It may be quite true that in a sense the security behind the stocks is excellent by reason of the rateable value of the various Boroughs, while it is also to the point that in the prospectuses the various Corporations should make a point of emphasizing that part of their debt is due to undertakings of a productive character. On the other hand, the investor should also under- stand that " productive " does not always mean profitable, and to make the statement complete it would often be interest- ing to know whether in the case of a Tramway or other municipal undertaking which is included among productive activities, operations are carried on at a profit or a loss. Moreover, in view of the heaviness of local rates throughout the country and the extravagant tendencies, at all events of some of the corporations, it would, I consider, be regrettable if further loan operations were made too easy or too cheap.
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