INVESTORS' LOSSES.
This patriotic response on the part of the rentier is the more noteworthy, however, by reason of the fact that it is not merely that his net income has suffered for so many years through onerous direct taxation, but in addition appalling losses have been experienced on his holdings of many securities, and not least as regards his holdings of English Railway stocks, where the present parlous position is largely due to circum- stances beyond the control of the railway management but within the control of Governments. I refer, of course, to the extent to which railroad working is hampered by uneconomic conditions of wages and con- ditions of working; and also to the extent to which the unfortunate railway stockholder finds that competi- tive road traffic is aided by the fact that it is not handicapped to the same extent as are the railways by tax and rates charges, but is greatly aided by the enormous sums paid by the taxpayers for the upkeep of the road, a subsidy insufficiently offset, in the opinion of many, by the tax on petrol and the motor licence duties.
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