Finance—Public and Private
The Spirit of Industry
Fox the reasons which I will state presently, the City is disposed to attach no small importance to the con- ferences between the management and employees of the London Midland and Scottish Railway, which have recently been initiated by the head of that great under- taking, Sir Josiah Stamp. Briefly, the object appears to be that of securing the maximum amount of co- operation between officials and representatives of the rank and file in the L.M. & S. Railway and to welcome from all sections practical suggestions calculated to deal with the difficult situation with which our railway companies are confronted to-day.
For, in the course of a short address, Sir Josiah Stamp did not seek to disguise for a moment from the employees the losses sustained in the matter of revenue from passengers. And he pointed out that while there was an increase in revenue from goods, it was, for the most part, due to the rise in the scale of cherries, a rise which he was careful to point out must not by any means be regarded as furnishing the solution to the difficulties with which the railways were confronted, because the process of raising charges, whether on goods or on passenger rates, came perilously near to the point of killing the goose which lays the golden eggs. Referring to the loss of revenue, Sir Josiah said
Serious as it is, it would have been very much greater if the company had not raised their merchandise rates on February 1st, 1927.. You may say, then, why not put our charges still higher ? That sounds like a simple and easy way out of our difficulties, but the thing we have seriously to consider is whether, if we were to go farther with that policy, we should not be stifling the trade of the country. . . . " The particulars given of the heavy fall in the passenger receipts, and in the state of the merchandise traffic of our railway, may indicate not only that we are suffering, but that the general trade of the country has been severely depressed. If that is so, we ought to consider whether we can do anything to improve matters. If, on the other hand, as some people say, there is no general falling off in the country's trade, and that good business is really still moving, we ought to ask ourselves why this traffic is not coming over our railway. These are one or two important questions I am asking you to consider with me and the company's officers, so that, if, possible, we may find the right answers."
At the Conference addressed by Sir Josiah Stamp, not only a number of officials representing the different departments and also the company's Chief Officer for Labour and Establishment were present, but represen- tatives attended from the National Union of Railwaymen, the Associated Society of Locomotives and Firemen, and the Railway Clerks' Association. The point deserves emphasis because a series of resolutions were passed by the assembly welcoming the declaration of the company's policy and promising it every support. In fact, Clause 4 of the resolutions passed was to the effect " that every individual member of the staff in all depart- ments of the service be urged to give all possible assistance to his representatives and to use every legitimate personal effort in furthering the aims and objects of this move- ment.-
Previous page
