RAILWAY REVENUE DECLINES.
When once the coal stoppage is ended it must be hoped that we shall be at the end of our industrial troubles for a while and that our railways, as well as other industries, will in time make good some of the losses sustained by recent events. Meanwhile, however, it is probable that stockholders may find some com- fort in the large reserves which directors—recognizing the many difficulties arising out of the transition period lifter.the War— have accummulated, though latterly they have in some in- stances been drawn upon very heavily. Some idea of the big revenue losses suffered during the strike and coal stoppage period may be gathered from the fact that the aggregate shrinkage in gross receipts of the four leading groups for the first three weeks in May was about £6,500,000. Before the strike . our railway receipts were beginning to show small improvements, but the losses now sustained will not be wiped out this half-year however quickly the coal output is resumed. Of course, there will have been savings in expen- diture, but unless the Labour outlook becomes unexpectedly clear, an ultra-conservative policy in the matter of dividends seems probable'; it would certainly be justified.
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